Cool kids’ sites for cold days
Amuse and entertain over the holidays with these picks
By Kathy English
Keeping your children occupied while you tend to holiday preparations can be a cinch once your family discovers some cool sites for kids this season.
Of course, you don’t want your children spending all of their free time online, but with nearly two weeks of school vacation looming, and your holiday schedule growing busier by the day, your connected computer can provide fun and educational ways for kids to spend time indoors when temperatures drop.
Start safe surfing habits early
The basic guidelines for introducing your kids to the computer involve treating the computer as you would any information medium. Be critical of what your children access and realize that no computer program or Internet site can replace the parent-child interaction necessary to develop critically thinking, eloquent, creative children.
Streetproofing your kids for the web and using parental controls are also a good idea. For more tips on safe surfing with kids, check out Web Aware.
A terrific starting point for finding cool sites for kids is Berit’s Best Sites for Children, an award-winning, highly regarded directory of more than 1,000 top-quality, safe, fun and educational sites for children aged 12 and under. The site was founded in 1994 by a children’s librarian named Berit Erickson who writes, “Before I include any site I examine it thoroughly to ensure that it is non-violent and does not contain adult content.” Erickson rates all sites on a five-point scale based on appearance, content, ease of use, organization, relevance and suitability for children.
Celebrate the season with fun sites
To help your children get into the spirit of the season, guide them to these great holiday sites.
Official NORAD Tracks Santa web site: Operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, kids can find out what NORAD knows about Santa, learn how NORAD tracks him through the world’s skies in real time on Christmas Eve, and more.
Kaboose Christmas: There are lots of fun things to find here including colouring pages, mazes, word search puzzles, stories, Clip Art and games. There are also patterns with instructions for making ornaments, decorations, an Advent calendar, a stand-up village and other great crafts. This site provides similar activities for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
Torah Tots: This site is for Jewish children and other children who want to learn about Jewish traditions. Kids can meet cartoon characters, listen to music, play games, print colouring pages and read stories.
About Winter: Celebrate winter with links to make snowflakes, snowmen, a snow globe, a penguin and other frosty crafts.
Discover new worlds
Yahoo! Kids: This web guide for kids features games, jokes, news, sports and music.
CBC Kids: This site is part of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Preschoolers and their parents can find challenging games and activities in the kids’ section, which is designed to encourage little ones to learn as they play with their favourite characters. The after school section lets older kids have fun, play games and find out about the CBC’s programming.
TVO Kids: This site features games, colouring pages and show information.
PBS Kids: Keep busy with all of the fun things to do and see, including science activities, printable pages, recipes, jokes, games, party ideas and crafts. A parents’ page lists printable activity pages and games, recipes and projects appropriate for preschoolers.
Have fun and learn
Kidz Draw: This site has art activities with sections for kids 5 and under, 6 to 10, and 10 and up.
National Geographic for Kids: Visit this children’s online version of one of the world’s most popular magazines, which includes games, projects, “creepy-crawly crafts” and stories about animals, geography, the Earth and more.
Sports Illustrated for Kids: Read SIKIDS magazine articles, draft a dream team, or listen to SIKIDS Radio from this site.
Animaland: Find tips on how to take care of your family pets, and learn about different kinds of animals.
Kratts’ Creatures: Learn about all kinds of amazing creatures from around the world through interactive games, activities, jokes and trivia.
