Interactive Sites for Parents and Kids
The following sites all allow for fun and games, exploring and learning without leaving your browser...
Links
The following sites all allow for fun and games, exploring and learning without leaving your browser. All are great sites for families to explore together.
The graphical style at Bonus is quite unusual. For example, the games, such as mazes, take advantage of the Web's particular power. The Exploratorium museum, one of the first to mount online exhibits, has created an area for parents and kids to learn together.
SesameStreet complements the educational television program with followup activities for young kids and advice on both learning and social topics for parents.
Figure This, another NSF-sponsored site, offers challenging math puzzles for the family and illlustrations in literature in which the plot turns on a mathematical understanding. The site is also in Spanish.
Wonderville, developed by the Science Alberta Foundation, projects its own cast of cartoon characters to help with home-grown science activities.
Cool Math For Kids is similar to Bonus with games, puzzles, and teasers for families. It requires multi-media plug-ins.
All of these sites will work for homeschoolers, because parent decipherment is necessary for some of the pages on the sites.
At Whyville, sponsored by the Getty Foundation, visitors can search the world for art treasures, develop a cure for WhyPox, or rescue and retrieve aliens from earth. Take a look!
Chateau Meddybemps has collected learning activities for preschool and primary elarners in addition to guides for parents about child development. Youngsters can practice alphabet skills and print their own drawings.
It's My Life, a project of PBS, is a forum for teens to discuss issues relating to friends, family, school and emotions. Questions from real students are interwoven with advice from mentors and trained professionals.
Kindersite shows 1000's of links for children with audio explanations.
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The cost of acquiring individual software packages with similar parent and child activities can mount up. The major advantage of sites, such as these, is that families can enjoy online activities together which, as educators, we know is important for children of all ages really.
Navigation is easy, but watch the connectivity costs. Selecting an Internet plan with unlimited use is a good idea.
