A listing and review of kids' websites

I believe exercising the “in moderation” approach in certain facets when raising my kids. Is TV necessarily a healthy option for kids? Well, in moderation it’s ok with me. The same goes for computer usage/web surfing. Not only is “in moderation” the way to go, but selectively choosing the most educational and fun (and SAFE) websites is key and could be beneficial.

We are testing several kids’ websites and putting together a list, along with a detailed review of each site. Here is an intro to our list. We will continue to add sites as we review more.

http://www.pbskids.org/
pbskids.org is the site I'm most comfortable letting my 2 kids use based on their name and reputation. I love how they offer many alternatives rather than just repetitive games using arrow keys. For instance, PBS Kids has many pictures of my kids' favorite PBS characters to print and color. I

like the option to have them spend time practicing using crayons and staying in the lines once they leave the site. PBS kids also strays away from typical games by offering many songs from Mr. Rogers and Calliou to play and sing along to. While the site does skew very young (like their shows), they have tons of fun and educational games to keep little ones busy and mentally stimulated for hours.

http://www.kids.discovery.com/
kids.discovery.com features many learning games based on popular Discovery Kids shows. Some sample games on kids.discovery.com include: Build a Roller Coaster, Build a Volcano, Mummy Maker, Room Maker and many more. The building games are fun but they get a little tedious. If your child is under the age of 9, they might get a little tired of building an intricate roller coaster and seeing it through to completion. Most of the other games are simple flash-based games that grow a bit tiring and repetitive. You can only click and drag food into Kenny the Shark's mouth for so long before your child will become bored. 30 seconds was the max for my son. Sadly, most of the games are like this. Some of the games even feature complicated log-ins to register to play. That's a big strike in my book.  My kids did however enjoy the quizzes. They are very educational and my kids loved seeing if they knew the answers to fun topics like pizzas and penguins! kids.discovery.com also has a click and drag puzzle section to hold their attention. All in all, kids.discovery.com gets kudos for quantity but not for quality.

http://www.jigsawplanet.com/
Great fun here! You can upload any jpg you want and the program makes a puzzle out of it! Your puzzles will not be visible to other visitors. If you want, you can send a puzzle to friend via e-mail. You can also create whatever difficulty level for the puzzle you choose.

http://www.starfall.com/
Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service to motivate children to read with phonics. This site features many reading lessons of vowel sounds and other phonics and gives kids a chance to apply what they've learned with many simple click and read a-long activities. It doesn't boast the sharpest web-design in the world but the stories and lessons are fantastic. This isn't a site you just turn your four year old on to and leave. It requires some parental involvement to reiterate the lesson before your child can click through the colorful stories.

http://www.highlightskids.com/
This link is the website extension of the popular Highlights Magazine. If your child is a fan of Highlights, the website does not disappoint. It features the same popular segments from the magazine. My children love the Hidden Pictures page. It's just like the magazine. You can even print your own Hidden Pictures to color yourself or simply play them online and watch them animate! If your child is stumped, they can even click on an answer key to find the ones they missed! In addition to their puzzle-based games, they offer stories and kids' jokes. The front page looks a little "busy" but the navigation is simple. Highlightskids.com is a perfect blend of fun, education and inspires creativity.

http://www.funbrain.com/
Fun and games for students K-8, as well as resources for parents and teachers. There's a heavy emphasis on age appropriate learning on this site. While they may have succeeded with the educational end of their mission, I think they misfired on the fun. This a great site for teachers to use in-class but the fun won't translate to home.

http://www.nickjr.com/games-activities/
nickjr.com is an ambitious site that offers an array of activities. The main page features video suggestions of fun (although it sometimes plays annoying commercials). It has several printable games and activities and even has a craft section. The craft section has several crafts and walks you through how to make such items as Dora Winter Diorama and a Swiper Paper Bag Puppet. The directions for these crafts are very thorough but the materials needed to do these projects isn't simple! You'll need a trip to your local craft store just to stock up on supplies for even the easiest craft on this site! The site is a little tricky to navigate and the video player gets annoying when moving from page to page. The site goes a little overboard in being a self promotion machine. It has links to Nick Jr. party planners, Nick Jr. Party cakes and Nick Jr. Wallpapers. The only thing missing in this regard is a pledge of allegiance to Nick Jr. The games are bright, colorful, and entertaining, and are thorough enough to capture children’s attention for a long period of time. Diego's Snowboard Rescue is a blast!

http://www.freerice.com/
This website is brilliant. FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program. For each answer a user gets right, freerice.com donates 10 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger. To date, freerice.com has donated 71,067,033,230 grains of rice to impoverished countries.  This site is highly educational and features a broad range of school subjects for kids and adults. The subjects include: Basic Math (Pre-Algebra), Multiplication Tables, Chemistry, English, Foreign Languages, Geography, Art and more. The site is very easy to use. Simply pick a topic and start answering questions based on whatever topic you choose. You don't even have to sign in or create an account to see where the donations go. The rice bowl on the side of the screen allows you see how much food you will be donating to needy people. When your little thinker grows out of the PBSkids-type websites, freerice.com is the perfect place to learn and flourish.

http://www.sikids.com/
Sikids.com is the virtual world for the popular Sports Illustrated for kids magazine. The site is designed for sports fans ages 5+ and is very easy to navigate. I initially expected this site to just have a few games or links to magazine articles was surprised at the wealth of content for your little sports fan! The "Build" section of the site allows your child to create and print their own virtual race cars, holiday cards and even their own SI Kids magazine cover! SI Kids features kid-friendly blogs about what's going on in the world of sports that are updated regularly. The games on sikids.com go far beyond simple flash games. There are over 50 games to choose from and they even have a login system where kids can earn points for their scores to win virtual prizes! The games are fast-paced and may be a little fast or skillful for some younger users but children over 8 will love them. Now if only I could get my husband off the computer so my kids could play....

www.kidscanhavefun.com
This site, on the surface, resembes a very generic looking kids' activites website. Once you really begin looking and digging around will you realize that this is a valuable source for your kids to younger children busy on-line & off-line. Visually, it's completely uninteresting. There are also some dead links and unsightly google ads. It's far from flashy but has some very deep and interactive content. In fact, the content is so vast that I actually don't recommend it for kids directly. It's too easy to get lost in the many menus and resources of the site and could be a serious navigational nightmare for a 5 year old. Instead, use the assets of this site to print and choose activities for your child. Among the printable options on this page: paper dolls, many well-done coloring pages, word searches, jigsaws, mazes, flashcards, street signs and MANY MANY more. The printable files pull up as a pdf file on your computer and it's simple to print from there. There are a couple of minor negatives. The google ads are unsightly and it is difficult to navigate. Still, I can't wait to use this site to print various activites to make a specific book of games for my children on their next long road -trip! Not only is this site a great resource for parents, it could be a great resource for elementary school teachers (especially ones with an inexhaustable supply of printer ink)!

www.thekidzpage.com
This site is another content monster. Like www.kidscanhavefun.com on steroids, it's spread out so much that I wouldn't just hand the mouse to my child and let them go for fear of overwhelming them. I noticed on busy sites like this that children tend to get preoccupied with the menus and want to try everything at once. It's much better to pick the activity or help them choose what to do and then giving them an assignment. I'm not complaining about the wealth of content, it's all about how you navigate it with your child. Anyway, thekidzpage offers numerous puzzles, games, clip art, coloring (printable pages) and holiday activites. Since the site is so vast, it's easy to get lost. There are many flashing ad banners and google ads which occupy key navigational space. Some of the content is meaningful and educational and some of it is inane. If you're on this site for a long period of time, you'll likely find something redeeming. It just might take a while.

www.ZiggityZoom.com
ZiggityZoom is an attractive site that uses pastel colors and easy navigation in targeting creatvie play in kids 6 and under. The creepy voices of children reciting the nav bar options as you mouse over them are a little tough to get past (try it) but once you do the content is pretty special. The offer the basics (games, printable coloring pages, stories) but also have some creative additions to help parents too. I think the "Sneaky Chef" blog is brilliant. The Sneaky Chef is an updated blog to help parents incorporate nutrition into tasty meals for finicky kids. Other creative additions is a Kingergarten Readiness Guide, tips for kids to explore and birthday party ideas. My favorite feature that I've yet to see in another website is printable certificates you can present to your child to show them how proud you are of them. From a layout standpoint, I really enjoy that the ads and sponsors are barely noticable. Other sites look like a cash grab while offering kids mindless flash-games-not ziggityzoom. Ziggity isn't without a few minor shortcomings. One, I don't think any of these games or activities would occupy a child approaching 6 years old. Two, the kids voice navigation thing is realllly creepy. If you can get past those 2 small things, ziggityzoom is a wonderful resource.

www.playhousedisney.com
Thanks to reader Anna who reminded me about playhousedisney.com (I can't believe I forgot it)! Playhousedisney is perfect for Disney obsessed youngsters to explore their favorite characters and shows. It's a busy place! The home-page is a cluster of sites, sounds and colors that bombard the senses. It's visually fast and uses a lot of audio. While this site offers little educationally but tons in the entertainment department! There are several games, coloring pages, stories that center on specific Disney shows and characters. I like that. It your child is a huge fan of a particular show, there is plenty to find and do which includes it! For instance, my daughter isn't a huge Handy Manny fan but loves Ooh & Ahh and the Charlie & Lola. She can find her favorite shows and characters and build her fun around them. I also like the music section of this site. music education and fun is often ignored in kids websites but playhousedisney has it in droves. You can play your own music or watch your favorite characters performing music (my faves are the Happy Monster Band and Dan Zanes House Party). If your looking for education, look elsewhere. If your child needs his/her Disney fix, playhousedisney.com will keep 'em occupied.

http://www.senassist.com/games.html
This isn't a website to visit for fun and games but a page setup displaying great software products to a company dedicated to provide fun learning games for children with disabilities. SENASSIST is especially autism-friendly. Parents of learning disabled or ASD kids know how hard it is for these children to learn basic comprehension and prepositions. SENASSIST software makes it easy and fun for children to learn things that are so often difficult for spectrum and learning disabled students. I can see how this software would be a benefit to these students!

www.yoursphere.com
http://internet-safety.yoursphere.com/
Yoursphere is an absolute game-changing idea from Mary Kay Hoal, a mother of 5. Launched in 2008, Yoursphere.com is designed to be the ultimate social media networking site for children. Not only is yoursphere impressive from a content standpoint, it is by far the safest I've seen. In an age of cyberbullying and online sexual predators, yoursphere.com creates the safest online environment possible by having parents sign their children up to their accounts. Yoursphere then verifies parent identities and does a predator database check before kids can join. Brilliant!

Kids then enter their own private virtual world where only verified members can interact, chat, create, play and explore. To promote good online citizenship, kids earn reward points when they engage positively with other members. Yoursphere uses sophisticated technology and goodwill ambassadors to ensure the online safety of its users.

The content is tremendous. My 7 year old loved setting up his profile, posting pictures and making new "friends" almost immediately. Kids enter and begin clicking on "spheres" or portals dedicated to games, sports, music, fashion, music, academics and more. I'm most impressed by the wealth of content and how much age-appropriate material there is whether your child is 5 or 15 years old. Children are invited to participate in forums, discussions and to interact with other users and enter contests. Points can be accrued that go to great non virtual prizes like DVDs and i-tunes gift cards! If your child is bugging you to join facebook, look no further than yoursphere. Yoursphere even has a separate site for parents to follow all of the updates on the kids version and the latest headlines and blogposts regarding cybersafety.

Click HERE for a full review of yoursphere

www.addictinggames.com
A lot of red flags here. Holy Moly! My son was watching Spongebob on Nickelodeon and came running to me asking if he could go on http://www.addictinggames.com/showdown. AddictingGames is a website advertised by Nickelodeon and they partner to be a part of Nickelodeon's site. Since it's on Nickelodeon's site, I didn't think I had too much to worry about. I was wrong! I'm glad I checked it out before letting him play. On the surface, the site seems like a typical flash-style gamesite with hundreds (literally) of arcade action games designed to take a few minutes each to play. I usually don't have a problem with my 8 year old playing a few of these games in moderation. I do however have a major problem with some of the games featured on this site. Many of the games featured on this site are quite violent and even sexual in nature! Think I'm overexaggerating? How about game titles like: Age of War, Candy the Naughty Cheerleader, Sneaky Sniper, Ricochet Kills, Barnsville Massacre, Hit Squad, 13 More Days in Hell and Stick Dude Killing Arena. Yes, the games are that violent. I can't believe Nickelodeon advertises for this kind of garbage! In addition to the violent content games, the site has a plethora of pop-up ads. There is no way I would recommend this site to any child (or even any teenager).

http://www.prongo.com/
Prongo is an educational site designed for ages 3-12. In addition to kids using the various features, teachers are welcome to use the site as a content resource and assign their students activities on the site. On the surface, prongo seems well thought out. It's divided nicely in different age appropriate catagories and the navigation is bright, clean and simple. The simple navigation even continues in the interior pages in a smaller application. Very easy to maneuver. The games themselves incorporate learning very well. Although they aren't overly creative (basic matching pics and simple math flash games), they are effective. I really like the QUIZ STATION option. Teachers can use the site to set up their own interactive quizzes and assign the quiz to their students. The quizzes use sound, music and animation. The site is far from perfect. You do have to sign up and register for most of the features. There are family appropriate banner ads and I did encounter some dead or dated links. Minor hitches aside, I think this site would be a wonderful addition to a teacher or home-schooler's teaching arsenal.

http://www.candostreet.com/
Thanks to reader Joe M for this suggestion! "Can Do" Street is designed for youngsters (3-7) maneuver through a street where they learn valuable lessons in life and learning. The animation is extremely attractive and age appropriate. It's easy to see how youngsters would get lost in the content and learning while having fun. In addition to the site being colorful and attractice, there aren't any annoying banner ads or any other distractions. The beauty of a page without banners comes with a cost. That cost comes in the form of a membership fee. 1 year costs just under $25. Hopefully candostreet.com can find a corporate sponsor to alleviate some of the costs of membership (like yoursphere did recently) as I would like the site to be open to everyone. The content seems wonderful.

Just recently added:

http://www.missoandfriends.com/
missoandfriends is a website designed for a demographic largely ignored in the digital landscape - pre-teen girls. Though I was thrilled at the notion of a site catering to young girls, I was also skeptical. My concerns were that content would border on inappropriate, that it might be too commercial and that there would be privacy issues. Online safety is a big concern with me. I dug pretty deep into missoandfriends.com and was genuinely happy with the results. Miss O is a site managed by young girls for young girls. The site is rich with appropriate tween girls content including games, quizzes, contests, age appropriate games, pop culture polls and more. The content is very expansive. Constantly updated, a young girl could be mesmerized for hours with the content without rehashing through dated material. Tween girls are invited to register for free to earn points for prizes, badges and swag. Miss O & Friends donates a portion of their proceeds to organizations that help young girls and boast a strict privacy policy for members ( http://www.missoandfriends.com/policy.php ). missoandfriends.com is extremely busy-looking. The site does accept outside advertising but the ads don't necessarily interfere with the experience. The site may be a little short on educational games or enriching young minds but it is a fun (and relatively safe) place on cyberspace for a girl to be a girl.