Educational Sites for Children
on The Internet

KIDLINK
KIDLINK (http://www.kidlink org/home std html) is an ,international project, aimed at getting as many children as possible (in the 10-15 age-group) engaged in a GLOBAL dialogue. Since its inception in 1 1990 some 60,000 children from 87 countries have participated in KIDLINK activities. Much of the dialogue is in words, though some youths choose to express themselves in graphic form; the KIDLINK Gallery of Computer Art exists to showcase these works. Activites on KIDLINK are free. Each participating pupil is required to answer four questions about himself (Who am I? What do I want to be when I grow up? How do I want the world to be better when I grow up? What can I do now to make this happen?).
KIDPROJ is an important part of KIDLINK. Here, teachers and youth group leaders from around the world organise activities and projects for pupils to participate in. Details of past projects are contained in an archive file, and are readily accessible. Past projects have included: Desert and Desertification, Math Penpals, Readers' Corner, Wetlands, Writers' Corner, Flags, Inventions '96, Plate Tectonics, Robotics, and Whales. Projects for the '96-97 school year include: Aerospace, How People Live, Country Capitals, Holiday Legends, Poems, and Stories around the World,
KIDS WEB
Kids Web (http://www. npac.syr.edu/textbook/kidweb, is a World Wide Web Digital Library of Internet resources for schoolchildren, which accesses documents from all over the world. The Web contains enormous amounts of information, and is growing incredibly rapidly. The overall (ambitious) goal of the WWW project is to make available all of human knowledge through global computer networks, acting as a vast distributed electronic library. However, only a small fraction of that information is useful, intelligible, and interesting to schoolchildren. Searching for this relevant information using existing Web digital libraries and search engines, can be very time-consuming and frustrating -especially for children. Ideally, children should be presented with a subset of the Web that is very simple to navigate, and contains information targeted at pupils. This is the goal of Kids Web. Its main menu is divided into subject sections: ART (Art, Drama, Literature, Music), SCIENCES (Astronomy and Space, Biology and Life Sciences, Chemistry, Computers, Environmental Science, Geology and Earth Sciences Mathematics, Physics, Science and Technology, Weatherand Meteorology), SOCIAL STUDIES (Geography, Government, History), and MISCELLANEOUS (Fun and Games, Reference Material, Sports). Each subject section contains a list of links to information that is intelligible and interesting to schoolchildren. (There are also links to external lists of material on each topic, where more advanced knowledge/further information can be obtained). Examples of the kinds of links listed under some of the above subject categories are as follows:
DRAMA
Film and Television
o Film and Television (pointers to information on Films and TV shows)
. Movie Database (Search for information on movies and movie stars)
. Science Fiction resource guide (a list of pointers to the huge amount of information about science fiction literature, films, and television, available on the Internet)

Theatre
. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
. The English Server (text and discussions of plays and screenplays)
. Screenwriters and Playwrights Home Page (Resources for screenwriters and playwrights, including on-line scripts and tips from the professionals)
. Shakespearean Insult Service (Experience the Wrath of
The Bard!)
. Theatre Central (a large directory of theatre-related information and theatre groups)

LITERATURE
Children's Books
. Books for Children (links to on-line children's books, and other information on children's literature)
. Children's Authors, Characters, and Fictional Worlds (information on authors of children's books such as Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, and CS. Lewis, as well as people and places from children's books e.g. Winnie the Pooh, and the Land of Oz)
. Children's Literature Web Guide (a very comprehensive guide to children's literature, with information for kids, parents, and teachers)
o Electronic Children's Books (A collection of on-line children's classics)
o Online Children's Stories (Another list of on-line children's books and stories)

Creative Writing
o Children's Writings (A list of electronic magazines and
other areas on the Web that provide stories and writing by
children)
o For Young Writers (pointers to writing workshops, ezines,
and other resources for young writers, provided by Inkspot,
a resource page for writers of children's books)

Fiction
. The English Server - Fiction (a collection of novels and
short stories)
o Fairy Tales and Fables (A collection of Grimm's fairy tales)
. The On-Line Books Page (index of on-line electronic
books)

MUSIC
o The Mammoth Music Meta-List (a list of pointers to information on all kinds of music)
. The Ultimate Band List (pointers to pages on hundreds of bands)
oThe Web Wide World of Music (lots more music links and information)

BIOLOGY and LIFE SCIENCES General Biology
o Biology News (reports on new and interesting developments from all areas of Biology)

Amphibians
. The Froggy Page (lots of interesting and weird stuff about
frogs)
. Virtual Frog Dissection Kit (an interactive frog dissection
from The Whole Frog project)

Birds
. Birding on the Web (information on the study and identification of birds)

Fish
o The Fish FAQ (frequently asked questions and answers about fish)

Insects
o B-Eye (see the world through the eyes of a honey bee)
. Entomology Image Gallery (pictures and movies of beetles, mosquitoes, ticks, lice, and other insects)
o Insect Database (classifications and descriptions of many
orders of insects)

Dinosaurs
. The University of California Museum of Paleontology (a detailed on-line tour of exhibits, including the awesome Hall of Dinosaurs)

FUN and GAMES
. All about comic books and comic strips (including on-line comic strips like Doctor Fun, a comic strip with a new comic every day)
o Zarf's List of Interactive Games on the Web (lots of fun interactive games to play on the Web)
o The Games Domain (everything about games, from Doom to Darts, from MUDs to Mortal Kombat)
o Hobbies and Crafts (a link to a site with URL:
http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Hobbies_and_Crafts/)
This gives links to information on a range of hobbies/crafts

Another collection of Educational Web sites for kids can be found at: http://www.npac.syr.edu/textbook/kidsweb/ others.html
KiDNEWS

KidNews(http://www.vsa. cape.com/- powens/ Kidnews.html) rated as one of the top 5 Internet sites for Kids, is a free news and writing service for pupils and teachers around the world. Anyone may use stories from the service for educational purposes (provided the authors and KidNews are acknowledged) and anyone may submit stories for posting on KidNews.

The KidNews Website is an extensive archive of children's
writing. Children can use a readymade online submission

form to send in material. In the News section, pupils are invited to send in news about their families, neighbourhood, class, or school. If they have any interesting information about nature, school projects, travel adventures, difficult challenges, things that fascinate them etc., pupils are invited to make a contribution to the Features section of KidNews. The Creative section hosts Kids' Poetry and Fiction from around the world. From a teacher's point of view, KidNews (like other Websites for Children) provides numerous examples of different kinds of children's writing, and of topics which children worldwide find interesting and motivating.

Other sites for publishing children's writing

. Book Nook (http://i-site.on.ca/booknook. html)
Here, kids write book reviews for other kids. Arranged by
grade level from K (Junior Infants) to 12(16-year olds) . Each
pupil 'critic' rates the book he reviews with a 'thumbs up' or
a 'thumbs down'.

o KIdPub (http://en-garde.com.kidpub/intro.html)
KidPub was started by a father wanting to encourage his daughter's writing. Children can submit stories and news about their schools and towns. Alternatively, they can participate in an ongoing collaborative story, Gary and Liz at Gateway Mansion, where each reader adds a paragraph to the long and twisted plot.

o Kids' Space
(http://plaza.interport.net/kids_space/story/story.html html)
Another arena for publishing kids' writing. Includes the option to create a pictograph story (where special words are replaced by a colourful picture) and the option to illustrate someone else's story or write a story for someone else's picture.