The internet has plenty to offer the parent and the child. Whether you are looking fun and games in education or more serious stuff, there are sites that have what you need. This is our definitive guide to five of the best sites for kids.
These sites are safe, educational, fun and generally rather rewarding. Kids can print things out, play online, learn more about the world around them, and get their heads around using technology. It’s an all round win and you can use your Parental Controls to set these as safe sites so your kids don’t happen upon the less pleasant parts of the internet.
1. CBeebies and CBBC
Cbeebies is the official site for the television show and is pretty much one of the best sites around. Offering educational and interactive activities alongside age specific tools and aides, the site will keep kids from birth until six happily entertained and educated.
CBBC is the older half of the same coin, here kids from six and up can enjoy extras of their favourite shows (try Horrible Histories for excellent online bonuses that complement the show) as well as get some learning done.
2. Storyplace
You may have never heard of this faintly obscure website before but it is one of my personal favourites. The site design leaves much to be desired and the loading times may stretch on a little bit, but the site has a huge (and I mean huge) library of books for kids to read. The site was designed by librarians and is, essentially, an online library for kids of all ages. Genius.
3. Kneebouncers
Kneebouncers is for, well, kids that are still being bounced on the knee. While there are sites like CBeebies that have some activities for the truly small, this site specialises in them. Designed by parents for babies until age five, there are lots of games and downloadable activities. It has won several awards and came highly recommended by other parents.
4. Family Learning
Designed in conjunction with the government and packed with resources for parents and kids, this site is more of a reference tool that has links, advice, resources, downloads and guides. It’s a good place to stop if you want ideas on how to work with your kids on their education.
5. Learn Direct
This is a really clever site and comes as a part of the learning initiative. It has been designed specifically for children to learn how to use the keyboard and mouse, offers you free resources (I strongly recommend taking advantage of their free book offer) and games. Kids can even create their own books.
Tamsin