Crafts & Fun

1. TVOKids
Canadian! Very interactive with lots of games and educational fun (including a daily reading challenge) Kids will especially love the Charlie and Lola maze game.

2. Owl Kids
Canadian! Depending on the child’s age, kids can deeper into one of three sections based on the magazines, Chirp, Chicakdee and Owl and find great games, puzzles and other fun from each magazine.

3. Fun with Spot
This site encourages reading and activity at the same time. Kids can create their own story starring Spot, the lovable, playful puppy.

4. National Geographic Kids
Several educational sections (animals, games, videos, stories, activities, people & places, photos) kids will love to explore. Plus, children can personalize their page with backgrounds and colour schemes and can create their own virtual pet.

5. Sports Illustrated Kids
This site is great for the kid who’s all about sports. They can play “fantasy” games, watch Kid Reporter video clips and build and print their own car, comic, e-card, magazine cover and more!

6. Hit Entertainment
Find all your child’s favourite TV shows and characters, from Bob the Builder to Angelina Ballerina. Free downloadable games available and videos starring characters (Bob the Builder teaches kids how to build a recycling centre and wind farm).

7. Disney Playhouse
Kids can visit the websites of all the Disney Playhouse characters (My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and more), play a variety of games and activities, listen to musicand read stories. Plus, there is a grown-ups section that provides five tips for safe web-browsing.

8. Little Animals Activity Centre
Scroll over six animated animals to find out their name and special feature. For example, the owl sys, “Hello. I’m Count Hoot. Let’s play a numbers game.” Children and parents can read stories, exercise their math skills, find recipes, make crafts, learn jokes and more.

9. Sesame Street
Based on the classic TV show, this site is very interactive with tons of fun and educational games (eight pages worth!) and videos (112 pages!). The search function allows kids to search by subject, theme or character. There is also a My Street section, which allows children to save their favourite games, videos, playlists and upload a photo to their own Sesame Street web page.

10. Wonka
Artistic kids familiar with Willy Wonka will have a blast on this site. They can create desktop backgrounds using the Wonka Imaginator and can also create an image using Nerds candy with the NERDoodler.

Originally published in Todaysparent.com, December 2009