Websites for Kids

Finding good - relevant, safe, accurate, timely, age-appropriate - websites for children can be a challenge. There are several tools out there to help, though ... like:

• The Internet Public Library2 (or IPL2) for Kids! All the sites that come up in a search here have been approved by librarians or others in the information science world to point you in profitable and appropriate directions. From the kid's page specifically you can search or browse. You can browse homework help sites, math and science, sports, art and music, and more. The far right-hand side of the page has links to IPL2 hosted information like science fair info, states facts, and help with the U.S. Presidents. Though IPL2 is perhaps not the best option for very specific searches, it can be a great tool for finding general information online for kids.      

• A search engine I can across through IPL2 for Teens is iSeek Education. Again vetted by information professionals the search results are more reliable than what may just come up through a Google search. The best part, I think, is that the results can be sorted by audience age/grade, resource type, some state standards, organization, subject and topic (helpful for narrowing or expanding a topic for a project or paper), etc. Definitely worth a look!

•  Finally, the American Library Association has a compilation of Great Websites for Kids. They've recently reformatted how they present that information on the website, and so far I'm a little disappointed, personally, with the changes. However, there can be some great recommendations for sites you might not otherwise find ... keep checking back and give it a perusal.

Do you have a favorite search portal for kids? We'd love to hear about it!