[kids-lib] Great Web Sites adds 28 new sites in 2012

Katie Anderson katie.anderson at state.or.us
Wed Dec 19 08:31:49 PST 2012


Hello! ALA's Association for Library Services to Children has just updated their Great Web Sites for Kids page, adding 28 new sites--i.e. the best new web sites for kids in 2012. These may be good for creating a list to share with parents (print or online), adding to the resources you use to help patrons, or linking to from your library's webpage. If you are adding a link to any external web site on your web site, please be sure to review the external site to make sure it aligns with your library's policies.

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services
* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
katie.anderson at state.or.us<mailto:katie.anderson at state.or.us>, 503-378-2528
________________________________
From: Kimberly Grad [kpbert85 at gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 8:51 PM
To: alsc-l at ala.org
Subject: [alsc-l] Great Web Sites adds 28 new sites in 2012

The 2012 Great Web Sites Committee announces its 2012 selections which may be found at http://gws.ala.org.

Great Web Sites for Kids are those considered the best web sites for children ages birth to 14, outstanding in both content and conception. As applied to web sites for young people, “great” should be thought to include sites of especially commendable quality, sites that reflect and encourage young people’s interests in exemplary ways. Our selection criteria can be found at:  http://www.ala.org/alsc/greatwebsites/greatwebsitesforkids/greatwebsites.

If you happen across a site that you think we shouldn’t miss in 2013, please send us a note through the suggestion form at http://gws.ala.org/suggest-site.

Sincerely,

Kimberly Grad and Denise Vallandingham
Co-Chairs of the 2012 Great Web Sites for Kids Committee

2012 Great Web Sites
ABCya!
www.abcya.com<http://www.abcya.com>
Make learning fun with a variety of educational computer games for kids. Learn new skills and improve old ones in areas such as math, language arts, and typing.

All About Birds
www.allaboutbirds.org<http://www.allaboutbirds.org>
Learn all about birds in this website created by the Cornell Lab of Orinthology. Bird names, species, location and history are all featured. Also included are bird songs and videos.

Bedtime Math
www.bedtimemath.org<http://www.bedtimemath.org>
Modeled on the bedtime story tradition, Bedtime Math is a daily blog that offers daily math problems instead of stories.  Math problems are offered in three levels of challenge (preschool, kindergarten through first or second grade, and second grade and up).

The Brown Bookshelf
www.thebrownbookshelf.com<http://www.thebrownbookshelf.com>
The Brown Bookshelf is a blog that shares great books for all ages written by African American writers.  Its mission is to increase awareness of the many African American voices writing for young readers.

Butterflies and Moths
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org
An extensive and growing resource about the types of butterflies and moths that are found in North America, as well as where they are found.  You can also learn how to identify butterflies and moths, find a list of which species live in your area, and report ones that you see in your backyard!

Chess Kid
http://chesskid.com
In a safe environment, discover the rules and strategies of chess.  Improve your game, memorization skills, patience and sportsmanship with free online games, tournaments and club matches with kids around the world.

CIA for Kids-Games
www.cia.gov/kids-pages/games/index.html<http://www.cia.gov/kids-pages/games/index.html>
Find out what the CIA is all about, play games, and solve puzzles. Resources for various audiences including parents and teachers.

Climate Kids
http://climate.nasa.gov/kids
Climate Kids offers kids clear answers to questions on global climate change through sections on weather, air, the ocean, fresh water, carbon, energy, plants and animals and technology. Includes educational games, activities, crafts, videos and information on green careers.

Computer Science Student Network (CS2N)
http://www.cs2n.org
The Computer Science Student Network (CS2N)  is a resource with engaging activities designed to teach students of all ages on how to program robots, animations, web pages, and games. CS2N is a collaborative research project between Carnegie Mellon University and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The site is designed to attract students who plan to pursue advanced Computer Science and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CS-STEM) degrees.

Eyes on the Solar System
http://eyes.nasa.gov/index.html
Control space and time with real NASA mission data. You can fly with NASA's Voyager or even hop on an asteroid all from the comfort of your own home or classroom.

Frabroom
www.fraboom.com<http://www.fraboom.com>
Fraboom is the world's first LIVE interactive online children's museum. The site, which is ideal for children ages 6-12, specializes in engaging educational content that can work to strengthen the bonds between parents and kids through books, cartoons, classroom materials, websites, live presentations and interactive programming.

Fred Rogers Early Learning Environment
http://ele.fredrogerscenter.org
Early Learning Environment (Ele) helps parents and caregivers utilize media as a tool for PreK learning. The site offers a large number of learning activities in a variety of formats including songs, games, books, videos, and more.

Generation on Youth Advisory Council
www.generationon.org<http://www.generationon.org>
Whether you are looking for something to do after school or to fulfill a service requirement, you'll find inspiration to change the world around you here. This interactive website has a volunteer position search, blogs full of personal stories, and offers project tips from young people like you!

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/videos
This NASA site has videos, games, and projects about outer space, the solar system, and space exploration.

Judy Schachner
www.skippyjonjones.com<http://www.skippyjonjones.com>
Fun, festive, and full of fantastic resources, this author webpage includes interactive stories, games, print-outs, and educator resources.

Kids.gov
www.kids.gov<http://www.kids.gov>
Kids.gov is the official kids' portal for the U.S. government. We link kids, parents and teachers to U.S. government information and services on the web from government agencies, schools, and educational organizations, all geared to the learning level and interest of kids.

KidsThinkDesign
www.kidsthinkdesign.org<http://www.kidsthinkdesign.org>
Everything that people create or construct needs to be designed first--and whether the product is clothing or buildings, books, graphic art or gardens. This site offers just the tools to get young designers going on projects of their own. Those tools include design news, interviews with working designers in ten fields, suggestions for starter projects and even an online showcase for original work.

Money As You Grow
http://www.moneyasyougrow.org
Learn important lessons about financial responsibility for all ages. This site was developed by the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability.

The New York Times Education
www.nytimes.com/learning<http://www.nytimes.com/learning>
The New York Times Learning Network provides teaching and learning materials and ideas based on NYT content. It includes lesson plans and resources for teachers as well as quizzes and activities for students 13 and older.

Olympic: The Official Website of the Olympic Movement
http://www.olympic.org
Find the winners of every event in every Olympics since 1896--along with slide shows and videos, career profiles of renowned athletes, virtual exhibitions about the ancient and modern Games, Olympics news, and descriptions of each sport.

PBS Kids Raising Readers Kids Island
www.pbskids.org/island<http://www.pbskids.org/island>
Helps children develop and practice basic reading skills through online games and activities with their parent, teacher or caregiver.

Poisson Rouge
http://www.poissonrouge.com
This is an online play environment for the youngest of computer users. Learn vocabulary, shapes, numbers, music, time and much more. Poisson Rouge is structured in a way that makes it easy for very young children to navigate. There is a very broad scope of content.

Poptropica
www.poptropica.com<http://www.poptropica.com>
Created by Jeff Kinney of "Wimpy Kid" fame, this virtual world invites young gamers to create a character and to undertake age-appropriate quests on over a dozen "islands" based on themes from history, nature, and human culture.

The Science Kids
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts.html
Science kids provides fun and interesting information on science and technology, searchable by grade level. Find games, projects, activities and more!

SciJinks
http://scijinks.nasa.gov
SciJinks offers information for kids on the subjects of weather, the seasons and earth's place in the solar system. Includes facts, videos, and printable posters and bookmarks.

Seymour Simon
www.seymoursimon.com<http://www.seymoursimon.com>
Called by The New York Times "the dean of [children's science] writers," Simon offers information about himself and his books (over 250 and counting!) on his official site, along with study guides, science news and videos, a science dictionary and more.

TurtleDiary
www.turtlediary.com<http://www.turtlediary.com>
Aimed at children from Pre-Kindergarten to second grade, this site offers over a thousand educational puzzles, games, projects, worksheets and more in areas from math and science to ESL and arts and crafts. Both paid and guest memberships are available.

We Give Books
www.wegivebooks.org<http://www.wegivebooks.org>
We Give Books enables children to read a book online and after doing so, a physical book will be donated to a child in need through literacy programs around the world.  Created by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation, it combines the promotion of literacy, both to the child reading online and the giving of books, and the concept of giving.

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