Jun

27

Did you know that TV viewing goes up ny 150% over the summer?  Check out the Smart Television Alliance site to help manage the use of the TV in your home, find the best shows for kids to watch during the time you allow it and learn ways to protect your kids from common problems encountered as they are bombarded by negative influences in the media.  I admire and respect the decision to keep the television out of the home completely, but as most parents allow at least some television viewing, it’s great to find a helpful resource like this site!


May

15

memorial.jpg

First observed in 1868 in honor of Civil War soldiers, Memorial Day these days for those of us who live in the US is often just a day off from work for parents and an opportunity for some family time. As we try to teach our kids an appreciation for those who have served, and are serving our country to ensure our freedom and security, here are some links to teach about the history of the holiday and ideas for observing the day:

History of Memorial Day

Send a care package to a service member through the USO

E-Cards to send to those serving in the Armed Forces

Some Memorial Day wallpapers and links to memorial sites

Memorial Day Word Search


Apr

21

earth.JPGOwl and Mouse Educational Software has boatloads of free educational games and activities good for a wide range of ages. My favorite part of their site is the geography - free on-line map puzzles and interactive maps. Whether you’re learning the 50 United States and their capitals or you’re trying to memorize all the countries in Africa, these are a fantastic way to learn and review. Also available on the site are activities to learn letter sounds, and games to learn about medieval life (Castles, Shields, Knights, and Heraldry). Have fun!


Apr

14

elmo.JPGCheck out Sesame Street Workshop for these great free alphabet coloring sheets, perfect for teaching kids their ABCs! Also available are coloring pages to learn numbers and shapes. Have fun!


Mar

31

The Weather Channel kids! website is a fun, educational website with free fun for kids. Check out the Weather Encyclopedia (in the WeatherED section) for information on flooding, thunderstorms, tornadoes and more cool stuff. The Let’s Play! section as some neat ideas for both outdoor and indoor activities. Do you know what advection fog is? What about the ionosphere and the intertropical convergence zone? Visit the weather Glossary to find out, strike up a conversation on the subject with a sibling or parent, and watch their face when you start talking about mammatocumulus!


Feb

16

rosa.JPGFebruary is Black History Month in the US, and this is a great time to learn about African American leaders and heritage. Here are a few resources and activities to get you started!

Resources 

Frederick Douglas - American Visionary online museum exhibit chronicles the history of Douglass, his ideas, and his influences.

American Slave Narratives:  An Online Anthology a collection of interviews with former slaves who discuss their lives before and after freedom. The site features photos and RealAudio sound clips from one of the original interviews.

Coloring Pages

Rosa Parks

Martin Luther King, Jr

George Washington Carver

Jackie Robinson
Craft

Sparkling African Collar Necklace transform an ordinary paper plate into stylish ethnic jewelry.


Nov

15

microscope.JPGScience experiments are a fantastic way to learn while having fun, and ZOOMsci is full of free ideas for science activities and experiments. Try making butter in the Chemistry section, a homemade flashlight in the Engineering section, or a potato maze in the Life Science section! There are over 150 different ideas available, so go ahead and get started!


Nov

3

pilgrim2.jpgI can’t believe it’s this close, but Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so get ready to have lots of holiday fun! Here are some easy Pilgrim and Indian crafts to get you started. All you need is a toilet paper roll, some crayons or markers, glue, and paper to print out the template.

This is a great way to teach kids why we celebrate this holiday. As you make these crafts you can tell kids the story of the first thanksgiving, and the kids will enjoy acting it out with their characters.


Aug

25

Now that the kids are back in school, it’s helpful to know where they can get help with homework questions, research and writing and even study skills. There are more sites than ever before offering help to kids and parents. Here are 7 great ones:

PATH Pupils Ask Teachers Help - offers 100% FREE internet based solutions to help parents and students with homework or other school related questions. They offer online message boards (forums), to full website pages, to email support, to live chat with real teachers in almost every subject available.

Math.com - covers pre-algebra, algebra and geometry

FreeMathHelp.com - along with free math lessons including a bunch of video lessons, there is a worksheet generator and some math games

DiscoverySchool.com - huge list of homework helps, including resources to help with report writing and projects.

ProQuest K-12 - don’t miss the student success modules at this site, which provides a lot of information about how to organize, study and write well.

FactMonster Homework Center - lots of subjects covered here, and there’s a good section on study skills and note taking.

General Chemistry - great tutorials, a searchable common compound library and glossary, and even a chemistry exam survival guide and much more.


Jun

12

classicsThe radio show, “Classics for Kids” has a wonderful website that I just discovered and am so excited to share it with you! You can listen to current and past week shows as well as play games such as the Note Name Game and Rockin’ Rhythm Master, and you can even compose your own music. It’s a great site for kids to get familiar with instruments, composers and classical music in general. The Musical Dictionary has recordings of how all the instruments sound, and if click on Hear the Music, you can listen to entire pieces of great classical music.


May

9

rollercoasterVia Casual Keystrokes, I found this cool site for all you future engineers where you can experiment with roller coaster building online.

It is your mission to design the coaster so that you can achieve maximum thrills and chills without crashing or flying off the track (unless that’s how you like your coaster to work!).

You accomplish the “mission” by changing the speed, height, gravity, friction, etc. I had lots of fun playing with it!


Apr

21

americangirl

 

For all of you out there who love American Girl dolls, the American Girl web site is full of games and activities that are educational as well as fun!

You can visit the world of the historical dolls like Felicity and Molly, send an e-card to a special friend, whip up some “super snacks”, and even discover your Superpower! Hours of fun for girls at this site- check it out!


Apr

16

Do you have a little one who is interested in bugs? Check out the InsectLore site where they can play and learn at the same time. On the site, there are insect related games and activities that will keep them busy as little bees!


Apr

13

I know that many of you who visit here are also regular visitors at Printables 4 Kids, so you may have already seen this new Earth Day Word Search.  But, if you haven’t- stop on over and check it out!

Curious about how Earth Day got started?  You can read about it at the US EPA web site.


Apr

12

I recently wrote about the ABC game at the Fisher Price site.  That game is perfect for toddlers (and preschoolers), and I found another ABC teaching site that is great as they move into the preschool years at Starfall.com.  It has different areas for each letter with animation and great sounds.  It includes both uppercase and lowercase as well.  It is really well done- check it out and let me know what your kids think of it.


Mar

20

Learn to tell time printable worksheet

March 20, 2007 | Comments Off

Here’s a free printable worksheet that has the clocks set in 5 minute intervals that will help the little ones practice telling and writing the time. I found it at a nice site called Time for Time that has some good teaching resources for teachers and parents, including this page that has some games for even more practice with clocks.


Mar

16

It used to be that you could only watch Veggie Tales on your VCR/DVD player, but now you can see them on Qubo on NBC Saturday mornings.  Here’s a link to a fun Veggie Tales game that I think you’ll like.  You shoot the little guy out of the catapult into a bucket of slime!  There is also a Veggie Tales Alphabet Soup game where you scoop up verbs with a spoon- really challenging!
Thanks to Shelli for the tip about this site!


Mar

9

Learn to draw

March 9, 2007 | 3 Comments

Have you ever wanted to learn to draw animals?  There are several really good tutorials on the BillyBear4Kids web site.  You can learn to draw a penguin, a cat, a frog, faces and hands, etc. in simple step by step lessons.  There are lots of other neat drawing activities on the page too!


Feb

16

Like the number tracing sheets I posted several days ago, these alphabet sheets are designed for preschoolers to learn to write their letters. The letters are nice and big- perfect for tracing with a crayon. There are three sheets:

Letters A-L | Letters M-U | Letters V-Z


Jan

31

At the White House web site, there is a dedicated area for kids stuff that has lots of entertaining and educational games, quizzes and historical information that kids will enjoy.  There are activities for all ages - you can even learn about the White House pets!


Jan

24

I found this fun idea on The Idea Box. Make Astronaut Pudding by putting 1 tablespoon of chocolate (or any flavor) instant pudding in a ziploc bag. Add 1/4 cup of milk. Close the bag. Squish up the pudding mix. Poke a hole in the bag and suck it out. Eat just like the astronauts with no utensils!!

Then you can color this nifty astronaut picture and practice writing that long word! (from Homeschool Views)


Jan

21

The Don’t Buy It site at PBSKids teaches kids about advertising tricks and gimmicks, encouraging them to get media smart and question all the advertising that bombards them.  There’s a recipe for fake ice cream that looks just like the real thing and a fun activity area where you can create your own cereal box.  These are valuable lessons as kids are exposed to more and more advertising every day, and lessons in “critical thinking” are sorely lacking in our school systems.


Jan

20

This game at BrainPOPJr embarrassed me - I actually missed some the first go-round.  Give it a try and see if you can get them all the first time!


Jan

17

All you need is paper to make the folded models at Origami.com. Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. You can download a range of projects from Simple to Complex. When you get really good at the art of folding, visit this site for directions on how to make an entire chess set out of paper! Of course, then you’d have to learn to play chess.


Jan

16

Sudoku 4 Kids

January 16, 2007 | 1 Comment

Sudoku is a great logic exercise for anyone, but I think it’s an especially good teaching tool for kids.  Check out Jigsaw Sudoku. The grids are only 6×6 vs. the regular 9×9 grids you usually see, and you can play online by moving the numbered tiles into the correct spots.  You can even get a hint if you need one!


Jan

10

This game at PBS Kids is a fun way to practice alphabet skills.  There’s even an online version in case you’d rather not print and cut out the cute little cows.  Moooo!


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