Kids Games and Fun Sites

I understand your concern -- with all the inappropriate material, scammers and online predators, it can be a scary "playground" for your kids. But you as the parent must set the rules for when and what your children are allowed to access online. Make sure that computers are in public places in your home, and do a little "shoulder surfing" from time to time, just so they know you're watching. If they complain, remind them about that wonderful place called "outdoors" where they can ride a bike, throw a ball, catch a fish, or talk face-to-face with other kids.

Here are some of my favorite kid-friendly sites. In the list below, you'll find games, activities, educational resources, and safety tips. Some of them may even be fun for Mom, Dad and Teacher!

• Surfing The Net With Kids - Barbara Feldman, syndicated newspaper columnist and mother, shares her vision of what's wonderful and educational on the Web for kids. She welcomes parents, kids, teens, grandparents, K-12 teachers, librarians and the incurably curious.
• The Kids On The Web - an excellent site maintained as a labor of love by Internet luminary Brendan Kehoe. Kids on the Web has links for Fun Stuff, Pen Pals, Homework Tools, Children's Books and Things for Teens.
• Yahooligans - a web guide just for kids, with the same basic look & feel as Yahoo. Categories include Around the World, School Bell, Art & Entertainment , Science & Nature, Computers & Games. The Parents & Teachers links offer tips for online safety a guide to teaching with Yahooligans, and other useful information for grown-ups.
• Worldvillage KIDZ Online - has fun and games for kids ages 4-13. Plenty of online family-friendly games and other activities.
• Neopets - a community of over 70 million virtual pet owners across the world, lets you create and care for your own virtual pet, play fun games and explore the world of Neopia.
• FunBrain - offers web-based educational games for kids of all ages. The games cover math, grammar, science, spelling and history. Although it's one of the most popular kid sites on the Web, teachers love it too. Teachers can make their own quizzes for students and get scores by email.

If you allow your child to go online, make sure they understand the basic safety tips that apply to all online interactions, whether it be email, instant messaging, chat rooms or social networking sites like Myspace, LiveJournal, etc. Kids need to be reminded to avoid giving out information that might make it easy for a stranger to find them, such as their full name, phone number, address, or specific whereabouts. And make sure yor kids understand that people online aren't always who they say they are. It's fun to connect with new friends from all over the world, but they should avoid meeting people in person, unless accompanied by an adult.

NetSmartz is an educational resource that teaches kids and teens how to stay safe on the Internet. A joint venture of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, this site also helps parents and teachers learn about the dangers children may face online.