Kids and Tech : New Sites to Check Out

Today, I was flipping through Family Fun magazine and found some new cool websites for kids. I am always looking for fun new ways to explore with technology. This week at school, my kids learned to log onto the computers with their username and password. We learned how to get on the internet using Safari and search for a site (Starfall this week because I know the site was new to many of them and playing with letters, sounds and listening to rhymes and stories is just what they need at the beginning of the year). I also re-introduced them to a software program we have on our computers for creating, Pixie2. Last year kids made how-to creations with Pixie. This year I am anxious to figure out how I can embed first grade pixie creations on their blogs so kids can independently view, comment and enjoy their work with each other. In the meantime, I will be adding some of the following new sites to my webpage ( it's a work in progress) so that kids can access these new sites easily from home! Here is what I found:

Kideos is an online kid video site safe for kids (basically youtube for kids). I love this! It was very easy to use and I showed it my second grader who could have searched videos all night.

You can choose videos by age group, by channel or play around for awhile like I did. I loved the classic Three Little Pigs, Word World Videos, the many how-to videos like how to tie your shoes (kids could make videos like these), book characters (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Little Critter, The Old Lady Who swallowed a Fly and many more), crazy animal videos and much more.

Activity Tv is a site filled with how-to videos featuring activities kids love: magic, science experiments, origami, cooking and more. The videos are also categorized by beginner, intermediate and advanced.

The Toymaker is a site in which kids can choose paper toys to print and assemble. This site has printable animals, fairies and magic, math and learning toys, moving toys and boxes. For kids who love to build and wonder these print outs will keep them thinking. My 7 year old will be busy when I show him the wind boats and aeroplane. These print outs would also be great thinking during free choice or indoor recess.