Jennifer Lind

A whole world of games, learning activities, and other interactive tools are available for children. Learning isn’t just for the classroom anymore, and it definitely isn’t limited to reading a book or sitting through a discussion. I came across a website from Jefferson County Schools in Tennessee with a large resource of Interactive Websites that are specifically geared towards children for grades pre-K-12 (turns out there are many other sites with a compilation of interactive children’s sources as well). These sites cover a broad range of topics including math, the solar system, art,  animals, bacteria, etc. Many even have teachers guides.

Many of these sites are rudimentary in their look and feel and may require an adult to help the littler ones navigate since even I had a bit of difficulty finding the interactive portions through all the other links. However, some of the sites link to area science centers, national geographic, and other large organizations with money and staff available for web design. My personal favorite is the National Gallery of Art. Here, you can create your own art pieces online. Create still life paintings, landscapes, collages, mobiles, 3-d shapes, and tons of other options.

One thing that concerns me is that many of these interactive learning sites required registration to use. I’m not sure why you would require email and other info from a child to use your website.

It’s great to see that education has taken a bold pioneering stop toward interactive learning and is creating fun environments online for children.