More Dress Up

Boy, do my girls like these dress-up games. They prefer the games where you have to drag the items of clothing to the doll, to those where you simply click and the clothes automatically appear on the doll.

Dress Up Fun

It's a bit of a hard-sell site, but the two dress-up games are fun at Claire's.

The "Claire Bear" is my preference because there's more to do after you dress it up.

Coloring Book Math

For practice with multiplying, adding, dividing and subtracting in a cute game format, try Coloring Book Math.

You need to click the correct answer to color-fill one of the several pictures (but it's self-checking in that you can't fill in the wrong answer). Littler ones can just "guess" the color.

The Toymaker: Marilyn Scott-Waters

Sometimes you're lucky enough to find a truly worthwhile site, and The Toymaker is one. Marilyn Scott-Waters is a writer and artist, who designs folding paper toys you can make yourself.

Her goal is simple: to help grownups and kids spend time together making things.

Her artistry in story and for the eye is exquisite.

Olympic Flag Tag

With the Olympic's on, it's a great time to play Flag Tag, courtesy of the United Nations.

It's a site worth spending time at for parents too, perhaps learning about the 10 stories the world needs to know more about.

Finger Knitting for Kids

There's a site that explains how to knit using just your fingers at Kids Can Make It. It's an introduction to knitting, demonstrating that knitting is a series of loops, and it's of course easier for a child to learn knitting without needles.

Because you only use four fingers, it's obviously quite limited as to what you can make - the site suggesting head bands and ties, but my girls want to try little doll skirts and dollhouse throw rugs, etc. Actually, if you sew a few knitted bands together, you might end up with a scarf.

Solar System Q&A

Do you know about the phases of the moon--why there's a full moon about once a month and at other times, it's dark? [we see different amounts of the moon lit by the sun, as the moon travels around the earth]

What's the moon called when it's halfway between the sun and earth, with the dark side facing the earth and the sun shining on the other side? [a new moon]

Do you know what a quarter moon is called? [a crescent]

Well, it looks like my daughters are getting interested in the solar system, so I'd better brush up. I'll start with something simple: Astronomy For Kids is about my speed, with simple explanations and lots of pictures.

Simple Sudoku

Okay, I finally found a Sudoku game I can manage! -- I mean, of course, that my kids can play.

I started with the 2X2--numbers 1 through 4--and sailed through Easy, Medium and Hard (just to make sure my 7 and 9 yr olds wouldn't have problems, you understand).

Now I'm on the 3X3--numbers 1 through 9. Maybe I'm just a little tired from all the excitment, but, boy! the Easy Level sure is a challenge.

If I don't post for a few days, you know where I am...

UPDATE: a really really hard site here: http://www.websudoku.com

Site for pre-readers

Poisson Rouge is a wonderful site for pre-readers (and the rest of us!). Because there are no directions, every click holds an element of surprise. I didn't much like the painting (the web-based brush is unwieldy), but the water jar to clean it between color choices is fun and the fact that the wallpaper takes splashes adds some reality.

As the name indicates, it's a French site - but it's bilingual too, so one alphabet has French vocabulary and the other has English. Merveilleux!

A League of Extraordinary Women

There's a program underway, driven by a nationwide coalition of professional engineering societies, that hopes to attract girls to engineering by making them aware of the importance of engineering in everyday life.

Only 23 percent of all engineering graduates are women, a much smaller percentage than those in medicine and law. In part, girls don't understand the profession and think of engineering as boring. (What is engineering?) Furthermore, they're looking to work in a field they feel has more potential to change society.

Another crucial reason girls shun engineering is because they're not encouraged to think about it. Teachers, parents, and counselors "haven't got a clue what engineering is about." As a result, when most girls choose the profession, it's because, in part, they already know someone in it. The project seeks to attract girls to engineering who don't have that advantage.

Read the full article in IEEE Spectrum.

Dollhouse Decor

There's a little dollhouse that your daughter might enjoy decorating over at BillyBear4KidsCom. It's got windows and curtains, plants and pictures, furniture and toys for placement: it's sticker fun that can go on forever.

Note that this game works only with the Internet Explorer browser (not Mozilla Foxfire, for example).

Maybe this'll spark your child's interest in interior design? Play is serious stuff!

Virtual Band!

There's applause, there's a bass, drums and an electric lead guitar. Wow! I think I'm famous! My 7 year old says "they play ugly" and wants a "singer" -- now she's off to compose a masterpiece on the piano.

Ah, fame is fickle.

Batter's Up Multiplication and Addition

This is a fun way to practice math: Batter's Up Baseball from ProngoCom.

I struck out first try, but then I was trying to...yeah, that's it...I wanted to see what happened if you got all the answers wrong and struck out...yeah...

(bring a pencil and paper for calculating!)

Painting Fun

My kids like to paint, but get tired of the same old programs after a while. A new one that I'm trying -- and it looks good -- is a free download called Tuxpaint.

There are interesting features like dripping paint and "quick grass" that are my favorites so far. The only problem is that, although I selected English as my language of choice, I ended up with Polish...

UPDATE: Get the other free download too - the stamps are great - an extensive collection, and with the blurring and other features, you too can make one spooky-lookin' graveyard! (Can you believe they have tombstone stamps?)