I get a little nervous when students tell me they have a YouTube account or they Google searched something. We talk about safe searching habits, but my stomach still rumbles for what they may see while 'out-there'.
These are some of my favorite safe search engines for kids - and most are powered by our friends at Google (thank you very much!) Kiddle and KidRex are both safe search engines.KidRex has a "Kids" and a "Parents" section. From the random searches for 'dogs', 'rainbows' and others, I've been happy with the top results of my searches.
I'm a bit happier with Kiddle as the results seem to be more 'kid-friendly' - with images, varying reading levels, a wiki section and more. When I surveyed students, they seemed to have been able to find what they were needing more in Kiddle.
Students want to be YouTubers, but you never know what they're going to view when they search for 'that' image. Enter YouTubeKids. There is a YTKids app for Apple and Android devices and features kid profiles, watch history, blocking options, video reporting and my favorite, a timer option - so parents can set a limit on how much time is spent in the app - nice features.
My list will always include Wonderopolis - which offers so many interesting topics for everyone. I get a 'wonders' email everyday, which makes for a nice reading break during the day. These folks also offer online camps, wonder-jar challenges and more. Big Fan!
Cool videos? The Kid Should See This is the place to go! Videos about science, tech, music, art, dominos, robots - you name it...they have a cool video about it. This is a fun way to give a break during the day and see something cool....very cool!
When you need a word, a rhyme, antonyms or definitions, WordHippo works brilliantly. This site is a fun favorite!Thanks to these sites for keeping the advertisement kid-friendly as well. Young students need places online that they can turn to for good kid-friendly information and good kid-friendly images, making being a good digital citizen a little easier.
