Scholastic, Sesame Street Lead Edutainment Online

The blend of education and entertainment, often referred to as edutainment, is readily available on the Internet. Separating the best from the rest, however, can be frustrating. A good way for parents to begin researching the right sites for their family is to start with trusted offline brands. Scholastic and Sesame Street are proven children’s favorites whose Web sites showcase both education and entertainment as well as provide safe and comfortable online environments.

Scholastic.com

Scholastic Inc. is a global children’s publishing and media company whose stable of bestsellers includes Harry Potter, Animorphs, the Baby-Sitters Club, Clifford and Goosebumps. So it’s no surprise that Scholastic.com, found at https://www.scholastic.com, is a massive site. Fortunately, it is well designed and organized with a page that clearly delineates the three main sections: Teachers, Kids and Parents.

The Teachers area reads like a how-to of classroom curriculum. There are lesson plans, an events calendar and a host of professional resources--including child development, famous authors and books, discussion guides, daily news for kids and opinion polls. Also included are online projects broken down into language arts, social studies, science and math.

There is plenty for children to explore in the Kids section, with links to home pages for Harry Potter, Animorphs, Goosebumps, Captain Underpants, Clifford and other high-profile favorites. Afterward, kids can play games such as the Magic School Bus Activity Lab, Clifford’s Xylobone or Create Your Own Comic. This latter nifty exercise features the slightly bizarre Captain Underpants in a do-it-yourself comic book that can be e-mailed to friends. There are also book and software sections, plus a link to the News Zone for kids.

The Parents section showcases Scholastic’s Parent and Child magazine, which includes reviews of toys, books and software as well as ideas for family activities. The section also includes information about book and software clubs and book fairs.

Scholastic.com is the official Web site for Read for 2001, a worldwide campaign encouraging students and teachers to read for 2001 seconds--or 33 1/3 minutes--beginning at noon Friday.

SesameStreet.com

For more than 30 years, Sesame Street has been a leader in children’s educational media. The PBS television series’ unique blend of edutainment and Muppet madness has been given a bright new interactive playground at the recently relaunched SesameStreet.com, accessed through https://www.sesameworkshop.org.

SesameStreet.com features original content and is designed to make parents and children feel as though they’ve stepped into the television show. The home page offers a large animated window with lots of clickable Muppets, who play musical notes, plus a signpost directing visitors to either the Parents or Kids section.

Sesame Street Parents is an information guide and activity planner featuring regularly updated parental advice columns such as Talking Out Loud by Sonia Manzano. Fun To-Go helps plan offline activities for inside or outside the house by utilizing simple household items. For example, clicking on liquid soap nets instructions for Bubbles of Fun. Parents also can view Sesame Street television listings and get information on Sesame Street products.

The Kids section is geared for young children and features basic games, stories, music, art and e-mail. The games are elementary--find five letters in a picture of Big Bird camping or Grover in the desert and the reward is a brief cartoon. The stories also are simple click-throughs, although the Art section has a neat paint-box activity in which kids can choose colors and place them in a virtual coloring book.

The Music section includes Sesame Radio, where kids can play their favorite Sesame Street tunes. The Mail area allows users to post e-cards to friends or send e-mail to Sesame Street characters.

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Karen Jones is a freelance writer specializing in children’s interactive media.

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Kids’ Web Sites

Scholastic.com

https://www.scholastic.com

Packed with kids’ favorites--from Harry Potter to Clifford the Big Red Dog

SesameStreet.com

https://www.sesameworkshop.org

Muppet madness, with plenty of kid-friendly entertainment