An
Internet Scavenger Hunt!
By Sandy Fleming
Holiday vacation's just
around the corner for many families, and with
it will come children clamoring about being bored. Many turn
to the
Internet to help occupy young minds, but finding wholesome and
fun
sites can be a real challenge. Visiting old favorites is fun
for a
while, but every family needs new ideas for web play now and
then.
Take off with Busy Gradeschoolers
this month on our first-ever Internet Scavenger Hunt! This
puzzle will stretch young minds
and take
them on a tour of family-friendly sites you can bookmark for
more
exploration and play. And better than a simple list of sites,
you can
enjoy the challenge of unraveling the mysteries to find the next
address to visit.
Be sure to read each clue
completely before you head off to the next
site so you know what detail you need to uncover. Many of the
addresses have a word missing -- the clue is the thing you were
asked
to
find at the previous site. You may need to help your child type
the
address into the browser correctly (remember that typos can send
an
unsuspecting youngster off to who-knows-where and they may
accidentally land in some unsavory spots). THE LINKS WILL NOT
WORK AS
THEY ARE PRINTED! Once you find a site that your child enjoys,
be sure
to bookmark it so you can return later.
Please provide adequate
supervision in cyberspace. Younger children will need someone
to sit beside them while they work the puzzle,
and
older or more experienced Internet users should be able to find
their
way with less guidance. Please, if your family Internet monitoring
strategy dictates, visit each site yourself ahead of time to
make sure
that it meets your personal standards for your children.
Now, off we go! Enjoy
the puzzle, and I hope that you find some interesting and fun
sites for you and your children to explore.
Start your hunt at www.coolmath.com.
Numbers follow your cursor here.
They are in the same order as the colors of the ___________.
Go to www.________-magic.com
The site owner here has a collection of free graphics. What is
the
first category listed? What is just one of these things called?
Visit www.nps.gov/yell/kidstuff/_______/.
Click the M. Now, think of a
famous cartoon example of one of these animals. What was his
name?
Find www._______.toonzone.net/.
What was the name of Captain Peachfuzz's ship? What kind of
animal is that?
Go to www.Virtual___tank.com.
Where is the museum that sponsors this
activity?
Visit www._______kids.org. What's the kids' online activity
about?
And here's your bonus
for the journey. Nearly every kid loves this
site that often has great ideas about the word you discovered
above.
Head over to http://yuckykids.discovery.com and plan to stay
a while!
Did you enjoy the Internet
Scavenger Hunt? Want to do another? Send an
e-mail to kids@busyparentsonline.com and let me know!
Sandy Fleming
is an educator, author and workshop facilitator. She resides
in southern Michigan with her husband and three daughters.
Sandy leads workshops for daycare providers and parents
in the region, tutors students, volunteers for Girl Scouts
and her church, and teaches online classes for adults and
children. She loves to make new friends, so please drop
her an e-mail at kids@busyparentsonline.com
