by Todd Durell

Here’s a really good website for science activities, videos, and games for children: National Geographic Kids.  The site has sections on animals, games, videos, stories, activities, and photos.  The animal page has short articles on some very cool creatures and includes videos of the animal in its habitat, a map showing where the animal lives, as well as recordings of the animal’s sound.  The hedgehog video is particularly fun.  There are also games, including jigsaw puzzles, quizzes, and a hangman spelling game.  On the video page you can learn about leopard frogs, blue whales, and much more. Stories, lots of them, cover topics like honeybees, redwood trees, “Ten Cool Archaeological Sites,” giant jellyfish, and malaria.  The activities page includes crafts, recipes, and basic science experiments you can do with younger children.  (I think “Try to Make an Ant Get Lost” looks really fun and I’ll try it when my kids are a little older.)  Finally, you can take a virtual trip to places such as Afghanistan or Ecuador on the people and places page.

If you’re looking for activities for younger children to augment your science or social studies curriculum, National Geographic Kids is worth checking out.