Just for Kids : Editor's Choice
by Amy Hembree

Beakman's Electric Motor
fly.hiwaay.net:80/~palmer/motor.html
A fan of the television show "Beakman's World" created this page with instructions for building the simple electric motor featured on the show. Perfect for children, only a few materials are required, most of them common household items. The step-by-step instructions and diagrams are clear, so this would make a good science project for an older child or a fun experiment for adults to try with younger children. The author also provides tips for further experiments with the motor and advice in case the motor is used as a school project. For those using text-only browsers, the diagrams can be downloaded as gif files.

The Canadian Kid's Page
www.onramp.ca/cankids
The Canadian Kid's Page is a great jumping-off point to sites designed for the younger set. Although this site does have corporate sponsorship, there are no links to commercial sites or advertisements, so parents won't have to worry about a barrage of toy and junk food ads. Easy to navigate and understand, links are annotated and feature symbols giving hints to special contents on each page, including warnings for lengthy download times: Canadian sites feature the nation's flag, a camera stands for a plethora of pictures and a speaker alerts visitors to sites with sound. A link to a collection of software required to run sound and movie files is also provided. Kids can find pen pals here or submit their own pen pal requests with descriptions of their personal hobbies and interests. Not for Canadian kids only, the site is a fun resource for parents and children all over the world who wish to learn more about other countries.

The Children's Literature Web Guide
www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/index.html
According to the author, this online children's guide "is an attempt to gather together and categorize the growing number of Internet resources related to books for children and young adults." More than a mere list of links, however, the guide also presents book award lists from print and Internet sources. Information about children's movies and television programs based on popular books is also collected here, including "Jumanji," "Tom and Huck," "The Secret Garden" and "Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill." The wide selection of online literature includes myths and legends, contemporary stories and, one of the most interesting sections, a collection of links to sites that feature stories written by children. Well-researched by its author, a University of Calgary librarian who explores and describes each link and feature, The Children's Literature Web Guide is an exhaustive resource for parents, educators and children who can never get enough stories and literature.

FishNet
www.jayi.com/sbi/Open.html
FishNet is the Web hangout for teens who like to think not only about where they've been or where they are, but where they're going. Academically-oriented, FishNet features guides to colleges and other educational opportunities, as well as "Edge" magazine, the electronic continuation of "Young Scholar," which covers teen and academic issues in depth. Topics there include life in high school, hot issues in education and the travails of choosing -- and getting into -- a college. FishNet also realizes that all work and no play makes for a dull teen. Street Speak follows the ever-changing linguistic habits of teenagers with a healthy library of (clean) slang, including the old stand-bys (cool) and words that someone's best friend submitted last week (wooshie, meep). FishNet also features a chat area, and the self-explanatory Weird Fact of the Day. Those who register with FishNet receive regular updates and a birthday surprise by e-mail. There's lots to do and learn here, perfect for teens who never stop thinking.

Gordon's Entomological Home Page
www.ex.ac.uk/~gjlramel/welcome.html
So what is a bug, anyway? Some people might think it's anything that's small and gross and careens with unbelievable speed through the air or across the kitchen floor -- or slowly and creepily down the sidewalk -- a monstrosity generally subject to the frenized ministrations of either a flyswatter or stamping feet. Entomologists, however, have narrowed bugs down to the insect order Hemiptera. And Hempitera-obsessed children -- and adults -- will find Gordon's Entomological Home Page a delightful Web stop. The mysteries of a multitude of insect identities and anatomies are explained here, with links to buggy details about each insect order, including Hemiptera or "true bugs."

The famous and gorgeous Death's Head Hawkmoth greets visitors in living color, and pages of links -- both on the Insects Home Page and the links page -- buzz bug-fans to even more creepy-crawly sites. Colorful, well-organized and easy to navigate, this site is a fitting and fascinating tour -- not bad for creatures that make up 99.99% of all the animals on Earth.