Happy 4th of July! (MASSIVE LINKS HERE)

On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the road to becoming their own country, independent from England. If you are an American citizen or you live in the United States, you are very lucky because we are a great country that loves freedom very much. In this country, you can dream any dream of what you want to be and you can work toward making that dream come true.

I have collected a lot of great stuff for you to look at, learn from, enjoy, play with and just have fun and it all has to do with the 4th of July and/or our great country. Pick a place that you would like to visit from the menu list below. That webpage should open up in a new window.

SECURITY NOTE FOR BOTH KIDS AND ADULTS: Almost ALL websites use some kind of advertising or they ask for donations. You will probably see that at many of the links I provide here. That's not necessarily something bad but I think it's fair to tell you it will be there. KIDS, you must NEVER give your email address or any other personal information about yourself to any website without telling your parents FIRST that's what you want to do. That's also true if a website says you can download something to your computer (yes, even if it's for free). NEVER DOWNLOAD ANYTHING TO YOUR COMPUTER without telling your parents first that's what you want to do.

GAMES TO PLAY! FOR FREE!

You can play any of these games for free just by clicking on the link for the game you want to try.

Some games may require rapid hand-eye coordination which may be difficult for very young children.

The Scruffs Uncover Grandpa's secret and help The Scruffs save their family home.

Play this free game now!!

Monster Trucks Nitro Drive massive Monster trucks over crazy cool tracks

Play this free game now!!

8 Ball Quick Fire Pool Pocket as many pool balls as you can before the time runs out!

Play this free game now!!

Mahjong Daily Play a different puzzle everyday in this classic Mahjong game.

Play this free game now!!

Pharaoh's Tomb Collect as much gold as you can, avoid monsters and traps!

Play this free game now!!

Storybook Spot the difference in the pop-up storybook.

Play this free game now!!

Penguin Push Push all the ice blocks into the yellow holes.

Play this free game now!!

Simon Says Do what Simon Says.

Play this free game now!!

Basketball Slam Hear the crowd roar as you slam dunk your way to victory.

Play this free game now!!

Carnival Jackpot Form a line of three in a row and win the carnival jackpot!

Play this free game now!!

SECURITY WARNING FOR KIDS AND PARENTS: The games I link to are okay, in my opinion, for kids to play HOWEVER, this and ALL other game websites exist by advertising and so you will see ads to buy games and/or other stuff. I think it is fair to warn kids and parents that they will be seeing ads. Kids, NEVER download anything to your computer without letting your parents know first that you want to do that.

GAME: Bowling (Play now! Free!)

Free myspace games - Free blog games

People Fun

Biographies for Kids presents stories of presidents, inventors, educators, scientists, and business men and women to inspire the student to follow their examples of courage, determination, honesty and willingness to work.

Each story features 7 free printables:

multi-choice test, word search, crossword puzzle, word scramble, study sheet, student worksheet, and picture to color

And, there are 7 online activites for each biography:

Online computer-graded tests, online games, jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles,word searches, scrambled word puzzles, and pictures to paint

Please do visit the main entry page for this great website. Meanwhile, here are just a few of the very fascinating people featured here:

News for Kids

I had the idea of collecting some news (current events) resources for kids and put that into Google and one of the first websites listed is Scholastic.com and a good thing it is, too. I am simply amazed by this website. It is not only H-U-G-E, it is well organized by interest level from primary grades through teen years. The base (or "parent") website deals not just with news but with all means of making learning something fun and relevant, meaning it really matters in your life and it's not just dumb stuff you're forced to do because you're in school.

Kids, this is one website you definitely want to bookmark and keep in your "Favorites" list. Parents, that goes for you, too, because this website also has resources for parents and teachers.

Teachers, I just know you already know about this website.

The Statue of Liberty is featured in the graphic I made for this website because it just happens to be their featured news story of the week.

I will definitely be revisiting this website and will highlight other features of it. Now, on to more news resources for kids:

ABC News 4 Kids

New York Times Student Connections

Online News Hour Extra from PBS (Grades 7-12)

Time Magazine for Kids

Weekly Reader (kids through teens)

National Wildlife Federation

Science News for Kids

National Geographic's News Bites

Science News

NASA's Kids Science News Network

Business News for Kids (kids through teens)

News for Teens

Y?Press Youth News Network

L.A. Times Kids' Reading Room

Popcorn News (great site published by 8th-graders)

Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition

CNN Student News

Big News Network

The Current Events

Kids Are Heroes

Do you know a kid who is a hero? Does she or he deserve to be recognized for something wonderful they did? This website is the place to honor really great kids who are already making a difference in this world. Read the stories that are here and get inspired to do something great. Or, add a new name and recognize someone who's earned the honor. You can make a difference!

I want to feature just two stories here, but I really think you should go visit this great website.

STORY ONE: When Tyler Page was 9 he watched his first episode of Oprah with his mom. She was featuring a story on children being sold into slavery by their own parents for as little as $20. Fishermen would take them miles away and make them fish for 14 hours with one small meal a day. He couldn't believe how these children were being treated and when he found out that just $240 would keep one child out of slavery for an entire year he asked her to pause the show. He asked if he could have a fundraiser in order to raise that money. His mom asked what he would do and how he would do it and three weeks later, in March of 2007 he and his buddies had their first car wash. They didn't raise the $240 but $1,200! He decided not to stop and kept having more fundraisers with more and more children wanting to help at all of them. He set a $50,000 goal, started a non-profit organization called Kids Helping Kids Leadership Academy, Inc. and surpassed that goal in just 17 months. Kids from all over wanted to help so his mom started a leadership academy where kids come and learn about integrity, honesty, communication, time management, money management and a lot more. It is truly amazing how a 9 year old boy's simple heartfelt idea could have turned into so much. Pure intentions and team work have certainly paid off.!!

Check out

his Web site.

County: Contra Costa CA, USA
School: Adams Middle School

And then there's this one: I came across this wonderful (Kids Are Heroes) website and story a few weeks ago from a link that was sent to me. My daughter Mia who is 5 years old overheard the news cast that was playing and she had a lot of questions. I explained to her what the website was, and what a good deed meant. On her own she thought of helping a man on our street who had a brain bleed and has been left paralyzed. She said "Mamma, we could help Mr. Doug!" We thought together we could plant flowers for him, so we did. Since that day she thinks of something every week that we could do to help him. This week it's washing his windows. So I just wanted to say thank you for this great thing you've passed on to her. It has been a great opportunity to teach her compassion and doing unto others.

City: Burlington ON, Canada
School: Pauline Johnson Preschool

GO AHEAD! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Fun Science Projects & Experiments

Are you ready to have fun? Let's go!

How to Make a Tornado in a Bottle


How to Make Virtual Vomit


How to Make Flubber or Slime


How to Blow Up a Balloon With Baking Soda & Vinegar


Diet Coke and Mentos

Name That Candy Bar!

Can you identify the candybar by looking at the cross section? GO THERE.

Whales and Dolphins (Cetaceans)

Cetaceans are mammals that live their entire lives in the water. They include whales, dolphins and porpoises. The largest living creature on the Planet Earth is the Blue Whale. Watch this video about the Blue Whale and you will be amazed:

Sometimes, whales sing songs to one another because that's how they communicate. A lot of people like to listen to recordings of whale songs. This next video lets you hear songs of the humpback whale:Dolphins' brains are as intelligent in their own dolphin way as we humans are in our way of thinking. Like humans, dolphins love to play and have fun even after they become adults. This video shows the playful behavior of dolphins, showing off their surfing skills during a human surfing contest: If you've enjoyed these videos and you'd like to learn more about dolphins and whales, you'd probably like these websites:

Dolphin Picture Gallery from hi-tech dolphin.com -- I used some of their photos in the mini-slideshow below this list (as well as pictures from other sources). This website is not designed for small children but it does have numerous resources on dolphins.

What is a Whale? from Enchanted Learning -- a fantastic website! Be sure to check out ALL of their whale links.

National Geographic for Kids has a whole interactive section on the bottlenose dolphin with pictures and videos and even e-cards that you can send!

The Dolphin Institute in Hawaii takes you on an interactive journey exploring the world of whales and dolphins. I linked to the Kids Section.

Dolphin Research Center -- Wow, they have games, fun facts, adopt-a-dolphin, dolphin camp, help marine mammals, and coloring!

The Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary -- sections for teachers and students and even a Kid's Corner with fun activities.

"Whale" from Wikipedia -- tons of information and links to resources and other topics having to do with whales and marine life.

"Dolphin" from Wikipedia -- also has tons of information and links to resources and other topics having to do with Dolphins and marine life.

Save the Whales -- learn their song and join children around the world on Thursday, May 13, 2010 to sing for the whales! Save the Whales focuses on educating the public, especially children, about marine mammals and the fragile ocean environment.

Whales.org -- great information resource with pictures and video.

The Latest News on Dolphins and Whales -- from Science Daily.

David's Dolphin and Whale Photos -- one of the largest collection of dolphin and whale pictures on the Web! This is the place for all fans of whales and dolphins.

Whale-Watching-Web -- All the large whale species and many dolphins and porpoises can be seen regularly on a wide range of tours, lasting from an hour to two weeks. Whale watching is a non-consumptive use of whales with economic, recreational, educational and scientific dimensions.

WhaleNet -- has sections for teachers, students, and the general public.

And here's a fun list of books about the subjects of Dolphins and Whales. Remember, a book list is also a list of things to buy and kids need their parents' permission and help to do anything like that. I'm making book lists because I think parents and teachers appreciate that sort of stuff.

Do You Play Computer Games?

Sometimes, it can get very frustrating when you are really enjoying a game and you get stuck because you can't figure out what to do next. That's when you need to look at a walkthrough or tip sheet on how to play the game. One of the very best websites for this is called "Universal Hint System" or just "UHS" for short.

UHS puts their hints on compartmentalized lists so you only see the hints for one little piece of the game at a time. That way, you don't spoil the fun and adventure of doing the game for yourself. You only see the hints you really need to see. Of course, you can read through the entire thing if you really want to do that.

My only problem with UHS is that they are so detailed and so well-organized and my brain is NOT organized so I sometimes get lost and don't know how to backtrack to where I really want to be. Try to remember where you are in their hint system. Don't get lost like me.

UHS does not have hints for every single game that was ever created but they do have a lot of them. Other ideas for getting hints and helps for games might be to put the name of your game into a kidsafe search engine along with the word "walkthrough."

Sometimes, the company that makes the game will have a user manual, either free or you have to pay for it (sometimes, as much as you paid for the game). Some websites that offer downloads of games also have forums and blogs that provide game walkthroughs.

How's the Weather Near You?

What's the weather like near you? Would you like to show everyone what's happening right now in your area? You can get weather news and forecasts and "weather stickers" to put on your own webpage or blog by going to Weather Underground and putting any city into the search engine. That city's weather along with a whole lot of other information and goodies will show up for you.

One of the features of this website that I enjoy are the photos taken by just regular people like you and me that show the scenery in their area. There's also advice from people about travelling to different cities so if your family is planning a vacation, this would be a good website for your Mom and Dad to check out.

This website could be a great resource for school reports and homework.

Anyway, here are a few weather stickers from around the country and the world that show what's happening right now:

Book Report Now! Website

This is a very helpful website when you have to do a book report and your brain starts fuzzing over and you doubt yourself and wonder, "Um, where do I start?" This website will take you through all the steps. Really, really helpful for all age levels.

U.S. Geography Game

How much do YOU know about U.S. geography and where individual States are located? Can you find them all on the map? As the little guy flies by in his plane, you click on the State named in his fly-by banner. Easy!

Bejeweled Game

Jigsaw Puzzles Online

I have a collection of many, many online jigsaw puzzles with great pictures that you'll love to put together. I'll show just some of them right now but check back with this blog because I'll always be adding something new!

The really fun thing about these puzzles is that even if I start out a puzzle as "very simple" or "difficult" or anything inbetween, YOU CAN ALWAYS CHANGE THAT. When the puzzle pops up, on the left side are choices that let you change the number of puzzle pieces and even the shapes of the pieces. Maybe I liked to make a jigsaw out of bird shapes but you want tetris shapes. You can do that. Below, you will see thumbnail images of puzzles with a text link beside them. Click to start your jigsaw puzzle fun!

White House Jigsaw Puzzle
Simple - 6 pieces - regular shapes

Ribbons Jigsaw Puzzle
Simple - 12 pieces - zig-zag shapes

Quilt Jigsaw Puzzle
Kind of Hard - 48 pieces - regular

Hungary Jigsaw Puzzle
Medium - 22 pieces - wavy shapes

Gumballs Jigsaw Puzzle
Hard - 41 pieces - Tetris shapes

Crayons Jigsaw Puzzle
Kind of Hard - 40 Pieces - Bird shapes

Purple Daisy Jigsaw Puzzle
Medium - 22 pieces - polygon shapes

Gumdrops Jigsaw Puzzle
Very Hard - 67 pieces - regular shapes

Patriotic Jigsaw Puzzle
Medium - 48 pieces - USA shapes

Hamburger Jigsaw Puzzle
Kind of Hard - 48 Pieces - regular shapes

Mount Rushmore Jigsaw Puzzle
Easy - 20 pieces - regular shapes

Kitten Jigsaw Puzzle
Easy - 20 pieces - regular shapes

Soccer Ball Jigsaw Puzzle
Medium - 32 pieces - round

Valentine Hearts Jigsaw Puzzle
Very Hard - 79 pieces - brick shapes

Rumwood Court Jigsaw Puzzle
Kind of Hard - 48 pieces - regular shapes