Rodney Recommends
Selected Web Resources for Youth and Those Who Work with Youth
Rodney Rat, the SWILSA mascot, thought that a list of favorite websites just for youth services staff would be handy, so here is the just the beginning of that list.
All About Coloring -- http://www.coloring.ws/coloring.html offers lots of coloring pages to print out whenever you need one for storytime!
Amusement Park Physics -- http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/.
Awesome Library -- http://www.awesomelibrary.org/ -- indexes 26,000 web sites with sections for kids, teens, parents and teachers.
Best Kids Booksite: Find crafts, fingerplays, coloring sheets and book recommendations at http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/.
Best of History Websites -- http://besthistorysites.net/ -- best sites for K-12.
Bilingual/Spanish Language Sites for Kids:
Translator
Aligator (game)
Spanish
ESL ESOL ELL EFL Games (for learning English)
Spanish
Theme Page (activities and printables) from Enchanted Learning
The Bookworm -- a free printable parent newsletter from the Idaho Commission for Libraries -- http://libraries.idaho.gov/page/bookworm.
Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site -- http://www.carolhurst.com/
CNN Student News -- http://www.cnn.com/EDUCATION/.
ˇColorín Colorado! -- http://www.colorincolorado.org/ -- bilingual literacy site with ideas for parents and those who work with bilingual children.
Day
By Day -- Family Literacy Calendar from the South Carolina State
Library --
http://daybydaysc.org/February/7.
Discover Kamishibai! This is a Japanese storytelling technique using large pictures. See http://www.kamishibai.com/.
Early Childhood Iowa -- Parents -- a resource for parents of young children.
EternityTravel.com -- Egypt site from the Boston Museum of Science.
Every Child Ready to Read @ your library -- http://www.ala.org/everychild
Favorite
Songs and Finger Plays --
http://www.district196.org/ec/ParentingIdeas/Songbook.pdf.
Fun in the Sun -- http://familyfun.go.com/parties/holiday/feature/summer_main_ms/ -- summer activities from Family Fun magazine.
Guys Read -- http://www.guysread.com/ -- author John Scieszka and the Association of Booksellers for Children encourage boys to read.
Holiday Zone -- http://www.theholidayzone.com/ -- for crafts, poems, action rhymes, etc. for all major holidays.
HowStuffWorks -- http://www.howstuffworks.com
International Children's Digital Library -- http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
Jim Arnosky's Wildlife Journal -- http://jimarnosky.com/.
KidsGardening -- "helping young minds grow" -- http://www.kidsgardening.com/family.asp
KidsReads.com -- http://www.kidsreads.com/ -- check out the trivia, reviews and series books list.
Kiz club Learning Resources -- http://www.kizclub.com/ -- great flannelboard patterns, etc.
My Home Library (cool bookplates) -- http://www.myhomelibrary.org/index.html
Nancy Keane's Booktalks -- http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/new.htm
Paper Bag Puppets -- http://abcteach.com/directory/fun_activities/crafts/paper_bag_puppets/ -- SWILSA has die cut pieces for making a sheep, a lion and a bunny. If you are looking for other animals, this is a good place to find them!
PBS Kids Sprout -- http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/home/jump.aspx -- games and activities for preschoolers.
Reach Out and Read on YouTube! See http://www.youtube.com/user/ReachOutandRead and look for videos to help parents with dialogic reading and other early literacy skills.
Reading Rockets -- http://www.readingrockets.org/ -- lots of literacy resources for anyone who is helping children learn to read. You might want to subscribe to their e-newsletter!
Recommended Books for Kids -- by theme -- http://www.readingrockets.org/books/booksbytheme
Saroj Ghoting's website -- http://www.earlylit.net
Science Friday from NPR -- http://sciencefriday.com/about/listen/
Shakespeare for Kids -- http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=588
The website of Snaith Primary School at http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/index.htm has good information and really cute graphics.
Storyline Online -- popular stories read by popular actors -- http://www.storylineonline.net/.
Summertime Favorites -- lists of classic books for kids from NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) -- http://www.neh.gov/projects/summertime-4to6.html.
Tammy Yee's Origami Page -- http://www.tammyyee.com/origami.html -- especially for kids.
Teen Reads -- http://www.teenreads.com/index.asp
Sites added 2/7/2011 -- Check back for new additions!
You will find additional Youth Services sites on the Iowa Library Service Areas' "Links for Librarians" page at http://www.ilsa.lib.ia.us/liblinks.htm#youth.