Noggin
High-tech, commercial-free site from Nickelodeon for primary-grade
kids.
Grade Level: Pre-K-2
http://www.noggin.com/
CONTENT:
Noggin.com is the companion site to Noggin TV, which is Nickelodeon's
"commercial-free TV for pre-schoolers" channel. Activities
and games are targeted at this preschool audience and have been developed
with specific learning goals in mind.
AESTHETICS:
Noggin is colorful, child-friendly, and mostly graphical. Children
can move from area to area without reading using the pictures to navigate.
ORGANIZATION:
The main Noggin page shows pictures of all the characters available
on the pages. In addition, a drop down menu allows access to all kids'
areas of the site. Buttons on the top and text links on the bottom
of each page allow users to login or visit adult areas.
REVIEW:
Noggin.com has a wide variety of activities for young children and
features familiar characters from Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop.
Created to complement the Noggin TV channel, the website offers activities
designed to build developmental skills in preschool children. The
site is graphic-intensive, which makes it easy to navigate for children,
but also makes it slow to load on anything but a fast Internet connection.
The newest Shockwave plug-in is necessary to view many parts of the
site. The site offers both online games and printables, including
coloring, sequencing, and thinking activities. An example of both
is found in the And
Then What Happened section where kids can view a story, solve
a sequence puzzle, work with story stickers, and print the story to
color and retell. The character sections of the site use familiar
characters and storylines to capture children's attention and practice
skills such as counting and sorting. There are also numerous activities
"just for fun." Parents can register their child at the
site. The registration and login features allow children to create
and save work at this site. This site is a valuable resource for anyone
who works with preschoolers - parents or teachers.
