Web SiteReviews: February, 2005
RSS-- School Library Journal, 02/01/2005
Kids In The Kitchen
Art Recipes. avalon-arts.com/studio/recipes.html. Avalon Arts Studio. (Accessed 12/13/04).
Gr 2 Up-Want to stir up some goop? Flubber, anyone? This site has inedible craft recipes for those kinds of kid-friendly things and more. Everything can be made in the kitchen. Some require adult supervision, especially those involving boiling water. The best recipe that requires no cooking is for play dough. There's even a recipe for whipping up fake snow. For the more adventurous, there's a link at the bottom of the page for many more craft recipes. Some links are broken, but there are more than enough to make up for that minor annoyance.
Café Zoom. pbskids.org/zoom/activities/café. Public Broadcasting Service. (Accessed 12/13/04).
Gr 4-7-Recipes for and by kids are listed here under typical cookbook categories: "Snacks," "Drinks," "Main Courses," and "Desserts." The resource is geared more for younger children who can follow a recipe with adult supervision. "Edible Spiders," "Bread in a Bag," "Ticklish Tea," and "Dirt Pudding" are bound to tempt kids. Click on any of the recipes and you'll find Café Zoom's refrigerator where the recipe is posted along with a drop-down box ready for an instant rating. Most of the recipes are easy to prepare and require few ingredients. At the beginning of more complicated recipes it's stated that cooking or baking is required. The trendy use of color and graphics makes this a popular site for preteen and young teen cooks.
KidChef. kidchef.com/cda/index.cfm. Kid Chef. (Accessed 12/13/04).
Gr 2-12-This cooking site for children seems to have it all, from easy beginner recipes (parental help suggested) to much more complicated recipes for making bread and layer cakes from scratch. Included with each recipe is an indication of degree of difficulty. One chef hat indicates the easiest, while three hats signifies the most challenging. Recipe categories are the most varied of any site listed here. It has a true "cookbook" feeling, boasting appetizers, main courses, and desserts. Click on the "Cooking Basics" tab first to make sure the cooking terms are understood. "Before You Start" lists the basic rules of cooking, from washing your hands and making sure all the ingredients are available to cooking safety and cleaning up. The "Cooktionary" is a complete glossary of cooking terms. "Fun Stuff" is an area where kids can submit their own recipes, ask a question, or take a quiz. This might not appeal to teens old enough for unsupervised cooking and already tackling complicated recipes, but for everyone else it's an excellent place to start.
Kids Kitchen. nutritionexplorations.org/kids/kitchen-main.asp. National Dairy Council. (Accessed 12/13/04).
Gr 2-4-In this educational and fun offering from the National Dairy Council, a featured recipe appears on the "Kitchen" page with a link to more recipes. Although the cooking part of this site is on the skimpy side, and the recipes are all milk-related, the introduction to basic nutrition is an important feature. It also has tips for washing your hands, asking an adult for permission to cook, and cleaning up. Children will find the games on the "Activities" page a painless way to learn about proper diet, nutrition, vitamins, and the food pyramid. Enter a favorite food riddle on the "Contest" page. Play an exciting game of "Combo Kitchen" with two characters intent on finding the best food combinations. There's a lot to see and do at this interactive site.
Recipe Source: Kids. www.recipesource.com/misc/kids/indexall.html. SOAR. (Accessed 12/13/04).
Gr 5-9-Many cooking enthusiasts already know that the Searchable Online Archive of Recipes (SOAR) is the ultimate online recipe database. It also has a hidden gem: a section of more than 170 recipes geared to children who want to cook. Most are food recipes, but there's an assortment of non-edible, craft recipes as well. There's even one for a terrarium made from a soda bottle. The text is plain, and there are no accompanying pictures. The catchy titles of some recipes may tempt kids to try them. "Chicken Pox Pancakes," "Fake Snot," and "Cat Poop Cookies" will battle it out with "Broccoli Trees," "Sewer Soda," and "Pathology Pound Cake."
Science of Cooking. www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/index.html. Exploratorium. (Accessed 12/13/04).
Gr 6-12-Science, cooking, and history are combined to explain not only how to cook, but also what happens chemically during the cooking process. Six main categories line the left-hand of the home page. Choose from "Eggs," "Pickles," "Candy," "Bread," "Seasoning," and "Meat" to begin a journey of discovery that cooks and non-cooks alike will appreciate. Kids who enjoy cooking will find recipes for an apple pie that uses no apples, an egg white dessert named after a famous ballerina, and more. Science enthusiasts will be intrigued with taste bud tests using Life Savers, making a salt string sculpture, or dissolving an egg's shell in vinegar. For those who want to be entertained, check out the "Candy-o-matic" for a funny look at the various stages of soft, hard, and burnt candy. View the international pickle gallery. Take the dinner party fix-it quiz and see if you have what it takes to cover your cooking blunders.
Helping Others
Creating a Hunger-Free America. www.secondharvest.org/site_content.asp?s=43. America's Second Harvest: The Nation's Food Bank Network. (Accessed 12/1/04).
Gr 6-12-By clicking on the "Three Lives: Community Kitchens" heading, students will learn the stories of three homeless children as they go from hopeless to hopeful. All three were partnered with the Rhode Island Community Kitchen's job training program, and students can follow their experiences over a 12-week period. Students may want to join forces with America's Second Harvest when they sponsor "One Big Table," an annual public awareness campaign. "Hunger Stories," an interactive page, starts with a clickable map of the United States where readers may add their own stories or read the stories of soup kitchen sponsors and those who frequent the kitchens. "Living with Hunger," a 12-minute video, can be viewed using Real Media Player. Students working on reports should visit "Issues in Depth," "Fact Sheets," "Hunger Study of 2001," and "Role of Government." This excellent site can be used by students for homework and to jumpstart community involvement.
CARE: Where the End of Poverty Begins. www.careusa.org/features/vfts.asp. Care. (Accessed 12/20/04).
Gr 5-9-Students need not pack their suitcases to see firsthand how poverty impacts Third World countries and the steps being taken to reverse it. Students can take 13 virtual trips to countries like Guatemala, Mali, Kosovo, Ghana, Nepal, Peru, and Bolivia. CARE workers, occasionally accompanied by students from various schools and community groups, have visited these countries and share their thoughts in "Journal Entries," complete with photos. There's also a segment on each country's traditions. The site also offers information about making donations to CARE. (Note: the "Videos" option is not in service at this time.) While hunger is not the primary topic here, it is a crucial part of the much larger issue of poverty, especially in undeveloped countries. This site offers a good deal of information that could be used for reports, as well as details to join other students in the CARE Youth Corps.
Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger. www.feedingminds.org/default.htm. (Accessed 12/12/04).
Gr 4-12-Each year on October 16th, World Food Day is held to celebrate the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. FAO's mission is to raise public awareness of hunger, malnutrition, and their effects on people throughout the world. This Web site offers teachers and students three model lesson plans on three grade levels--Primary, Intermediate, and Secondary. All lessons can be loaded as PDF documents as well as viewed as Web pages. The pages are available in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Greek, Indonesian, Italian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. An online interactive discussion forum, hosted by iEARN (the International Education and Resource Network), allows students to share ideas and learn about other cultures. Sponsors include the World Bank, National Peace Corps Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and a host of others. Click on "Links" for other informative Web sites. This site is geared to teachers, but civic-minded students can learn from it as well.
In Depth: Famine in Africa. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/africa/2002/famine_in_africa/. BBC News. (Accessed 12/15/04).
Gr 7-12-This in-depth report from BBC News is from 2002 but is still relevant today. Students will find heartbreaking stories of people from Ethiopia, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, and other countries. Links across this page lead to questions of why there is such widespread hunger around the world, how drought is affecting countries, and whether appeals for charitable donations are exaggerating the need. Another "In Depth" page, "Disposable Planet?," examines issues such as population, food, and energy. With BBC's impeccable reporting and research, students will find plenty of material here for reports, debate topics, and class discussions. (Note: Should the URL above not work on your browser, go to your search engine and enter "Famine." This page should be one of the first listed in the results.)
Save the Children Art Contest. www.savethechildren.org/corporate/art_contest.asp. Save the Children. (Accessed 12/20/04).
Gr 3-8-Children are invited to help Save the Children (STC) by designing artwork that will then be featured on merchandise, such as ties, scarves, note cards, and calendars. The products support the mission of Save the Children, which works tirelessly to better the lives of young people around the world. Children may submit artwork at any time and as often as they like. (An entry form in PDF format is easily linked to from the page.) Another offering from STC are the Save the Children Virtual Tours (www.savethechildren.org/countries/virtual_tours.asp#). Students using computers equipped with speakers and QuickTime will find these well-done virtual tours and slide shows informative. Topics include a "Journey with Save the Children to See How We Prevent Hunger and Malnutrition Around the World," and tours of various countries with Bono of U2 and Chris Tucker. Some of these are very brief narrated movies, while others are slide shows.
Voice of Youth: Make a Difference. www.unicef.org/voy/takeaction/takeaction_97.html. UNICEF. (Accessed 12/20/04).
Gr 7-12-This site offers ideas for young people who want to help eliminate hunger and other social problems. They can join Voice of Youth, part of the Web site for UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund). The "Take Action" section is the place to begin. "First Steps" outlines what social problems need to be tackled. Kids can get help there choosing an issue, conducting research, and assessing information on a particular problem. They must then decide if they want to proceed alone to help with a cause or collaborate with others locally, statewide, nationally, or internationally? Other sections of the site include "Explore," which touches on issues such as Children's Rights and HIV/AIDS. "Speak Out" features discussion forums and a newsletter. Much of the material can be read in French or Spanish. (Click back to the UNICEF homepage to find the latest international news, UNICEF Radio showcasing children talking about children's issues, and the most recent State of the World's Children report.)
