PBS Kids is an attractive, fun website where fans of PBS’s children’s programming can play games and watch videos of their favorite characters. While the games and videos are not explicitly educational, they often build skills in math and reading, among other subjects. Each show has its own section of the site, accessible by selecting the show’s characters on the cleanly-designed and brightly-colored home page. The home page features a wheel with links to all of the shows, as well as images of cars and busses driving by above with links to popular parts of the site. The layout is confusing at first, but labels for each item appear on mouseover. A video, displayed very small and not immediately apparent, begins playing as soon as the home page loads and every time the user returns to it and becomes annoying quickly. The main feature of the site is its games, but there are also videos featuring familiar characters. Navigation between pages is easy. All parts of the site are accessible without login, but personal accounts are available and easy to create. There is a linked page for parents with unique content, as well as links to other PBS websites. This site will appeal most to children who watch the referenced television shows, but the games do not require familiarity with the shows to play. Striking a rare balance between education and entertainment, PBS Kids will be popular with both children and adults. Recommended. Grades Pre-K - 5. ( )

I have always loved PBS and this website is an excellent supplement to the channel. For each children's show, there is a page with games (usually education), full episodes and coloring pages to print out. There are often also links to reading resources related to the show, usually if it is based on book or reflects an educational theme. ( )

The website has activities, games, videos, and crafts based off their shows, and they have printable story pages. The layout is very bright and fun, and is very easy to navigate. The TV characters each have their own section that is marked with their picture which makes it easy for smaller children to find the section they want. Activities can include building your own secret lair, designing your own character, or solving puzzles, and there are easy and hard games for different ages and abilities. School readiness programs, crafts and recipes, and a newsletter for parents are also included on the site. Everything that's clicked on announces itself, which aids in reading, and the games are fun and develop reading ability, and don't force you to do annoying software downloads in order to play. The layout of the pages doesn't have outside advertisements, which is helpful for parents who don't want their children exposed to advertising through a positive association with their favorite cartoons. Some of the activities are a printable braille translator, a peanut allergy quiz, and a travel translator to tell people in other languages about a peanut allergy. ( )

PBS Kids is the companion site to the set of television programs aimed for children on PBS. The homepage features bright colors, icons of favorite children's characters (e.g. Elmo, Martha, Curious George, Arthur), and links to videos and games. Clicking one of the characters leads users to a website for that character, and users are verbally instructed to click on an item to play a game or interact with a character. The website also includes tabs "For Grownups" -- i.e. parents and teachers. These tabs redirect to PBS.org's Parents & Teachers page, describing the series, how to use the website, and the scope of the site for kids.

Overall, the site is colorful and engaging for preschoolers who enjoy PBS characters. The website is very interactive and involves a fair amount of voice-over instruction and sound effects; parents looking for a "quiet" game to occupy their children will want to include a set of headphones for their youngsters! ( )

This site offers many educational and entertaining games for children. Whether children are interested in practicing reading, math, or other skills, there is something for everyone at pbskids.org. Highly recommended for children of all ages.