www.oxfam.org.ukcoolplanet index.html

This is an excellent spin-off from the main Oxfam website which may well succeed in turning your child into a model “global citizen”. Colourful and informative, the site invites kids to learn about countries in which Oxfam works.

Online quizzes test children on what they have learned from the site. They are encouraged to use “fair trade” products (goods from developing countries which are paid for at a fair price) to make exotic-sounding (and no doubt tasting) Swahili buns. The site links to a teacher zone, with advice on integrating global citizenship into the classroom. There are suggestions on how to incorporate the “Wake up world” section (in which the lives of four children from different parts of the world are chronicled) into the literacy hour by using pupils’ diaries.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

www.rspb.org.uk

The RSPB makes good use of its web presence to educate the young in environmental issues. And according to their figures, they’ve already attracted 150,000 members under the age of 18. Potential young recruits are lured from the main site by a bird called Rook to the lively junior wing of the website.

Children can discover how “green” their CD collection is and whether their next sartorial purchase should be a pair of organic jeans. Teachers who remain in the adult area of the site are treated to online teaching resources: English teachers can print off grammar worksheets, and design and technology teachers can get pupils to design and build their own bird table.

www.tes.co.uk