CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: INTERNET BUILDS NEW GENERATION OF ONLINE CONSUMERS (COLUMN 7)

Cybertip: If you want to surf the net but don't have a computer, visit the Cape Girardeau Public Library. It has two public access Internet terminals, which can be used free of charge. Beginners need to take half-hour Internet introduction classes, offered four days a week.

It's September and school is back in session. We thought it would be a good time to look at some fun sites on the Internet for kids.

Web designers are no dummies. They know how many young people have access to the Internet through school or home. They are building a whole new generation of Internet consumers.

Hundreds of Web sites are geared specifically for children with games, coloring books, trivia and educational stuff. So many sites exist that Yahoo developed its own Web guide for kids called Yahooligans. We thought it would be a good place to start.

http://www.yahooligans.com

Peggy: Like the grown-up version of Yahoo, Yahooligans gives you an opportunity to search for something specific on the Web. Also, it directs you to some cool sites they found.

Joni: There are a number of categories as well, including Around the World, Art Soup, Computer Games, Entertainment, School Bell and Science and Oddities.

Peggy: How many Cheerios does it take to fill a bathtub? Yahooligans asks the question and links you to the answer at the General Mills site.

http://www.youruleschool.com

Joni: There's no question here who the site wants to attract: youngsters already tired of school and rules. It bill itself as the school where kids rule. No homework. No tests. It's all recess, all the time. There may be no rules, but you do have to get a locker combo to cruise the halls. That means you have to register. So much for anarchy.

Peggy: Users register with fake names for their own protection. We used Click and went to the world's loudest library, where you can take things out and keep them forever. In other words, you can download stuff or print it.

Joni: It's an appealing site, but there's no secret why these people are on the Web: to sell cereal. Little cereal characters, like the leprechaun or rabbit, are everywhere.

Peggy: By the way, General Mills says it takes 290,040 Cheerios to fill a bathtub -- 180,000 if you add milk.

Joni: One of the most colorful sites on the Web is designed by the folks at Crayola. You can find it at

http://www.crayola.com

Peggy: What are the two favorite crayon colors of kids everywhere? Red and blue. The average North American child will use up 730 crayons by age 10.

Joni: That's a lot of coloring. We also learned at the site that crayons are made of only two ingredients: paraffin wax and colored pigments. According to one study, most adults in North America recognize the smell of Crayola crayons. Out of the 20 most recognized smells in the world, these famous crayons placed 18th. We were disappointed there weren't any coloring books at this site. Wake up and smell the paraffin, guys.

Peggy: For someone who knows how to do the job right, visit

http://www.disney.com

This is a huge site: books, movies, theme parks, television, theater and of course, shopping. The Disney Store is conveniently online.

Joni: You can spend a lot of time at Disney.com, and come back often. There are games, movie clips, video tours of the park and much more. You can even play games online if you have Netscape and the Shockwave plugin.

Peggy: If you can't visit a Disney theme park, you can see what's happening inside the Magic Kingdom or Epcot. Every five minutes, Disney posts a new photo of the park. You can also look at all the photos from throughout the day in time-lapse photography. It takes a while to download, but it's kind of fun. Any site with a live cam is a great site in my book.

Joni: The Web has gigantic sites designed by such large corporations as Disney and .... Mrs. Gracey's second grade class. These gifted second graders have their own site, the Mouse Detectives at

http://www.iag.net~~/

~hutchib/gifted/index.html

We weren't very good detectives. We couldn't find where this school was located other than Orange County.

Peggy: Type in your questions, and these young detectives will find an answer and respond over the Internet. Someone named Henry asked "Why is the sky blue?" A second-grade homework helper named Sterling answered: "The sky is blue because air is all around the Earth. If we did not have air, like the moon, the sky would be black."

Joni: The second graders suggested a stop at the National Zoo Web site, which is part of the monstrous Smithsonian Institute home page. You can find the zoo at

http://www.si.edu/organiza/museums/zoo/homepage/nzphome.htm

Or, to look at the regular Smithsonian web site, just quit typing after www.si.edu

Peggy: The site offers an extensive photo library with many photos of animals. You chose animal groups, such as mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. There are 18 different photos of gorillas and 15 views of orangutans. Lots of information is provided about each animal, its habitat, behavior and diet.

Joni: It would a great place for animal research. In fact, children can find a lot of homework and research help on the Internet. Another place is

http://www.elibrary.com

Peggy: The Electric Library lets students search through more than 150 newspapers, 800 magazines, two international news wires, 2,000 reference books, maps, photographs and major works of literature and art in a matter of seconds. Researching term papers will never be the same.

Joni: And the best part is the library never closes.

E-mail us with your favorite sites at movn@ldd.net.

See you in Cyberspace.

~Joni Adams is managing editor and Peggy Scott is a graphics editor/staff writer at the Southeast Missourian.