Dec 16

Christmas Crafts & Games 2000
Sun Review December 16, 2000

If only the Web had been around when I was a kid. There are so many games to play online, pictures to colour, crafts to learn, and activities to enjoy for the whole family that you just can't get bored this holiday season. Just be warned: like everything else to do with Christmas, these websites all have advertising.

If you're the crafty type and love to make your own gifts and decorations, you'll love Make Stuff (www.makestuff.com). You can find cooking recipes, craft projects, gift ideas, recycling crafts, sewing tips, and much more. The Christmas section (www.makestuff.com/christmas.html) shows you how to make your own homemade designer candles, christmas bouquets and ornaments, and even a brown paperbag reindeer.

DLTK's Printable Crafts for Kids (www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/xmas/) has an ever-expanding Christmas section. Leanne Guenther created this site for her own children two years ago and it has grown quite popular. You'll find pages of Angel crafts, other Christmas crafts and Winter crafts made using easy-to-find stuff such as juice cans, toilet paper rolls, paper plates, dried beans, and other easy-to-find stuff. Crafts are marked with their intended age level- for children as young as 2, and up to adult. DLTK's also has cards, envelopes and tags, colouring pages, songs, e-cards, and more.

The Kids Domain (www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas) is celebrating their 6th Christmas on the web. This collection of Christmas crafts is part of the Craft Exchange; visitors contribute craft ideas and the best ones are shared in the Exchange. You and your kids can celebrate the holidays with everything from crafts to online games to colouring pages and eCards.

Kids' Exchange (kidexchange.about.com) helps you brush up on the words and music to your favourite Christmas carols. Follow Sherlock Bunny's Excellent Holiday Adventures as he travels the world to celebrate the holidays. Kids' Exchange also has a fun holiday games section, featuring colouring pages, Flash jigsaw puzzles, word searches, mazes, trivia and more.

Did you know that elves love playing all kinds of games? Absolutely Christmas (www.geocities.com/Heartland/7134/Christmas/xmas.htm) has many Christmas links that kids and parents alike will enjoy. Try the elves matching game, the elf maze, a word search, the Official Young Elf Christmas Exam, a Christmas Hangman, and many other fun games. You can also find recipes for tasty and easy-to-do Christmas treats that you can make together with your kids, and Christmas stories to read online.

The annual NORAD Tracks Santa Claus website (www.noradsanta.org) lets you track Santa's progress around the globe. This site requires the Flash plug-in, so make sure you download the latest version from Macromedia (www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download)

If you're looking for more kid-friendly links, Theodore Tugboat's online librarian Berit Erickson (www.beritsbest.com) has compiled a list of more than 1000 websites suitable for children. Berit gives each site a brief description and rating. Website categories include Just for Fun, Serious Stuff, Holidays, Creatures Great and Small (animal links), and Kids on the Net (where you can find a penpal online).