SEARCH ENGINES for KIDS

• Yahooligans!
  http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/
  Akids' version of Yahoo!, this commercial directory only links to safe and appropriate kids' sites.
  
  DibDabDoo
  http://www.dibdabdoo.com
  A non-commercial, fast search engine that only looks for adult-reviewed sites safe for children and teens. The site currently has about 1 million links in its database.
  
• Ask Jeeves for kids
  http://www.ajkids.com/
  A unique commercial search engine that allows kids to search by using questions as well as key words.
  
• Awesome Library
  http://www.awesomelibrary.org/
  This non-commercial directory included more than 20,000 sites reviewed by educators. It has a translation service that lets visitors browse in several different languages
  
  Educational Software Directory
  http://www.educational-software-directory.net/
  In this directory, volunteers have reviewed and organized more than 23,000 sites into 14 categories.
  
• Great Web Sites for Kids
  http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/ALSC/
  Great_Web_Sites_for_Kids/Great_Web_Sites_for_Kids.htm
  This American Library Association (ALA) directory includes links to online resources for fun and learning -- all reviewed and organized by children's librarians.
  
• KidsClick!
  http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/
  This non commercial directory lists more than 5000 Web sites hand-picked by librarians.
  
  Canadian Kids Page
  http://www.canadiankids.net/ck/default.jsp
  Through this directory users can search hundreds of sites - particularly Canadian ones - by age and topic.

Tips for using kid-friendly search engines and directories

Kid-friendly search engines and directories are not foolproof and offer no guarantee that inappropriate or offensive content will not crop up during a search. They are also not responsible for where your may end up once you leave their site and start moving through other Web pages.

If you use a directory, find out whom it was created by -- is it an established authoritative organization? Check the directory's criteria for choosing the sites in its index. If it is a commercial site, keep in mind that some sites may be included for marketing reasons.

Test several tools to find out which one works best for your family. Search sites offer different features, and each search tool offers a limited number of sites in its results, so use more that one search engine or directory.