There are many, many Web sites about Pokémon. While visiting Pokémon sites I find that they all begin to look the same. Whether it is an official company site or a personal homepage, Pokémon sites tend to include the same things: news, game tips and cheats, facts about various Pokémon, information on products, episode guides for the TV cartoon show, movie details, and so on.
The Yahooligans Pokémon page is a good place to find a variety of children's Pokémon sites, but in this column, I'd like to take you to a handful of unique sites with Pokémon games, crafts, coloring pages and other neat freebies.
Nintendo's official Pokémon site has the usual FAQs and strategy guides for games, the Pokédex Encyclopedia of Pokémon character stats, and lots of information on products. You can also download a few free Pokémon badges and computer wallpapers.
The Pokémon the Movie Web site has movie promotional material, plus a quiz game called PokéMatch. In this Shockwave game you must match each Pokémon with its evolved self. Good luck!
The Kids Domain Pokémon Page is a great source for fun games, crafts, printable activity pages, and more. Each section contains a mixture of original material and links. You'll find a thorough list of online Shockwave and Java games, as well as downloadable games for PCs and Mac computers.
The Crafts page mostly features pony bead Pokémon projects. The Printables area includes coloring pages, word puzzles and mazes. Kids Domain is an outstanding site and is one of my favorite places to visit on the Web. There's always lots to do here.
Crafts for Kids at About.com also has a Pokémon Crafts page. You'll find original crafts created by expert guide Sherri Osborn, plus links to crafts elsewhere on the Web. The level of instruction provided for each craft varies, so you will need to exercise your imagination. This site has banner ads.
Check out DLTK's Pokémon Crafts for Kids for projects using toilet paper rolls and other household materials. This is a growing collection of instructions with printable patterns. You can also make party invitations and a calendar. Each craft pattern is available for black-and-white and color printers. This site is made by a mother of two young children and each craft has been tested at home and at preschool. They are recommended for children ages 4 and up.
The Pokéland Coloring Book features about twenty printable coloring pages of well-known Pokémon--from Articuno to Seaking. There is a banner ad on this page.
Berit's Browse is where Berit highlights her favorite sites on various themes and discusses her opinions and observations about kids' sites and kids on the Internet. The column is also a great place for to cover topics that you are interested in. Let her know what you'd like to read about!