The New York Public Library is fully committed to providing comprehensive digital learning opportunities for all New Yorkers. We are currently offering access to a number of easily accessible digital resources designed specifically for school age children. NYPL's digital resources for children provide junior researchers with a centralized gateway to authoritative resources and offer an opportunity to explore the world in a safe environment. Digital resources allow students to practice test taking skills, read e-books and complete one's homework. Active engagement with educational games demonstrates the fact that seemingly abstract knowledge has immediate practical applications.

Learning to locate an appropriate resources is the fist step in a process of acquiring life-long information literacy skills. To take full advantage of electronic resources for children, click the Research tab on NYPL's homepage.

Then click to see our Articles & Databases page. Select Children from the drop-down list located next to the Audience tab and then click FIND.

NYPL currently lists over two dozen electronic resources designed specifically for children.

The lion logo next to the title of the resource indicates that this particular database is available only at your local branch. A blue house icon points out that access to this digital resource is available from home. Please remember to have your library card handy, as access from home requires an input of a card number. That number is located directly underneath the barcode. All of the resources listed below, with the the exception of BrainPOP, can be accessed outside of the library.

BrainPOP is a wonderful interactive learning tool and is available in all of our branches. Subjects that are covered by this resource include Science, Social Studies, Engineering and Technology, Math, Health, Arts and Music. While kids probably don't need a lengthy introduction to this fun database, I encourage parents to view an informative introductory video. BrainPOP's animated short videos, quizzes and games facilitate an understanding of Common Core Learning Concepts. BrainPOP encourages parents and educators to view relevant educational standards by sorting them by state, grade and subject. For example, the following image shows us how it is possible to find a New York State Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy for a student in 5th grade.

BrainPOP can be used by parents and educators for the purpose of creating an individualized test preparation plan. For example, the Study and Reading Skills section offers a number of very useful tutorials on the following topics: Critical Reasoning, Context Clues, Idioms and Clichés, Test Taking Skills, Mood and Tone, Fact and Opinion, Paraphrasing and Five Paragraph Essay. The Writing subsection offers videos on the topics of Main Idea, Points of View, Choosing a Topic, Show Not Tell, Similes and Metaphors. Depending on your child's age and needs, you might want to steer them towards the following math videos: Division, Decimals, Multiplication, Customary Units, Area of Polygons, Measuring Circles and Budgets.

BrainPOP covers a wide range of topics relating to a number extra-curricular activities. Going away on a vacation or planning a family visit? Anticipate a number of questions relating to travel, transportation and geography. A video explaining Map Skills, Airport Security or Longitude and Latitude can address some questions and concerns. Having difficulty explaining the concepts of Feminism, Apartheid, Stock Market or Taxes to your precocious third grader? BraipPOP is providing an easy introduction to an number of challenging topics.

BrainPOP offers a number of exciting educational games. Many of those games are directly related to the current Elementary and Middle School Curriculum Standards. It’s important to note that all BrainPOP videos are designed to test your child’s knowledge of a specific subject. If your child watched a BrainPOP video about the Bill of Rights, located under the general subject of Social Studies, in the section titled US Government and Law, games relating to this topic will automatically appear below this video. Suppose you daughter's interest in this seemingly dry and impersonal subject is waning, especially after she did not get a perfect score on the quiz. This could change, if she is given an opportunity to demonstrate her newly found knowledge by playing a game titled "Do I Have A Right?" Kids will strive to showcase their knowledge and creativity and BrainPOP games allow for just that. For example, "Do I Have A Right?" prompts a child to select an avatar, set up a law office and pick a law firm partner with a very particular set of skills necessary to run a successful specialty law practice. The success of her law firm depends not only on her theoretical knowledge of the Bill of Rights, but on her practical ability to simultaneously attend to a number of demanding customers, while connecting them to an expert in that field of law. Your child is expected to successfully pair a client with a potential case with a lawyer possessing the right type of expertise. In addition to that, your child is tested on her ability to manage clients in the waiting room, her willingness to expand her business through advertisement, and even her taste in office furnishings. No detail is insignificant, just as it is in real life! After watching a video titled "How a Bill Becomes a Law," your child can play a game titled "LawCraft." The Critical Reasoning video can be followed by "Argument Wars" game, which is also linked to topics of Debate, Student’s Rights, Supreme Court, Miranda Rights, as well as the same old Bill of Rights. While all those games tend to be fairly challenging, after playing the games on BrainPOP your child will establish a clear connection between the knowledge they have just acquired and its immediate practical application. The problem-solving power of knowledge becomes self-evident and rewarding.

eLibrary elementary offers classroom editions of Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In addition to those publications, eLibrary elementary offers NYPL's patrons a wide variety of e-magazines. The selection includes Calliope, an excellent children’s history magazine, Jack & Jill, National Geographic Kids, Boys' Life, Girls' Life, Highlights, Ranger Rick, Scholastic Math Magazine and a number of other interesting publications. This database contains a very comprehensive collection of DK Eyewitness e-books. While it's possible to search this database, browsing might work best.

TrueFlix allows students to hone literacy skills and build knowledge of a specific subject area through an exciting combination of an e-book and a visual resource. All e-books have a Table of Contents, Important Words and Index section. The Read-Along option is always present, as it should be, as children of all ages love to utilize it.

Colorful tabs on the left side of the page contain links to Project Ideas, Activity Center and videos related to the subject. Project ideas for the Bill of Rights book and video invited kids to write a Bill of Rights in their own words. The Activity Center includes a quiz and word match game. Books and videos are frequently updated. For example, the section on Extreme Nature includes a volume on Hurricane Sandy, something your kids might have experienced. The Experiments section works particularly well in this double format.

FreedomFlix follows a format very similar to that of TrueFlix. Dynamic e-books from Scholastic bring history to life by capturing the most dramatic and defining moments in American history. I found the Economy section to be particularly informative. For example, Hydrofracking, the process that changed America’s energy needs by Ann O. Squire contain a timeline, glossary, and goes particularly well with the video of the actual process of hydrofracking. Under the Explore More tab you can view short articles on hydrofracking or issues relating to it. Key people, Related Information, Challenge Reading, New Stories and Primary Sources sections offer further insight into this subject. A project idea for this particular book consists in writing a persuasive essay based on the questions provided.

Learning Express Library contains test preparation materials and interactive practice exams that will help students of all ages to improve their scores on a number of standardized tests.

The School Center Section of this database contains resources for Elementary, Middle and High Schools. Elementary Math section contains a variety of practice options for Geometry, Measurement and Data, Operatic and Algebraic Thinking as well as Number and Operation Practice. English Language Arts Skills Improvement section contains practice sets and e-books that offer elementary school students reading and writing help.

Just in case parents and care-givers are beginning to feel insecure about their own math skills, Learning Express Library offers Math Tutorials for Adults. Switch to an Adult Learning Center and take a comprehensive course on fractions, decimals and pre-algebra, so you can graduate to face the basic algebra tutorial.

Learning Express Library offers a variety of introductory instructional videos designed to assist users with registration, website navigation and e-book downloads.

TumbleBooks Library offers a very gentle introduction to your first digital storybook. TumbleBooks Library contains talking picture books, story books, puzzles and games, audiobooks, as well as books in other languages. Most picture books come with detailed information indicating the recommended grade levels, reading level and all the Common Core Standards. Reluctant readers will benefit from listening to the books while reading them on the screen. A number of books have a blue games icon next to them, indicating an availability of games based on that specific book. Puzzles, memory games, word catch and sequence games,allow for some fun and train concentration and logic skills.

You child's beloved book can be added to the Favorites list with a click of a mouse. TumbleBooks Library allows any user to create a variety of individualized playlists. Many great playlists, such as Math-Inspired Stories, Math Skills, History, Holidays and True American Icons are readily available to all the users. Selection for older kids includes a number of popular graphic novels.

World Book Online Reference Center consists of several distinct resources providing access to encyclopedia articles, periodical articles, videos and games. KIDS center targets younger users and invites kids to browse around. Colorful full screen shots of geographical locales, animals and natural phenomena come with a short, but pithy informational note. For additional information there is an option of following the link that will connect you to the Info Finder. In addition to an expanded number of articles on the topic of your choice, Info Finder keeps track of the current events as they occur and provides access to a number of international newspapers. Info Finder offers virtual tours of fascinating places, such as the International UFO Museum and Outreach Center in Rose in Roswell and Shankar's International Doll Museum. Enciclopedia Estudantil Hallazgos center provides reference information in Spanish.

Need a bird's eye view of a History of Aviation? Timelines offer its users hundreds of timelines on a great variety of subjects. Think you can make a timeline of your life or create a timeline for you school assignment ? World Book Online Reference Center allows for the creation of a customized timeline by providing a variety of templates and images. With dozens of authoritative resources on everything under the sun, including the sun itself, World Book Online Reference Center is an indispensable research tool for any homework assignment. After all the homework is done, perhaps, you can reward yourself by examining the Timeline of NBA Playoff Champions 1950 to present.

Ease of access and the engaging nature of NYPL's digital resources for children makes them an ultimate educational tool. The New York Public Library invites parents and educators to create more able young learners and researchers by taking advantage of these sites.