Parents' Guide to Activity Village

Parents are the site's main audience; its content is geared toward adults, who are encouraged to access dozens of free activities, organized by type and topic. Most of Activity Village's offerings are printable downloads, including puzzles, craft ideas, and other items; there's very little kids could actually do on the site. One section, featuring online games, is essentially the site's only interactive item (although kids may have a hard time getting the games to load).

The site's focus on printable items should be OK, though, since the content is generally better suited for younger kids, whom parents may not want online. (Some activities help kids learn about months, days of the week, numbers, and other basic concepts, and the puzzles and games aren't overly complex.) Parents who are willing to put in some time searching for and printing items can find some worthwhile, interesting activity ideas. Activity Village's one drawback is the lack of extra information on each topic. The site sometimes includes brief videos and/or written descriptions with individual activities; it's a shame each one doesn't include that additional background on historical, scientific, and other subjects, because it would help make some of the more trivial items, such as the site's coloring pages, a stronger, more meaningful learning resource.