As a kid, I was fascinated by science, going through dinosaurs, my Radio Shack 160-in-1 electronics kit, starter microscope kit, and then my first telescope. Man, was I missing out! Kids today have at their fingertips more knowledge than was known at any prior point in history. It's just up to their imagination and a little help from Mom and Dad to begin the exploration.

I started putting together a list of cool kids' websites recently for my 4 year-old nephew (not that I'm pressuring him or anything). He is fascinated by animals and starting his dinosaur phase, so I began my hunt there.

I was amazed at the great quality of interactive and educational websites that are available and usable by kids. Below is a list of all the great websites I came across that your kids might find fascinating.

•The San Diego Zoo: www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/index.html. Always an excellent destination, online or on foot

This section of the zoo is dedicated to kids, with games, crafts and recipes

•National Geographic lives up to its usual great reputation with a couple of great sites: www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/tigers/maina.html, where kids get to build their own tiger house, and the main site at kids.nationalgeographic.com. The main kids site is one of the best resources on the web for young readers wanting to learn about the world, its people and its wildlife. There are games, polls, and even virtual adventures.

•For kids a little older, who may be working on school projects, www.arkive.org which is a huge collection of images, video and information about thousands of species around the globe.

•www.EOL.com, the Encyclopedia of life provides much more in-depth information. Their goal is to have one page for each critter on the earth.

•My favorite aquarium, where I almost got to wash the inside of the windows, is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Their website www.mbayaq.org, the "E-Quarium", gives you a look at how one of the newest and most elaborate aquariums in the country works, learn about the effects of El Nio, and see the sea otters at play.

I also found a great collection of sites for kids wanting to learn more about how things work, and basics of science:

•www.howstuffworks.com, featured as a regular show on the Discovery channel, provides cool, interactive, demonstrations about how many common things in our world work and how they are made.

•Ology, www.amnh.org/ology, issponsored by the American Museum of Natural History. The website is a playground for children interested in all areas of science. Some of the subjects covered include dinosaurs, marine biology, genetics, astronomy. Games, crafts, experiments, and interviews with scientists are all part of the variety of activities included.

•This site is great for kids looking for a fun summer project, or next year's science project. http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/

For general fun and games, check out these kid-friendly sites:

•www.crayola.com features many interactive activities.

•www.funbrain.com is more education, but still very fun, and helps kids practice reading and arithmetic

•www.poptropica.com is an interactive world where kids play against and with each other as they explore a fantasy world and compete in fun games.

•www.funology.com has lots of cute jokes, games, wacky facts and fun science for kids.

•www.sesamestreet.org/home, Sesame Street is something that many of us grew up on, and I'm happy to see it extending online, to provide an even richer interactive experience for kids.

This list has been brought to you by the letter "K" for kids. A final word to parents: Be sure to install a "net Nanny" program on your computer to help filter out what you kids see. The internet can help them learn about the wonders of the world, but we want them to be safe as well.