Links

The following organizations and groups’ websites contain more information on sparks and thriving that you may find useful.

We have also compiled a list of websites that may be useful to young people who have specific sparks. Click on one of the categories below, or scroll down to see the list, and see which sites sound interesting. Share these links with young people in your community, or explore them for yourself!

Advocacy, Activism, or Helping Others

  • Change the World Kids
    A group of teens making a difference through humanitarian & environmental initiatives.
  • Corporation for National & Community Service, Idealist.org, Volunteers of America, Volunteer Match
    Sites that help kids and adults find volunteering opportunities.
  • Do Something
    Helps kids and adults find what they’re passionate about, and how to work for those causes in the real world. Valuable for those who know they want to help, but aren’t sure how or where to start.
  • The Freechild Project
    Dedicated to making social change action, education, and resources more accessible for young people around the world.
  • Free the Children
    Empowers youth in North America to help improve the lives of youth overseas.
  • The Innovation Center
    Seeks to help youth, adults, organizations, and communities to engage together in creating a just and equitable society.
  • Kids Can Make A Difference
    Helping kid help end world hunger.
  • National Youth Rights Association
    Dedicated to working for the civil rights and liberties of young people.
  • Roots and Shoots
    Includes information on national campaigns, useful resources, and a national directory of Roots and Shoots groups.
  • Ryan’s Well Foundation
    Aims to bring clean water to communities around the world.
  • The Shinnyo-En Foundation
    Committed to creating greater harmony in current and future generations, and building strong, caring communities around the world.
  • TakingITGlobal
    An online community, providing youth with inspiration to make a difference, information on issues, and opportunities to take action.
  • Teaching Tolerance
    Committed to spreading ideals of tolerance; including classroom activities, teaching materials, news, and other resources.
  • United Nations Cyberschoolbus
    An online education community, including fun, interactive learning activities for school-age children and materials for educators.
  • Youth Noise
    Empowers youth leaders to take action in their community to make a difference in the world.
  • Youth Serve America
    Lists volunteer opportunities around the country, nationwide projects for youth and adults to take part in, and grant application materials.

Archaeology

  • Colonial Williamsburg: Kids Section
    Contains several fun activities to help kids learn more about archaeology and what archaeologists do.
  • Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
    Offers research and educational material as well as summer camps and other hands-on experiences for young archaeologists.
  • Dig
    An archaeology magazine for kids, including articles, quizzes, and links to dig sites around the world.

Building and Design

  • Building Big
    See how large structures are built and use interactive activities and experiments to do some engineering at home.
  • archKIDecture
    Teaches children about the built environment, and offers projects and information related to architecture.
  • BSI Education
    Provides kids with information on how British Standards improve building and design.

Comedy

  • KidKountry
    Contains links to sites with information on kids’ comedy, as well as camps and competitions around the country.

Computers

Cooking

  • Hey Kids, Let’s Cook!
    Accompanies the television program for kids, and includes recipes, facts, and games.
  • KidsHealth Recipes
    Simple and easy recipes for kids, including selections for specific dietary conditions, such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and lactose intolerance.

Creative Arts: Art

  • Destination Modern Art
    A fun, interactive sites that introduces kids to modern art; features a tour of the Museum of Modern Art and the Contemporary Art center, and information on artists and techniques.
  • Making Pottery and Ceramics
    A collection of links, containing information on pottery and ceramics, as well as activities and research projects.
  • National Gallery of Art NGAKids
    Contains information on paintings at the National Gallery of Art as well as fun online activities that help kids make their own pieces of art.
  • Web Gallery of Art
    A virtual museum and searchable database of European art containing over 25,000 images.
  • The Worldwide Kids’ Art Gallery
    An online gallery of kids’ art from around the world. Browse other kids’ creations or submit your own.

Creative Arts: Dance

  • B-Boying
    A history of breakdancing, a popular form of hip-hop dancing.
  • Critical Dance
    An online magazine and forum; includes columns, reviews, and articles from past issues.
  • Dance Audition Survival Tips
    Describes how to prepare for and what to do at a dance audition.
  • Dance-Kids.org
    Features games, pictures, stories, and competitions for kids who love to dance.
  • Young-Dancers.org
    Dance site for teenagers featuring interviews with dance stars, galleries of photos, games, quizzes, competitions, e-cards and career advice.
  • Youth America Grand Prix
    Official site of the American dance competition for kids ages 8 to 19.

Creative Arts: Drama and Theater

  • The Art and Science of Theater
    Learn how to stage a theatrical production, study the history of Western theater, and find out about authors and plays that have had an impact on the development of theater.
  • ArtsAlive English Theater
    Find out how design and production, actors, playwrights, directors, and others come together to produce a performance. Includes glossary of commonly used theatre terms.
  • Changing Stages
    Learn about the television series that profiles 20th-century theater.
  • Children’s Creative Theater
    Introduces children to theater history, games, terms, and other resources.
  • G.L. Horton’s One-Act Plays
    Contains many one-act plays for small and large productions put on by teens.
  • Kabuki for Everyone
    Introduces the traditional form of Japanese theater.
  • Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
    Provides background information on Shakespearean performance in original conditions.
  • Shakey’s Place 3D
    Learn about Shakespeare’s life and works; including biographies, as well as plays and sonnets in text and image formats.
  • Theater on a Shoestring
    Dynamic theatre education with resources including photos, articles and synopses.
  • ZOOM Playhouse
    Contains many short plays for young people to act out.

Creative Arts: Music

  • Carnegie Hall Listening Adventures
    Learn about sound, music, and instruments through games, and find information on important figures in Carnegie Hall history.
  • Creating Music
    A site where kids can compose music and play with musical performance, music games, and music puzzles.
  • PlayMusic.org
    Provides information about musical instruments, composers, and musicians, as well as interactive musical games.
  • Young Composers
    This online community allows registered users to upload compositions for review, and offers articles, lessons, and a forum.

Creative Arts: Speech

Creative Arts: Writing

  • Cartoonster
    Simple tutorials to help kids understand the process of creating frame-by-frame animation.
  • The Claremont Review Literary Magazine
    A literary magazine that solicits and publishes works from teens; also offers writing tips and a manuscript/mentor service.
  • The Comic Book Project
    Seeks to help children forge alternative pathways to literacy by writing, designing, and publishing original comic books.
  • Make Beliefs Comix
    Allows kids to make their own comics—even if they can’t draw.
  • MYKUWorld
    A social networking site where users communicate in condensed poetry.
  • Writing with Writers: Poetry
    Offers advice on writing poetry for kids of many ages.
  • RhymeZone
    A searchable database of rhyming words. Just enter a word and get a list of potential rhyming words.
  • What Makes a Good Story?
    An online adventure through a short story that helps kids learn what makes good literature.

Entrepreneurship

Family and Relationships

Government and Politics

Journalism

Leadership

  • National Teen Leadership Program
    A program designed to motivate and inspire students to positions of leadership.
  • New Global Citizens
    An organization that support young leaders in their quests to solve the greatest challenges faced by communities around the world.
  • The World Trust Foundation
    An organization that seeks to mentor future leaders and empower the youth of the world.
  • Youth on Board
    Helps young people and adults think differently about each other so that they can work together to change society.

Math

Mechanics and Engineering

Nature and Animals

Outdoor Life

  • Gary Paulsen
    Information about nature writer Gary Paulsen.
  • NatureSkills.com
    A free wilderness skills journal for kids and adults.
  • Outward Bound
    An organization that sponsors wilderness expeditions and other outdoor programs for kids.

Photography and Film

Reading

Science

Spirituality

  • Awesome Stories: Religion
    A collection of information about religious topics from around the world.
  • BBC Religions
    A list of religions and spiritual beliefs from around the world, with explanations of each. Includes Sikhism, Jainism, Rastafari, and many more.

Sports, Athletics, Health, and Fitness

Teaching and Instructing

  • How to Become a Teacher
    Information on education, certification, and other important steps in becoming a teacher.