Children's Services

Last Updated: Thursday, 13 December 2018 15:45

Children's Services serves youngsters from birth to 6th grade, as well as their parents and caregivers through a special collection of parenting and teaching materials.

Year-round programming includes programs for babies and toddlers, story times for pre-schoolers and elementary school students, bilingual story times, arts and crafts, live entertainment, films, parenting workshops and an incentive/reward based summer reading program.

Our staff are glad to assist children and teens in finding the right material for their homework assignments, research projects, general information and reading enjoyment.

Youth and Parent Services also has a large collection of books, videos and other materials in both English and Spanish.

Riverhead Free Library is proud to be a Family Place Library. Family Place is a network of children's librarians nationwide who believe that literacy begins at birth, and that libraries can help build healthy communities by nourishing healthy families. Please visit our specially designed, welcoming space within the children's area and out collections of books, toys, music and multimedia materials for babies and toddlers.

Miss Laurie, Miss Barbara, Miss Patty, Miss Pam, Ms. Sadowski and Mr. Shawn: your Children's Services Department Team · (631) 727-3228, ext 120

Websites for Kids

Fun Websites and Games for Kids

ABC Animal Orchestra Coloring Book — An alphabet of musical instruments coloring sheets.
http://www.leapfrog.com/en-us/learning-path/printables/printable-abc-animal-orchestra.html

American Girls — games and activities
http://play.americangirl.com/play/

Coolmath.com — Includes pre-algebra and algebra tutorials and games and links to other math game sites.
http://www.coolmath.com/

Chateau Meddybemps — Lots of stories and activities with a little learning.
http://www.meddybemps.com/

Crayola — art and activities for kids
http://www.crayola.com

Dinosaur Coloring Pages — Printable dinosaur coloring pages by beloved author Bernard Most.
http://www.bernardmost.com/ColoringPages/aaColoringPages.htm

Exploratorium — the museum of science, art and human perception
http://www.exploratorium.edu/

IXL — Practice Math & Language Arts | K–12
https://www.ixl.com/math/

Maisy's Fan Club — If you love the book character Maisy, this is the website for you! When you visit this site, you can play games, read some of Maisy's books and find out about her friends.
http://www.maisyfunclub.com/

MUZZY Club
http://www.muzzyclub.com/entry/RiverheadLibrary

NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s games, art, stories and activities for kids
http://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/

Nat Geo Kids -- National Geographic for Children
href=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/nysl_li_rfl?db=NGMK

Sesame Street Kid — Activities with your friends from Sesame Street. Play games with Prairie Dawn, Elmo, and the Cookie Monster.
http://www.sesamestreet.org/

Scholastic — check out your favorite authors and characters
http://www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/

Thomas the Tank Engine — Chug, chug chug over to this site!
http://www.thomasandfriends.com/en-us/activities/

Librarians' Picks:

Great Sites for Kids — from the American Library Association
http://gws.ala.org/

Kid Zone — from the Brooklyn Public Library
http://www.bklynlibrary.org/kidzone

KidSpace@the Internet Public Library
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace

On-Lion for Kids! — New York Public Library
http://kids.nypl.org

Kidspage — from the Nassau Library System
http://www.nassaulibrary.org/childrens/

Websites for Parents

A, B, C

Websites of Interest to Parents, Teachers & Caregivers

Arranged Alphabetically from A to Z

A, B, C

American Academy of Pediatrics
Extensive site for health topics on infants and children.
http://www.aap.org

Child Safety on the Information Highway
A guide to Internet safety for young people, originally from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Interactive Services Association.
http://www.safekids.com/child-safety-on-the-information-highway/

Child Care Council of Suffolk County
Long Island's community service organization works with parents, providers, businesses, and community organizations to help promote the availability of quality child care services and provide parents with referals and information on evaluating quality child care, plus resources on various parenting issues.
http://www.childcaresuffolk.org

Colorín Colorado
A bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners from Pre-K through grade 12.
http://www.colorincolorado.org/

Common Sense Media
This site offers the” largest, most trusted library of independent age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites, books, and music. Our Parent Concerns and Parent Blog help families understand & navigate the problems & possibilities of raising children in the digital age.”
https://www.commonsensemedia.org

Consumer Affairs Online Homeschools Guide

Families make the decision to homeschool their children for a variety of reasons and you may be considering online homeschooling. Many companies offer online homeschool programs to guide the learning process, streamline curricula, provide individual feedback and allow students to learn at their own pace.

It is important to carefully consider all of your online homeschooling options and choose one that fits best with your educational philosophy and the student’s needs.

These guides will assist with some of the decision-making.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/education/online-homeschools/

Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
A national organization for those involved in special education and gifted education.
http://www.cec.sped.org/

D, E, F

Websites of Interest to Parents, Teachers & Caregivers

Arranged Alphabetically from A to Z

D, E, F

Dr. Toy’s Guide on the Internet
Information on hundreds of recommended toys and products for children.
http://www.drtoy.com

Education World
The Educator’s best friend.
http://www.educationworld.com

Enchanted Learning
Printables and activities.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com

Family Reading Partnership
Includes ideas, reading traditions, booklists, and downloadable materials to inspire caregivers to connect children with books.
http://www.familyreading.org/m-ideas.htm

Family TLC
Parenting tips, family activities, articles on child development, and many child-friendly and age-appropriate activities are featured on this site.
http://familytlc.net

G, H, I

Websites of Interest to Parents, Teachers & Caregivers

Arranged Alphabetically from A to Z

G, H, I

Get Ready to Read
This site, sponsored by the National Center for Learning Disabilities offers early literacy activities for children. Included are also many resources for adults working with children such as checklists and links to information.
http://www.getreadytoread.org/

Guys Read
A web-based literacy program for boys founded by author and First National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka. Their mission is to “help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers.”
http://www.guysread.com/

Internet Resources for Special Children (IRSC)
Information relating to the needs of children with disABILITIES on a global basis.
http://orsaminore.dreamhosters.com/handy/links/uk_various.html

M, N, O

Websites of Interest to Parents, Teachers & Caregivers

Arranged Alphabetically from A to Z

M, N, O

Mother Goose Club
Songs and rhymes to share with your children.
http://www.mothergooseclub.com/rhymes.php?cat=action&id=185

Mother Goose Rhymes
Read Jack and Jill and other rhymes.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Nurseryrhymes.html

Math and Reading Help
Articles and resources for parents who take an active role in their child’s education.
http://mathandreadinghelp.org/

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
Includes activities for kids as well as show-related information for kids and parents.
http://pbskids.org/rogers/

New York Times Learning Network
This excellent site is designed for students, parents and teachers. The resources here rang from an archive of lesson plans for grades 3-12, to weekly quizzes, to daily news briefs about current events.
http://www.nytimes.com/section/learning

P, Q, R

Websites of Interest to Parents, Teachers & Caregivers

Arranged Alphabetically from A to Z

P, Q, R

PBS Teacher Source
3000+ Free lesson plans and activities.
http://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/

Pumerosa
Free site to learn English for Spanish speakers.
http://www.pumarosa.com/

Reading is Fundamental Kids
RIF is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content and resources to make an impact, and engaging communities in the solution to give every child the fundamentals for success.
http://www.rif.org/

Reading Rockets
Information on hundreds of recommended toys and products for children.
http://www.readingrockets.org/

Riverhead Central School District
http://www.riverhead.net