Gale Resources for Children
Gale In Context: Elementary
Start Children on the Path to Discovery
Elementary school resources like Gale In Context: Elementary give children a safe place to find answers to their questions, practice research skills, and explore interests inside and outside the classroom. This database gradually lets elementary school children gain comfort with research by delivering age-appropriate, reliable, curriculum-related content covering a broad range of subjects taught in the classroom like animals, arts and music, social studies, and more.
Gale In Context: Middle School
Empower Beginning Researchers
Made specifically for middle schoolers, this resource combines reference content with age-appropriate videos, newspapers, magazines, primary sources, and much more.
Created specifically for middle school students, Gale In Context: Middle School combines the best of Gale’s reference content with age-appropriate videos, newspapers, magazines, primary sources, and much more. Categories cover a range of the most-studied topics including cultures, government, people, U.S. and world history, literature, and many more.
The Gale Resources are brought to you by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and Massachusetts Library System with state funds and federal Institute of Museum and Library Services funds. These online resources are accessible from any internet connection in the state of Massachusetts. You may access the resources from wherever you perform your research, whether it be at the library, at home, or at your favorite coffee shop!
Learn a new language with KidSpeak Online
KidSpeak™ is a fun, age-appropriate online language course designed for children ages 6 and up! Accessible through Transparent Language Online, KidSpeak introduces your children to English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese. The program teaches words and phrases suitable for learners’ age, needs, and interests. More than 40 activities, puzzles, and songs guide young learners through the basics, along with a cartoon “friend” who speaks the language. KidSpeak™ works on computers, tablets, and phones – so your little ones can learn on the go, at home, or in the library.
Hoopla for Kids is a multi-format, digital media experience designed especially for kids and families. All content – books (audiobooks, e-books, comics), videos (movies, TV shows) and music – has been selected and brought together in one place to give kids and families an environment where young minds can explore and discover the world around them safely through media.
Simply visit your “Settings” in the Hoopla app and flip the toggle to put Hoopla into “Kids Mode” on your device. Doing so replicates the experience kids might have in the children’s section of the Library.
Kids will be happy because they can easily find, follow and enjoy their favorite characters, stories and songs. Parents will be happy because they can feel confident letting kids explore and discover on their own (and because it is easy to toggle Kids Mode on and off so parents can continue to find books, movies and music of their own!).
*You can borrow up to 8 items each month!
*You must be a Clinton resident to log in and create an account.
Kanopy Kids is an on-demand video streaming platform that is free to access with your Bigelow Library card! It is educational, enriching, and entertaining! Kanopy’s dedication to thoughtful entertainment includes educational and engaging videos for children of all ages – as well as the young at heart. Parents can trust that their catalog encourages social and emotional development, promotes respect for community diversity, and inspires creativity. Browse Kanopy Kids and discover the videos that spark children’s imagination! Create a Kanopy account to access Kanopy Kids. All you need is your Bigelow Free Public Library card to get started! With a Kanopy account, you’ll automatically have access to Kanopy Kids, which allows for unlimited viewing and won’t use any of your tickets!
Use your Bigelow Free Public Library card to log in and create an account!
AtoZ World Travel™ contains 202 world city travel guides.
These beautifully illustrated and up-to-date guides cover travel essentials, attractions, insiders’ information, excursions, nightlife, shopping, culture, cuisine, health, security, language, maps, and lots more.
AtoZ World Travel is a great resource for students working on country-related projects.
1000 Books Before Kindergarten
Sign up for the FREE 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Program
The concept is simple, and the rewards are priceless. Read a book (any book) to your newborn, infant, toddler, or preschooler. The goal is to have read 1,000 books (yes, you can repeat books) before your precious one starts kindergarten. Does it sound hard? Not really, if you think about it. If you read just 1 book a night, you will have read about 365 books in a year. That is 730 books in two years and 1,095 books in three years! If you consider that most children start kindergarten at around 5 years of age, you have more time than you think. So let’s get started!
PebbleGo is a curricular content hub specifically designed for K-2 students. Packed with informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy supports for students of all abilities, it boosts engagement and fosters independent learning in core subject areas.
DK findout! allows your child to search, learn, and explore information on a safe and secure site. Perfect for help with homework, DK’s clear, reliable, and highly visual content covers all curriculum subjects and more! There are quizzes, videos and animations, and new content being added all the time to engage and fascinate your child. There are also articles for parents explaining the curriculum your child is being taught, ideas about how you can help them, and quick links to other DK products that will support your child’s learning.
“Great Websites for Kids (GWS) presents links to high-quality websites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings such as animals; art; history; literature; sciences; and more. Each site entry includes a brief annotation and a grade-level rating. GWS users can also rate sites, save their favorites for easy access and share sites via social media and email.”
Sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children a Division of the American Library Association
National Geographic Kids – Exciting Kids About Their World
National Geographic teaches kids about the world and how it works, empowering them to succeed and to make it a better place.
GoNoodle: The Good Energy Company
The idea behind GoNoodle® is simple: be a force of joy, health, and self-discovery for kids and the adults who love them. We power the good energy of kids where they are today: online, IRL at schools and home, and in the metaverse and beyond grounding them in the joy of being silly, mindful, and curious.
Join the FREE GoNoodle Family Club!
GoNoodle is on a mission to lead the charge in movement, mindfulness, and all-around awesomeness, and that’s why we are launching the GoNoodle Family Club. Sign up to join the club today (you’ll receive curated kid activities to keep your little learners busy, receive exclusive VIP access to GoNoodle events, and connect with other awesome families)!
The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a free, interactive platform that gives access to millions of Smithsonian digital resources and provides easy-to-use tools so you can upload, download, adapt, create, and share with anyone!
Fact Monster
Education is a top priority for parents and teachers. We know that learning happens outside as well as inside the classroom, and we understand that parents need resources that deliver the facts to children in a safe learning environment. Fact Monsters content is written and edited by experts, not outside users, assuring you that we provide trusted, reliable information. Our broad range of content includes an encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, a homework center, and educational games.
Fact Monster combines essential reference materials, fun facts and features, and homework help for kids. From the solar system to the world economy to educational games, Fact Monster has the info kids are seeking. Our site is COPPA and kidSAFE-certified, so you can rest assured it’s a safe place for kids to explore.