Jeopardy Labs

This is a great resource to easily create a Jeopardy game for your students (or let your students create the game for your class!) JeopardyLabs allows you to create a customized jeopardy template without PowerPoint. The games you make can be played online from anywhere in the world. Building your own jeopardy template is very easy. Just use the simple editor to get your game up and running.  There is also a feature to browse jeopardy templates created by others.
Students will love reviewing material by playing Jeopardy!

Tux Paint

If you like Kidpix, you need to try Tux Paint, an open source drawing software program for kids. It's a FREE download for Mac or PC. It has a very easy to use interface that includes sound effects that kids love. If your school is watching every penny (like most schools), this is a great drawing program for students of any age. One feature that I think is better than Kidpix is the stamps.  They are much more realistic and enlarge much easier and less pixelated. I encourage you to download this and let your students have some fun, then assign them a project or specific drawing to create and see what happens...you may just be surprised!
By the way, they also have free math and typing programs available for download.

Kerpoof!!!

I just finished teaching a group of 1st and 2nd graders in an after school enrichment class on Kerpoof!  The boys LOVED this class! The excitement was evident from the moment the program was introduced.  If you haven't used Kerpoof, it's very user friendly.  They offer teacher accounts which allows you to create student accounts so students can save their work. Teachers create student user names (no emails needed!) and passwords, so it's very user friendly! You can also have multiple classes set up.  Here is the teacher link to request a teacher account.  You have to create a basic Kerpoof account first. Students can also log in to the site from home. Kerpoof offers various types of options such as drawing, pictures, story, and a movie. The drawings, pictures, and stories can be saved as jpegs with a simple click of an icon, which makes it easy to include on a blog or wiki. Oh yeah, did I mention it's FREE!  Gotta love that!!! Below is a picture my 8 year old son in 2nd grade created.  He loves the program.

Cool Sites to Use with Your Photos

Recently, I taught an after school enrichment for students on Digital Photography and sites to create neat images that feature your pictures. The students that took the class really enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun to teach. First, they learned how to use a digital camera and we walked around our campus taking pictures of various things and people. Then, we uploaded those photos to iPhoto. We reviewed how to crop those pictures, change color, etc.
Then, the fun started! We used Dumpr to create effects such as a Rubik's cube with our photo, an easter egg decoration, our photo in a museum, jigsaw puzzle, and more!
LoonaPix is another site that will create other images with your image in it.
PhotoFunia is one, but there are a few that could be a little controversial with kids. Not too bad, but look and you will know what I mean. On this one, they can put their face on a bodybuilder, their picture on the side of a building, on a wanted poster (very popular with our boys), or on a postage stamp.
Big Huge Labs just may be my favorite (and they have educator accounts!) On this site, you can create a pop art poster, mosaic maker, jigsaw puzzle, magazine cover, motivation poster, trading card, just to name a few!!! Are you studying presidents? Have your students create a trading card about their president. Print off multiple and they can trade with their friends and learn about other presidents. I used the calendar to create a calendar for the grandparents this past Christmas. We uploaded a picture for each month, printed it off, then I put a hole in the corner and put it all on a small silver ring. It was a hit!
Hopefully, you will have time to check these sites out. You can use them with students, for personal use, or even for gifts!