Today is World Oceans Day ... the perfect day to chat with your kids about all of the amazing things the oceans have to offer. If you're lucky enough to live near an ocean, take your kids out for a swim or even just a walk on the beach. If you're landlocked (like me) you might want to let your kids click around a bit on the Web to see what they can learn about the oceans. Here are a few great kid-friendly resources for learning about our amazing oceans:

 

• Kids Against Marine Litter: Kids can find out why marine trash is bad from sources all over the world and see what they can do help.

 

• Planet Ocean: Kids discover what it takes for amazing ocean animals to survive in their environment. 

 

• Enchanted Learning/ Earth's Oceans: This site offers lots of cool facts and stats about the world's oceans, as well as anwers to popular kid questions like, "Why is the ocean salty?"  or "What makes the ocean blue?" 

 

• BBC Nature/ Blue Planet Challenge: A fun online game that helps kids understand marine habitats and ocean life. The game begins on a rocky beach, takes you into the sunlit shallows offshore and then journeys into ever deeper and darker water, until you reach the weird world of the abyss. Your challenge is to explore as much of the ocean as possible, without losing any of your five lives.

 

• Dive and Discover: This interactive website lets kids learn about an actual ocean expedition such as the East Pacific Rise or the Galapagos Rift.  Each expedition gives kids info about the scientists and ships involved and what was discovered on the mission.