PBS+Kids+Don't+Buy+It

The PBS Kids website has a whole “Don’t Buy It” series of online activities. Many of them are interactive, short, games designed to enhance children’s awareness of advertising and media literacy in general. It can be used whenever the students want to--again and again, or just once, and each "game" can be played separately from the others. Kids of at least middle school age would enjoy it; there is some reading involved, but not a lot and older elementary school students would also enjoy it.

I looked through this module and did some of the activities. I found it interesting and fun, and I think that younger people would enjoy it even more. It is filled with interactive games, like designing ads and cereal boxes that also reveal the tricks advertisers make. Quizzes and trivia also teach media literacy in a fun and interactive way.

PBS Kids created the module. It seems to stick to the facts and does not appear to be biased in any way. One great thing about the PBS website is that it always asks whether you really want to navigate away to another website. Since there are some unsafe websites out there, it is great that a website for kids recognizes this and has safety features in place.

If we had access to a computer lab, this module could be used at RPI. Or, we could use a projector and computer and have the children take turns answering the questions posed by the Don’t Buy It website. (See Advertising for an EcoEd workshop that includes this module.)