The other day, my 3-year-old daughter is sitting on the floor, playing and talking to no one in particular, as kids do, and she says, ''Double-U double-U double-U dot Disney Channel dot com.'' As if we need more proof that television plays too large a role in our kids' lives.
And that the lines between television and the Internet are starting to blur.
My children, whose viewing is limited to the politically correct and socially acceptable shows on The Disney Channel and PBS, are being drawn to the Web - by television. And some of the best sites on the Web are television sites. Let's take a tour for kids:
Disney http://www.disney.com: The Disney mega-site is as vast and varied as the entertainment conglomerate. Here, you can check out everything from Disneyland vacation packages to the latest books from Disney Publishing.
Two areas of the site focus on television, The Disney Channel and the Disney TVPlex, which features television shows that Disney produces for other channels.
TVPlex http://www.disney.com/DisneyTelevision/: Fans of ''Bill Nye the Science Guy'' can get directions for the ''Demo of the Day'' science experiment, or send e-mail to Bill. Fans of the ''Doug'' cartoon can play a Shockwave game (it can be downloaded for off-line play).
Disney Channel http://www.disney.com/DisneyChannel/: Parents can surf this site for dates and times of kid movies and specials and to find the occasional excellent adult movie that the station likes to run in the wee hours of the morning.
Public Broadcasting Service http://www.pbs.org: Considering how often the PBS folks are on the air begging for money, it's surprising that this mega-site is so good. The site has many sections on shows and specials, most created by the shows' producers.
Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood http://www.pbs.org/rogers/ has an extensive list of recommended children's books, words to many of the show's songs, pictures to print out and color, and a section with parenting tips.
Lamb Chop's Play-Along http://www.pbs.org/lambchop/, a small site, has a section on knock-knock jokes, a list of Lamb Chop videos and books and a few pictures to color.
The Shining Time Station http://www.pbs.org/shiningtime/ section has an extensive list of activities for kids, based on Shining Time episodes. Also: pictures to print out and color.
Kino's Storytime http://www.pbs.org/kcet/storytime/ has book lists, pictures to color and a section on how to read to children.
If you've caught Theodore Tugboat http://www.pbs.org/tugboat/, a Canadian cartoon, you might want to visit this section to play the two interactive stories. This section also has an excellent page of links for kids.
Wishbone http://www.pbs.org/wishbone/ - a dog doing Shakespeare? If your kids can accept that, they might enjoy this site, which has a reading list (the classics that Wishbone acts in), facts about Jack Russell terriers and a guide for teachers.
Some other sites worth visiting:
Thomas the Tank Engine http://www.thomasthetankengine.com: This British site is for devoted fans of the characters from Shining Time Station train cartoons. Kids can play some limited interactive games, send postcards of their favorite engines or link to other kid sites.
Gumby on the Web http://www.emsphone.com/gumby/: Parents will remember the green clay creature who debuted on the Howdy Doody show. He's back, and this fan site has pages on history, current articles, pictures and sound bytes.
Finally, a few words of warning: All of these sophisticated sites have lots of graphics, as well as frames, Shockwave animation and other things that require a fast connection. A slow modem and squirmy children are a bad combination for trying to surf these sites.
E-mail Charles Brewer with questions, comments and suggestions at CBrewer@enquirer.com This column and Charles Brewer's past columns can be found at The Enquirer's Web site, http://enquirer.com/columns/brewer