A DAILY challenge facing elementary art teachers is how to productively redirect students who consistently finish their projects early. The websites below all offer highly interactive art games and activities. These interactive features provide enjoyable and enriching exploration and at the same time allow students to increase their knowledge of art concepts and artists. By the way, always see that you have the right plug-ins installed before letting students try any of these sites. http://kids.albrightknox.org Art Games is hosted by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. This site allows children to explore art history and the content of specific paintings through short games that will walk them through the paintings. Also included is an art studio where students can create their own works of art. www.nationalgallery.org.uk/art_action_zone/noisy/interactive_structure/interactive.asp Younger students will feel very much at ease when using this site, for it was designed with the young artist in mind. The activity asks the user to add appropriate noises to a painting to create a soundtrack for the work. You'll need Macromedia Flashplayer, though an accessible version of the site also exists. www.moma.org/destination At this site, students are allowed to go on an intergalactic journey to a museum where they are able to explore various pieces of modern art. Hosted by MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art), the featured activities include listening to sounds that correspond to artworks, examining details, and gathering ideas for projects. http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/smartkids/index.html The many facets of the art world can be explored online at the site of the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Through journals, mysteries, process demonstrations, and readings, students are invited into the world of artists, curators, docents, and art historians. www.tate.org.uk/learning/kids/mementomori Symbols are the subject matter of this site. Using a game-like format that requires matching and riddle decoding, students explore common symbols and their meanings in a series of paintings. This site is hosted by the Tate Online, a site that older students might enjoy exploring in more detail. www.protozone.net/AJinteractives.html Young artists truly get to work as computer-based artists at this site because ProtoZone allows them to create art using paint tools, pattern makers, and virtual 3-D construction exercises. Also available are a range of animation activities that are designed to give students a taste of the animation process. …