Top 10 Websites You Loved as a Kid
Top 10 Websites You Loved as a Kid
Top 10 Websites That Don't Exist Anymore
Oh how times have changed since the internet was born. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Websites You Loved as a Kid! For this list, we’re taking a nostalgia trip and looking back at some of our favorite websites from our childhood.
#10: Cool Math 4 Kids
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Remember those moments when the teacher gave you busy work in the middle of class that required use of the school’s computers? One could easily be tempted to slack off and start playing games, but those darn security programs blocked almost every fun website out there! Keyword is “almost”! Luckily, we had Cool Math 4 Kids to help us navigate this tricky situation. The website offered a variety of entertaining games that, thanks to an educational spin, were unlikely to get you in trouble. While the site has gone through a major change in terms of its catalog, it still offers a great, guilt-free opportunity for some procrastination with a side of nostalgia.
#9: MySpace
Launched in 2003, MySpace quickly became one of the coolest places to visit on the web. After all, this early form of social media gave you the opportunity to create your own website! Well...more or less. While all users had the same relative layouts, everyone got to customize and decorate their pages with different backgrounds, graphics, and sometimes, even cursors! Needless to say, this was the site everyone needed to be a part of until Facebook stormed in and stole the show. Today, it’s a shadow of its former self, struggling to remain relevant in the modern social media landscape while repeatedly changing hands.
#8: Fact Monster
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While many of us were killing time in the classroom with Cool Math 4 Kids, the rest were working hard on their assignments. And what other site gave better help for homework than Fact Monster? Here, you could learn about practically anything you were trying to research and find additional related pages that might add to your school project. Since it first launched, Fact Monster has evolved over the years and now makes it even easier to pinpoint various subjects you’re looking to learn about - all in a kid-friendly format! Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself reading about the digestive system when you’re initial search was the history of Rome.
#7: AddictingGames
The title says it all. If you had nothing to do all weekend, you probably found yourself jumping between titles on AddictingGames. However, this wasn’t the sort of website you could visit all the time; it was probably one you loaded up when your parents weren’t around. Games full of zombies, sniping, and violent deaths were enough to make us realize that Mom and Dad wouldn’t be too happy with how we were spending our computer time. The site did steer more towards family-friendly titles for a while when it was acquired by Nickelodeon; but it’s recently gone back to its edgy and diverse nature.
#6: “Space Jam” Promotional Site
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Promotional sites for upcoming video games and movies were often among the coolest spaces you could visit online. However, the one we kept coming back to was the promotional site for the 1996 classic, “Space Jam”. While there isn’t a heck of a lot to do (besides reading about the Looney Tunes and learning about the film’s production), we appreciate this relic of Internet and cinema history even more because of its primitive visuals and basic structure. We have to admit that revisiting this has made us eager to see what promotional site will look like for “Space Jam 2”!
#5: Club Penguin
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Throughout the 2000s, there were countless games online trying to get kids to sign up. If you weren't spending your weekends playing the likes of "Toontown" or "Poptropica Island", you were at "Club Penguin", an MMO where players created their own penguin avatars to play games and explore a winter wonderland of fun. At the time, it was rare to find someone who wasn't playing "Club Penguin", as the game had accrued more than 200 million accounts by July 2013! Alas, this success was not made to last, and the game was discontinued in 2017, twelve years after launch.
#4: Miniclip
There were certainly a ton of websites you could visit for crazy, creative games like the aforementioned AddictingGames. But if you wanted more simplified, back-to-basics titles, then you might remember a little place called Miniclip. From billiards, basketball, and golf, to shooters, racing, and puzzle games, Miniclip always had something for everyone. Despite suffering a bump in the road with Trojan malware installers in 2006, Miniclip is still growing today, having achieved one billion downloads across mobile platforms, and even launching a game called “MX Nitro” on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
#3: Nickelodeon & Cartoon Network
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When these two networks were in their prime in the early to mid 2000s, they weren’t just pumping out fantastic shows - they were also a major online presence. Upon entering their respective sites, one could expect a strong selection of games based on each network’s shows. Needless to say, this is how many of us killed time. Who doesn’t remember hopping onto Nick dot com to play the newest Spongebob game, or exploring Cartoon Network’s diverse selection of arcade games? Whether you liked platformers, puzzles, shooters, racing, or fighting games, these two titans played an understated role in turning many kids into gamers.
#2: Newgrounds
For a long time, there was ONE place that kids and teens went for hilarious cartoons, kickass games, and great content. That place was Newgrounds. This was the site that was home to such unforgettable characters as Salad Fingers, the charming Alien Hominid, and of course, the Tankmen. Newgrounds also served as a launchpad for the careers of many YouTubers, including Arin Hanson of Game Grumps and Chris O’Neill of OneyNG and OneyPlays. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t hold as much influence as it did back in the day. Still, it is nice to go back and relive some favorite online cartoons and games.
#1: Neopets
Who can forget this massively popular site from the early 2000s, when virtual pets were all the rage? If you grew up with toys like Furbies and Tamagotchis, chances are you were frequently visiting Neopets. In case you weren’t around when virtual pets were exploding, Neopets was a site where users could take care of fantastical creatures and play games with them. Fight monsters, go to space, play through obstacle courses, and more to unlock virtual currency and deck out your Neopet’s room with toys and accessories! And before you ask, yes, Neopets is still live and running. So hey, maybe it’s time to revisit your childhood.
