IQALUIT - The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation launched an interactive website based on the kids' show Takuginai on March 31.

A child from the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre checks out takuginai.ca on March 31. - photo courtesy of Inuit Broadcasting Corporation

Takuginai has been on the air for 25 years and was a good fit when it came to deciding on a web format for kids, IBC chair Okalik Eegeesiak said. The website, takuginai.ca, aims to promote Inuktitut literacy and oral language skills.

"Our children are spending more and more time at the computer and this was another avenue to keep our kids interested in Inuktitut," Eegeesiak said.

She said promoting Inuktitut is even more essential now that the Inuit Language Protection Act is a reality. Educating children in Inuktitut from a young age is key to promoting the language, Eegeesiak said.

"Especially with the language legislation, I think it's important that we get into as many homes as possible," she said.

The website is geared for children between three and 10 years old, and features the characters from the Takuginai television show. It was launched at both the Elders Centre in Iqaluit and the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre in Ottawa. Grade 1 students from Iqaluit's Nakasuk School attended the launch.

Inuktitut teacher Susan Tigullaraq said the kids were attracted to the website instantly.

"They were really interested, they were around the computer screen in two groups and they were just looking at it and they had a lot of interest," Tigullaraq said.

She said because kids had watched Takuginai at home, they were familiar with the characters and format.

"Because it's in their language, they seemed interested," she said. "And they've watched Takuginai at their homes before and they knew what it was all about."

The kids especially enjoyed watching a video about cooking, Tigullaraq said. Many of them asked to visit the website again when they returned to school after the launch.

The kids will now be able to check out the website during free time as a regular activity, she said.

"When they came back they wanted to see it so I told them tomorrow I'll show you how to get into it so they can get in themselves during free time," she said.

Eegeesiak said the website will also provide a venue to share Inuit culture with the rest of Canada and the world.

"The Internet is accessible to anybody in the world," she said.