Set up by the French Food Board (Sopexa) and Le Crunch French apples, this recently launched site was developed specifically for primary school children in Ireland. Confused? Don't be. Its aim is, obviously enough, to sell more apples here (and all the better if they happen to be French), but the site does have educational value and there is no hard-core sales pitch.

After six years of sponsoring school competitions, Le Crunch and the family of apple characters are already familiar to many primary-school children With this new venture, there is a major online competition for two schools within Ireland (the North as well as the Republic) to win £1,000 each. All you have to do to enter is draw a poster about Le Crunch French apples and print off an application form.

In addition, there is a line drawing which can be printed out, coloured in and entered in another competition. All entries will be considered for inclusion on a forthcoming online gallery. All entries displayed there are to receive a gift.

Le Crunch enlisted the assistance of another educational website, ScoilNet (www.scoilnet.ie) for help and advice on content. Le Crunch plans to continually update and expand the site content.

"The Le Crunch web site may be used by children at home who want to play games or submit items for inclusion on the site. However, it can also be used by teachers in the classroom, either as part of a computer skills course or as a reference tool for other subjects such as nature studies or art", said Dominique Geary, chief executive of Sopexa Ireland.

"We will regularly update and expand the content of the site to ensure it remains of interest to children and encourages repeat visits. We also plan to develop sections aimed at second-level students in the future," he said. [Q L]

As with all sites aimed at children, there is games section with quizzes and puzzles which are designed to develop skills such as counting, observation and co-ordination. Spot the Difference and True or False are games that we all remember well from childhood. Other delights include a regular comic strip for which the readers will have an opportunity to develop storylines.

There's also something you do not see that often on children's sites, the facility to send an electronic greeting card. Whether it is on paper or in the form of an e-mail, it's never a bad idea to encourage children to write.

Overall, a useful site, even if understandably single-minded in its devotion to all things apple.