News websites for kids

Looking for kid-friendly news articles? Here are a few websites worth checking out.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that, as a parent, you hope your children will grow up to enjoy reading. You probably encourage reading as much as possible and hope to set a good example by letting your kids see you reading too; be it a novel, magazine or morning newspaper. Am I right so far? I also bet, as a parent, you wouldn’t mind seeing your child grow up with an interest in current events, local and world news. Who knows, maybe you’d even get pleasure out of seeing your child get into politics, with a secret yearning to see Junior grow up to be the next Stephen Harper. Whatever desires you have for your children, it starts with parental encouragement and good examples, which is why it’s beneficial to promote an interest in news and current events at an early age. The downfall to this? There’s a lot going on in today’s world that isn’t so kid-friendly and headlines you might not be too happy about letting your young children view or read. Here’s where the following websites are useful. These websites offer news for kids so you can still support your child in growing their literacy interest and worldly awareness without worrying they’re absorbing too much of the “bad”.

BBC CBBC (Children’s BBC) Newsround - World news, sports, showbiz…this site has a lot of interesting news for kids. Your child can even read reviews of the latest books, games, music, shows and more. What’s more is that Newsround has acknowledged the fact that some headlines may be upsetting to kids saying “Some stories reported by Newsround can make you feel sad – but you are not the only one and it’s OK to have those feelings. Upsetting events often make the news because they don’t happen very often.” and offer up some tips and advice on what to do if what you’ve read bothers you.

Scholastic Kids Press Corps – This site offers news for kids, by kids. The reporters are between the ages of 9 and 14 and cover stories on everything from the latest news, entertainment, current events, and sports.

TIME for Kids (TFK) – From their website, ” TIME For Kids (TFK) brings real news and enlightening information to young people so that they can develop a lifelong interest in, and a connection to, world events. TFK enables its readers to become literate, critical thinkers, and informed, responsible citizens.”

Pitara Kids Network – From the “About us” page of the Pitara website, it says its primary audience is children under 13 and its secondary audience is parents, teachers and schools. That said, the “News for Kids” section, though interesting and informative, delivers stories which, as they are displayed, would probably interest a slightly older audience. The news is written in a child-friendly way, but the story pages lack in aesthetics and, because of this, would likely deter a young reader, as there are no attractive colours or photos to help make the stories more interesting. From the website, “Our world news for children is interesting, relevant, and about real people and happenings in a real world. We delve into the “how” and “why” of news, giving children (and adults) a wider understanding of the events happening around them. Our world online news for kids covers issues we think are interesting for children.”

National Geographic Kids – News Bites  and Stories provide kids with a plethora of interesting news related articles. Make sure to check them out.

Filed Under: For Kids > Tech Trends
Tags: educational kids websites, news articles for kids, news for kids