Best News Websites for Kids and Teens to Follow in 2023
Compiled by Manya Pandey
There are many news sites out there, but are they all safe for kids and teens? Also, do kids understand news written for adults?
Written and compiled by Manya Pandey, a senior writer
There is one basic question that parents have – that of the many news sites out there, including google news, which ones are safe for kids and teens?
Also, do kids understand news written for adults? Parents are on the lookout for child friendly news today, so here’s a look at news for kids.
The truth is that not all news is meant for kids. There is a need for platforms that have simple and easy news for kids.
We look at the best news websites for teens and kids in this article. Also, many of these platforms cover international news for kids as well as national news for kids.
There are platforms like I Kid You Not that are safe spaces for kids and teens to read simple news and facts – as well as have interesting articles for kids.
Not all news is for kids
News stories or opinions can sometimes be disturbing, overwhelming or even boring for kids, and with so much clutter on the web, it’s possible that high that kids end up reading about upsetting events.
Also, kids are impressionable and a lot of current events and information can be too much for them. Above all, letting them surf the internet unsupervised is a real challenge for parents. However, there are safe and immersive platforms for kids.
Why should kids and teens read the news?
Being informed is important and kids must have a sense of what’s going on in the world around them. Also, did you know that reading helps in the cognitive development of kids and teens?
The world is seeing a lot of cultural and political shifts, and keeping up is important because being aware of what’s happening all around helps your child develop an analytical mind.
Aren’t videos enough?
Yes, they are, and many platforms have video content as well. However, cultivating a habit of learning through reading is very important, especially for textbook-based educational curriculums. As it’s said – reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body, but with so much clutter over the internet what are the right choices for your kids? We’ve got it all covered here in our list of best websites for kids and teens to follow in 2023
Top 10 news websites for kids In 2023
Here’s a look at platforms that cover daily news for kids as well as interesting articles for kids. These help with the general knowledge for kids as well.
1. I Kid You Not
I Kid you not is a safe space for kids and teens to read and watch simple news and facts.
This kid’s news website aims to create, “news for kids by kids”. The platform uses short-form non-fiction writing in kid-friendly language to cover every aspect of a child’s learning including entertainment, news, fun facts, space facts, opinions, sports, hobbies, careers, and lots of fun quizzes. The content is great and engaging and there are some really interesting articles for kids here.
Here’s a super fun section called Ever Wondered
The articles are written in a way that makes it easy for kids to understand and provide a factually rigorous account of what’s happening in the world, apart from facts about space, people, animals, and lots of other interesting facts! It has lots of cool facts for kids and also daily news for kids. You may want to bookmark this page as one for – news for kids in India!
A Cool Fun Fact Generator!
Key features of I Kid You Not
- It’s free and everything is explained simply
- It’s a safe space that published age-appropriate content (you’ll find no disturbing information about COVID, for instance)
- It publishes children’s writing. You can submit an article here
- It has lots of quizzes
- It runs General Knowledge and Writing Workshops
I Kid You Not also runs regular workshops for News and General Knowledge and Writing.
These are fun, interactive workshops that aim to make kids aware of what’s happening in the world in a way that engages them and does not make it boring.
In these immersive workshops, participants will learn all about news and current affairs. The idea is to not only introduce the participants to news and happenings from around the world but to also help them understand some of the defining stories of our times, and thus, encourage them to be more aware and read the news.
These are not boring monologues, but interactive sessions where the kids are engaged and active.
What they’ll learn
- News and current affairs from around the world
- Backstories of some of the larger narratives defining the world stage today (for example – what are NFTs, or what’s the Russia-Ukraine issue? – what’s the background – quick, simple snapshots)
- Basics of writing a news story
Apart from this, I Kid You Not also has lots of quizzes where you can log in and win prizes!
Sign up for a free GK Newsletter
You can sign up for a newsletter, to get super quick updates and stay informed with much more than news – fun facts, GK, cool space stuff, trivia, pop culture, and more…
Get this free newsletter for kids…
2. Nanhi Khabar – Hindi News for Kids and teens
That’s a sister news site of I Kid You Not, which is in Hindi. There’s plenty of Hindi news content on the web but most of it is not something a kid can understand. That’s where Nanhi Khabar enters. In a nutshell, it serves online news and current affairs in a simple, easy-to-understand form in Hindi
Key features
- Nanhi Khabar covers multiple niches including politics, environment, and festivals
- The platform features poetry, articles, and stories written by kids
- It explains everything simply
Both of these are best news sites for kids and teens in 2023.
3. DOGO News
This platform provides authentic online news blogs for kids and teens aged 9 to 13 years. The site also offers readers the facility to search content by grade level, word count or category. Kids can comment and discuss the news . The privacy level is good and all comments that are posted are filtered first.
Key features
- They have an interesting pop-up box feature to explain difficult words with synonyms, and more.
- Articles may also have a video explanation and downloadable workbook with critical thinking questions, word games, and fun quizzes.
5. Time for Kids
Time for kids is a great platform that’s one of the best news websites for students. It offers many articles that are written simply – to explain an idea or news.
You can choose your grades when you log on to the platform, which is great feature
Key Features
- Simply written articles
- Kids can apply to become a Time for Kids reporter – TFK Kid Reporter
- Focus of articles is also on social and climate issues
4. Kids News
Kids news is an Australian Kids news website that uses an ingenious “traffic light system”. Under this technique, the content is divided into green, orange, and red colours. Blogs under the green section are written simply using everyday words and the level goes higher as we move. This helps teachers dedicate age-relevant articles and students decide on the content they can easily comprehend.
Key Features
- A minimum of two new articles are added each school day.
- They have included audio files as well so students can listen to the text
- Each story contains a Glossary of terms and words that students may be unfamiliar with.
- Kids News provides 3 classroom activities per news article. Inclined with the Australian curriculum.
- Unsupervised learning is possible as the site does not link to any outside news sources or sites.
5. Robin Age
Robin’s age is a paid news site that also provides printables. Almost 25 percent of their content is produced by kids.
Key features
- Paid, subscription-based
- Suitable for kids aged 4 to 15 years
- Provides puzzles along with other creative activities and interactive projects.
- They publish a 20-page print edition every fortnight.
6. The Children’s Post of India
It’s a kid’s news website that initially began as a printable newspaper created by mothers for kids. The website offers news both in Hindi and English.
Key features
- Subscription-based
- Ideal for children aged 8-12 years
- They offer 90+ categories including memes for kids.
- The website has fun memory-building games and puzzles
7. Curious Times
“The child who reads is the adult who thinks.”
With a motto like this, curious times have set out to inculcate the educational curriculum into their news delivery. They aim to keep kids and teens updated with current affairs and all the news that pertains to their everyday class topics which makes them one of the best news sites for kids and teens in India. They curate content to provide 21st century learning skills to their young readers.
Key features
- Grade-wise distribution of news articles
- Begins from the fundamental level at grade 2 and extends up to grade 12th
- The portal also has paid subscription models for schools to join along.
8. Newsahoot
Newsahoot is a subscription model news website for kids that publishes one article a day across six different six categories, namely, world, India, science and technology, health, environment, and social sciences.
Key features
- Each article has three difficulty levels for children to choose from beginner (for ages 8-10), intermediate(for ages 10-12), and advance
(for kids who’re 12 and above) - WhatsApp notifications are sent to children and parents when a new article is published
- One oddity is that it requires a login to access all the free articles.
9. News for Kids
This started as a teacher’s idea to simplify current affairs and create a kid’s news website. However, the website is currently inactive. It’s set to resume around mid-August. Meanwhile, you can catch up on a lot of other articles on the platform. They are not an educational site (as they say), their entire objective is to simplify news to a kid’s intellect and vocabulary
Starting February 2023, NewsForKids.net has been publishing three new articles a week. These come out on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
10. New York Times news for kids
That’s not a Kid’s news website but we found it worth mentioning because The New York Times is trusted for its sophisticated content and credible stories. It publishes a 12 pages kid’s section every last Sunday of the month. They also have mobile apps that you can use to keep ahead of the news.
Key features
- Recommended for readers aged 8 to 13 years
- Published monthly
- Readers can subscribe for home delivery to get it.
11. The Children’s Newspaper
It’s not a news website for kids but a paid, subscription-based newspaper that is dedicated to building the fundamentals of a child. It’s delivered every alternate day of the month.
Key features
- Published 3 days a week
- The kids can also submit their entries in fewer than 100 words.
Top online news blogs for kids and teens to follow In 2023
1. I Kid You Not
I Kid You Not is our top choice for online news blogs for kids and teens because it publishes fresh, simple, and educative content on a wide range of topics that appeal to young audiences, and also reports current affairs. Furthermore, all the difficult words and acronyms are explained simply.
Key features
- A free, immersive, and safe platform for kids and teens
- The portal has an interesting fun fact generator that pops out fun facts
- Features lots of interesting and kid-friendly quizzes (and declares a winner every month).
2. Science News Explores
Previously known as Science News for Kids, it’s among the best online news blogs for kids and teens to follow. It provides content in all the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) related programs
Key features
- Recommended for kids aged 9 and above
- Reports latest research findings across fields of astronomy, zoology, and more
- The content is aligned with the United states curriculum to make it more accessible to teachers as well as students
- The stories are written by science journalists.
3. PBS News Hour Classroom
It’s a portal designed for teachers and students. Its mission is to put together news resources for middle school and high school students and answer the question “Why should I care about the news?”
Key features
- News for grades 6 to 12
- Provides free lesson plans and tools to teachers
- Site is designed with options to read, listen
4 TIME Edge
Time Edge is especially dedicated to middle school students( Grade 6 to 8). It’s a very suitable site for classroom teaching as it uses the Lexile measures( it’s a technique to check how difficult the text is to read for a child). It offers current content to students on a platform that equips them with learning that is beyond the classroom.
Key features
- Offers read-aloud and Spanish translation
- Articles are updated every week
- An interesting feature is, that students don’t require an individual account, they can access the information by their teacher’s login credentials.
5. YR Media
That’s another US-based kids news website that publishes short form nonfiction articles along with opinions. YR is an acronym (short form) for Youth Radio. The site works on donations and strictly prohibits racism, homophobia, atheism, and all other kinds of hate speech.
Key features
- They have a special “identity” section that beautifully tackles issues regarding the acceptance of ethnicities and races via fact and fictional stories.
- They maintain editorial independence which means site owners do not interfere with editors’ decisions.
- It provides a great model for kids interested in new media and journalism.
6. CBC Kids News
It’s a fitting site for teenagers who like to keep up with the incoming trends. CBC kids news is a Canadian portal that produces great online news blogs for kids and teens with help of youngsters of different ages. Their topics usually aim to cover all the hot and trending subjects that teens and kids might be interested in, including difficult subjects like war and mental health .
Key features
- Has a vibrant interface and lots of vibe-check sections
- Their hot- topics section has all you need to know about the ongoing affairs.
- The articles are presented in an easy to access manner.
7. Commonwealth – The Youth Perspective
The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of 56 countries. Yes, you guessed right this is the same association that organises the commonwealth games but they didn’t stop there. They’ve initiated a teen news portal which we don’t suggest you go on unsupervised.
Key features
- Provides short-form nonfiction articles
- The website contains topics for youth awareness under four categories namely Youth development and youth policy. Economic development
- Recommended for readers from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Pacific
8. Journalism in action – by PBS Newshour
It’s not a Kid’s news website but we recommend it to our readers in the United States. As the name suggests, the portal takes you through the journey of journalism in the US and the key events that shaped the modern journalism demographic. It’s a fitting site developed by PBS Newshour classroom for middle school students and high schoolers.
Key features
- It encourages kids to inquire and make their own judgements using news articles and other resources provided on the site.
- Its an interactive website.
- The goal is to develop creative and critical thinking skills, amongst kids, through close and personal look at rare journalistic documents .
And there you have it. A list of all the Best news sites for kids and teens so Encourage your kids to find out what’s happening in the world!
I Kid You Not has a large readership across India and also parts of the world. If you want to write for us, you can submit your story here. You can also apply to become a news anchor. Apply here
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