When I was growing up, news came to me in glances, via the Philadelphia Inquirer that took up permanent residence on our kitchen counter. Now that my three boys are 11, 9, and 6, I’d like them to also have exposure to what’s going on in our increasingly complex world. But here’s the conundrum: Where should that news come from?
Ironically, even with so many choices for news—phones, tablets, cable, our good friend Alexa—it’s harder than ever to find news in a format that works for young minds. Salacious scandals force me to turn even NPR down in the car. The few quality kids’ news sites, like Time 4 Kids, require subscriptions and are geared toward schools. Moreover, anything on a browser is, at least for us, problematic—it’s way too tempting and easy for kids to wander off to YouTube and its ilk.
After some digging, I’ve come up with the following potential options for parents to find news for their kids that’s at once PG and engaging. If you’ve come up with some ingenious news-gathering solutions of your own, clue me in at kelley@happyhealthykids.com.
1. For setting up on a laptop at breakfast: Channel One News. Think of it as a televised Skimm for kids. Every morning, you can find two short (6-7 min) videos on the homepage of this news site created especially for children, teens, and families. The tone and content is upbeat and simple enough to engage my 6-year-old. But unlike a lot of educational programming, it’s not campy and goofy, a fact that appeals to my 11-year-old. It’s also short, so I don’t feel bad about the early-morning, pre-school screen time. We usually just watch the first segment, which consists of a brief rundown of 2-3 top headlines that are in the mainstream adult news, too. Yesterday, my kids’ learned about Stephen Hawking’s death, the closure of Toys ‘R Us, and that Russia is trying to interfere with our elections—all over a bowl of cereal.
2. For reading on the way to school or practice: News-O-Matic app. I love this free 
app, which is like a daily, interactive newspaper geared for kids ages 4 to 14. There’s a carefully curated mix of articles to read with a video or two and some fact boxes to help boost vocabulary and background knowledge. Kids can get through it in about 10 minutes on a phone or tablet, which I find is perfect for a quick car ride.
3. For Sunday morning family reading: The new New York Times ‘Kids’ Section. Old school meets new school: Inspired partly by a change.org petition from parents who said they’d pony up for a print newspaper subscription if it included content for their kids, The New York Times has started a once-monthly, print-only ‘Kids’ section that comes along with the Sunday paper. The first few iterations have been awesome: January’s edition included a primer on North Korea, an Olympics-inspired luge maze, a funnies section, and even some kid-friendly recipes. Right now, the Sunday paper is $5.13, and along with the awesome once-a-month Kids section, there’s plenty for the whole family to peruse, from the science section to movie reviews.
4. For road trips: Wow in the World Podcast. Anyone who’s ever listened to NPR’s TED Radio
Hour can understand how friendly Guy Raz would make a great host for NPR’s first-ever kids’ program. This new weekly podcast created by Raz covers science, innovation, and other kid-friendly news topics every week by starting with a question—”What in the world is a solar eclipse?”—that segues into one or two current events. Kids as young as 4 or 5 can get it, and grown-ups will learn something, too, making it a great listen for a long car ride.
Photo credits: Top, Pixabay; Channel One News; News-O-Matic; New York Times; NPR/Wow in the World
These are great suggestions. Thank you for sharing!
Very good article thank you for providing nice information about resources for kids and learned a new knowledge from several resources and when free time kids engaging with these sources it will good impact on children career.
Thank You for the great suggestions. The facts you discussed are quiet helpful.