Kids news websites are a great way to get kids involved in current affairs. They can find out about what’s going on in the world and get interested in the issues that matter to them.
Here are 10 of the best trusted news sites for kids. Each cater to different age ranges and may offer the news in different formats. All of them offer high quality news content for kids.
News-O-Matic
Ages: 6-14 years old.
Cost: Subscriptions begin at $1.99 per month/$19.99 a year with their Early Bird Offer. The first month is free.
An online daily newspaper for kids that works on smartphones, tablets and web browsers.
Each day it offers five new articles on a range of topics from news to space to science.
Kids can also share their thoughts about the news with their peers by writing or drawing their feedback on the platform.
It offers three reading levels for each article so that it can work for children of different reading abilities.
It has also branched out to offer kids news in two French publications Dimoitou News, and Le Progrès.
Find out more:
Website: newsomatic.org
App Store: News-O-Matic: Reading for Kids
Newsela
Ages: 7-18 year olds.
Cost: Free when you sign up. PRO version is priced per school and is estimated at $18 per student per year.
Newsela is a platform that aims to make world news and events more accessible to children.
It offers articles featured in major press newspapers, rewritten in a version that kids can read and understand.
You can get access to thousands of articles by signing up for an account online, for free.
They also have Newsela PRO. Although the prices aren’t published on their website this is thought to be $18 per student or $2,000 per grade level.
Find out more:
Website: newsela.com
App Store: Newsela Student
NBC Learn
Ages: 13 years and up.
Cost: Some videos can be played from the website for free. Generally it’s subscription-based (prices are per school). They offer a free trial.
NBC Learn offers a database of thousands of videos, designed for older children in the classroom.
Aimed at K12 students they offer videos in 3 main categories:
- Current events
- Made for the classroom
- News Archives
Some videos may be 2 minute introductions of a particular topic that the teacher can then take over. Others are feature length videos on a particular news event.
Their news archives are especially useful to convey to students significant world events of the past.
Find out more:
Website: NBC Learn
CNN 10 (Previously CNN Student News)
Ages: 13 years and up.
Cost: Free and no sign up needed.
This daily video news feature replaces CNN Student News which has been running since 1989.
It’s a 10 minute news show that appears every day. You can find it both on their website and on their YouTube channel.
It also includes a fun interactive activities like Trivia questions between news features.
It’s all free with no sign up needed.
Find out more:
Dogo News
Ages: 5-18 years old.
Cost: Free on the website and app. For schools there is a PRO and PRO PLUS version at $3-$4 per student annually.
An online news site for children featuring articles covering current affairs, science, social studies and more. Stories are written from an international perspective.
Each article is categorised by age group through its ‘Interest Level’ so that you can show your child age-appropriate content.
When reading an article you may notice that some words are in bold and in a different colour.
If you click on those words it pops up a box with the full definition of that word. A great feature for expanding children’s vocabulary.
Find out more:
Website: DOGOnews.com
App: DOGOnews
First News and First News Live
Ages: 7-16 years old.
Cost: First News Live videos can be viewed for free. First News digital or physical weekly newspaper subscriptions cost between £1.10 per digital issue and £1.73 for UK delivery (use offer code MP20 for MP readers’ special discount).
First News Live is a free weekday news site brought to you by First News and Sky News. They have a feature video each week offered for free.
There is a section called The Positivity Place for more cheerful news stories.
First News offers a weekly digital and physical newspaper subscription. Each issue has 28-30 pages full of useful News, Research, Science, Tech, Fun Activities and more.
It has a UK news section but it mainly features worldwide news and events. You can see our full review of this subscription here:
First News Review
If you’re interested in the weekly newspaper, you can use our discount code MP20 to get a special offer:
- your first 4 newspapers for just £1 (digital or physical versions)
- your first 3 months subscription thereafter at £18.99.
Find out more:
First News Newspaper: firstnews.co.uk (offer code MP20 for added discount)
First News App: First News Newspaper (offer code MP20 for added discount)
First News Live: live.firstnews.co.uk
News for Kids
Ages: 8-16 years old.
Cost: Free.
A US-based news site with daily roundups of current news for children. It does include global stories as well as American ones.
One good feature here is explanations of any terms kids may find difficult to understand.
It is a bit more like adult news sites so it may be more suitable for older children.
It’s free to access, with adverts. You can pay for an ad-free subscription if you prefer.
Find out more:
Website: newsforkids.net
Twinkl NewsRoom
Ages: 6-16 years old.
Cost: Free with an account. Some require subscription.
This site publishes primary-age-appropriate news stories, as well as daily activities.
There are daily kids reports with teaching resources for schools.
There is also a fake news quiz every Saturday, and options for both upper and lower KS2 children.
Find out more:
Website: twinkl.co.uk/newsroom
CBBC Newsround
Ages: 6-12 years old.
Cost: Free.
Those of us who grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s will probably fondly remember Newsround on TV.
The BBC now offers Newsround online and has CBBC Newsround for Kids.
It features daily stories on national and international news, as well as sports, entertainment, and science.
Find out more:
Website: bbc.co.uk/newsround
The Day & The Day Explorer
Ages: 11-16 year olds; and 6-12 year olds (for The Day Explorer).
Cost: Free trial for schools and free daily newsletter for parents during lockdown with a rundown of the latest news. Normally there is a monthly subscription for families and schools.
This is an online news site that offers 2 resources with digital news articles for kids:
The Day: is aimed at secondary school students aged 11-16.
The Day Explorer: is for younger children aged 6-12.
It has over 5,000 articles that you can access on signing up for their subscription.
During lockdown they are also offering parents a free daily newsletter packed with up to date news articles written for kids.
On their website they have tabs so that you can focus on either UK or International news.
They cover a huge range of topics, including: Climate, Conflict, Politics, Technology, Culture, Health, Sport as well as school subjects (Geography, Chemistry, History etc).
Find out more:
Daily Newsletter Sign Up Form: The Day Home
Website The Day (11-16yrs): theday.co.uk
Website The Day Explorer (6-12yrs): explorer.theday.co.uk
Whether it’s at home or within the classroom, we hope that this list has given you some useful tools to introduce the news to your children.
And may reading the news inspire some interesting discussions!
