Yay! It’s time for school holiday fun
just for funKids News is taking a little break to enjoy the school holidays. In the meantime, try these Dr Seuss-themed activities. Enjoy! Have a great break and stay safe
Debate over new Australian logo with no roo
civicsA new logo developed to promote Australia to the world has been criticised as confusing by advertising experts who say the wattle design looks more like a luxury perfume label
There’s a huge dinosaur in my kitchen
technologyGoogle has a new feature that lets you view lifelike dinosaurs wherever you are through a smartphone camera with 3D augmented reality technology that works like Pokemon Go
NASA needs inventors to design a new space toilet
spaceAs part of its planning for a 2024 mission to the Moon, NASA has launched a competition offering almost $30,000 for the design of a space toilet that works in lunar gravity
Yay! It’s time for school holiday fun
just for funKids News is taking a little break to enjoy the school holidays. In the meantime, try these Dr Seuss-themed activities. Enjoy! Have a great break and stay safe
Debate over new Australian logo with no roo
civicsA new logo developed to promote Australia to the world has been criticised as confusing by advertising experts who say the wattle design looks more like a luxury perfume label
There’s a huge dinosaur in my kitchen
technologyGoogle has a new feature that lets you view lifelike dinosaurs wherever you are through a smartphone camera with 3D augmented reality technology that works like Pokemon Go
NASA needs inventors to design a new space toilet
spaceAs part of its planning for a 2024 mission to the Moon, NASA has launched a competition offering almost $30,000 for the design of a space toilet that works in lunar gravity
The 2020 Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee has been postponed due to the disruption to schools on account of Covid-19. Click here for more details.
Join our book club to receive discounts on new books and fantastic prizes
Can you name all the famous places in the world and beat the Quiz Word clock?
Attention budding writers, our short story competition is back for 2020. First prize winners will have their story turned into a book. Get your entries in.
Calls to better protect world-famous giant cuttlefish site
animalsPressure is mounting on the SA government to reverse a decision allowing fishing of giant cuttlefish in the Spencer Gulf, where they mass each year to spawn, the only place in the world this happens
Scientists rethink ancient wombat in new study
animalsA giant wombat the size of a black bear that roamed Australia 25 million years ago has been classified as a new category of marsupial after almost 50 years of study
Big buzz about Aussie bee drone invention
technologyA team of mechanical engineering students in South Australia has invented a small drone that transfers pollen from plant to plant and that could one day replace bees
Huge outback station to become national park
environmentThe NSW government has bought more than 1500 square kilometres of the state for a new national park to protect 25 threatened animal species and important habitat
Making ISO bears for friends to cuddle
humanitiesGrace and Chloe knew how much comfort a cuddly toy could be during the stressful times of social isolation, so they decided to spread the joy and make ISO bears for people to adopt
Celebrations as Women’s World Cup heads our way
sportSoccer stars and fans are celebrating after Australia and New Zealand were chosen as joint hosts of one of the globe’s biggest sporting events, the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Kids’ author Matt Stanton’s tips for writing a great story
artsAre you struggling to come up with an idea for the Kids News Short Story competition? Don’t worry, these tips from Matt Stanton will get your imagination flowing. But hurry, time is running out to enter.
Could this be the Loch Ness monster?
animalsA tourist’s accidental photo of a strange aquatic creature about 2.5m long has sparked new excitement about Scotland’s Loch Ness monster, the mysterious creature people love wondering about
How you can help stop a bully
safe kidsYou might not have been bullied but chances are you’ve seen it happen to one of your classmates. Experts say bystanders make a choice to be part of the problem or part of the solution
Getting used to our strange ‘new normal’
newsA WWII Lancaster bomber aeroplane in the COVID-test queue? Our lives have changed so much in recent months not much surprises us any more, writes cartoonist Mark Knight
New names for Redskin and Chicos lollies
civicsNestle will rename its Red Skins and Chicos lollies as the names are now “out of step” with the company’s values and it wants to “keep creating smiles” rather than cause offence
Why don’t you sink in the Dead Sea?
explainersAsk people what they know about the Dead Sea and most will tell you that it’s impossible to sink when you’re swimming in it, but not everyone knows why. Kids News did some research
‘Astonishing’ monument found next to Stonehenge
historyArchaeologists have discovered a major prehistoric monument of 20 or more massive shafts arranged in a perfect circle more than 2km wide, suggesting ancient people could measure and count
Scientists map ancient lost continent
geographyTowering titanosaurs and other dinosaurs once roamed the vast, mountainless lands between the east of Australia and New Zealand on a lost continent called Zealandia
Concerns over spike in Victorian COVID-19 cases
healthVictoria’s new coronavirus cases — including AFL player Conor McKenna — are causing concern about how this could impact Australia’s economic recovery, reopening borders and sport
Writing yourself into someone else’s shoes
artsKeeping up with world news gave author Amaeh Reed an idea for her winning 2019 Kids News short story competition entry. Amaeh explains how she got from the idea to the finished story
Giant meat-eating dinosaur roamed Australia
animalsMove over T-rex, Gigantosaurus and Spinosaurus — the discovery of dinosaur footprint fossils in Queensland reveal Australia had its own huge predator in the Jurassic Period.
Vitamin D could help fight food allergies in kids
healthAustralia has the world’s highest rate of childhood food allergies but researchers hope a simple vitamin supplement could help change that.
Get set for a ‘Ring of Fire’ solar eclipse
spaceNorthern Australia is about to be treated to a special kind of solar eclipse, when the Moon moves in front of the Sun and blocks our view of the centre of our star. Here’s how to see it happen
Teens making music about COVID-19
humanitiesJune 20 is World Refugee Day. Kids News shares a film by a teenager at Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda about young people making music to help stop the spread of COVID-19
Around an Aussie campfire of statues
civicsMark Knight explains the issues behind the cartoon of two Aussies sitting by this particular campfire and wonders how Australia will react to this period of self-examination
Call to ban junk food on kids’ social media
healthFast-food companies are bombarding children and teenagers on social media with ads for unhealthy junk food and drinks, according to a new study. Researchers want the ads banned
Endangered dunnart found alive after fires
animalsA tiny, critically endangered marsupial has amazed conservationists on Kangaroo Island, after being spotted scampering in bushland destroyed in bushfires
Sheet-weaver spider swarm spins huge web
animalsThousands of spiders are busily creating a rare natural silk sculpture in an Adelaide park. The social sheet-weaver spiders are working together like a community of ants to trap their prey
36 alien races could live in Milky Way
spaceAstronomers now believe there are 36 advanced alien civilisations living in the Milky Way and able to send radio signals, assuming that intelligent life on other planets is similar to humans
Trial to ‘switch off’ severe allergies in kids
healthKids could live free of life-threatening egg allergies thanks to a treatment being trialled by Australian researchers in Melbourne after the success of a similar trial for peanuts allergies
Dream job of Lego master builder
humanitiesLego master builder Kieran Jiwa — whose job it is to play and create with Lego for most of every day — has known he wanted this career since he was six years old
Characters’ stinky start to a winning story
artsRose Pullinger’s Emily to the Rescue was a winning entry in the Kids News 2019 Short Story Competition. She’s keen to enter the 2020 competition and shares some tips about story writing
Discovery of Earth-like habitable planet
spaceAn exoplanet that orbits a star just like our Sun could be the most similar to Earth ever found, which has scientists thinking it could liveable.
These kids rock their kitchen
humanitiesThree young Brisbane siblings are turning a passion for baking into a sellout success, barely keeping up with demand for their scrumptious creations.
AFL season 2020 on again after long wait
sportCollingwood and Richmond rebooted the 2020 footy season after a two-month break, with a bizarre low-scoring draw to kick off the most long-awaited round 2 in the history of the game
Found: dinosaur’s tummy full of food
animalsFor the first time, scientists have found a beautifully preserved, fossilised meal inside the skeleton of a dinosaur, including fern fronds and spores, leaves and even charcoal from a bushfire
