Banksy’s touching Christmas reindeer mural
humanitiesWorld-famous artist Banksy has painted reindeer pulling a street-bench sleigh, aiming to highlight the plight of people sleeping rough. The public’s reaction was heartwarming
Volunteers rescue stranded baby minke whale
animalsA baby minke whale beached in South Australia has been saved by volunteers and rangers. Kids News investigates what is known about why whales become stranded on beaches
Tourists rescued as island volcano erupts
geographyNew Zealand’s White Island volcano has erupted suddenly forcing the dramatic rescue of tourists who were exploring the crater floor when it began to rumble
Sesame Street farewells its kindest, grouchiest star
artsBig Bird and Oscar the Grouch’s puppeteer — the “most unknown famous person” – has died after 50 years creating joy on Sesame Street
Banksy’s touching Christmas reindeer mural
humanitiesWorld-famous artist Banksy has painted reindeer pulling a street-bench sleigh, aiming to highlight the plight of people sleeping rough. The public’s reaction was heartwarming
Volunteers rescue stranded baby minke whale
animalsA baby minke whale beached in South Australia has been saved by volunteers and rangers. Kids News investigates what is known about why whales become stranded on beaches
Tourists rescued as island volcano erupts
geographyNew Zealand’s White Island volcano has erupted suddenly forcing the dramatic rescue of tourists who were exploring the crater floor when it began to rumble
Sesame Street farewells its kindest, grouchiest star
artsBig Bird and Oscar the Grouch’s puppeteer — the “most unknown famous person” – has died after 50 years creating joy on Sesame Street
Free Book Club
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Know your landmarks?
Can you name all the famous places in the world and beat the Quiz Word clock?
Short story competition
Congratulations to everyone who entered our short story writing competition for 2019. For winners' names and prizes, click on this story.
Spelling Bee
National competition for Years 3-8. Class and school champion levels. Coming soon. Click HERE to register interest.
Worms and mice at International Space Station
spaceAstronauts on the International Space Station have taken delivery of super-muscled mice, pest-killing worms and a robot that can sense how the astronauts are feeling
NASA’s totally unexpected Sun surprise
spaceNASA’s Parker spacecraft has reported back that the Sun is sending out sudden, violent bursts of solar wind so powerful that the magnetic field flips itself in the opposite direction
Woman trapped in mountain of ‘cornflake’ algae
weatherSeaweed piled high on Queensland beaches has trapped at least one runner, who had to be rescued from the algae. While seaweed is not unusual, people have never seen so much at once
Piece of Jesus’ manger home for Christmas
historyA tiny piece of wood that some Christians believe to be part of the baby Jesus’ manger has returned to Bethlehem just in time for Christmas after 1400 years in Rome
Growing ‘mini brains’ and zapping them to life
scienceIn a world first, Australian scientists are zapping balls of brain cells they are growing in a laboratory to make them come to life in a real-life, good-news version of Frankenstein
A long line of reasons to leave halftime alone
artsIn our weekly series, award-winning cartoonist Mark Knight considers the downsides to a reduced halftime break at AFL matches — and they quickly started to line up
50 fun activities on the history of Christmas
christmasOur feature series and 50-activity workbook will help students understand the history and evolution of Christmas, the religious and cultural aspects of its celebration and how traditions vary across the world
‘Tis the season for customs and traditions
christmasPART 1: It’s an exciting time of year — school’s almost over, holidays are about to begin and kids around the world are preparing to celebrate Christmas or other cultural festivals
The history behind our decorations
christmasPART 2: The reasons why we hang tinsel, stars and baubles on our trees at Christmas stem back hundreds of years. Discover the stories behind our favourite decorations, characters and traditions
Festive foods and where they come from
christmasPART 3: Ham, plum pudding and prawns on the BBQ are all traditional Christmas foods in Australia, but how did these festive delicacies originally make their way to the Christmas table?
Interesting tales behind our popular carols
christmasPART 4: Do you hear what I hear? It’s the sounds of Christmas in song. There are many interesting stories behind some of our most popular carols — one is even written in code!
Santa films you can watch over and over
christmasPART: 5: Here’s our guide to the best Christmas movies for children. But watch out, their storylines offer a mix of laughs, wishes, hope and most feature the jolly man in the red suit
How to have a greener and cleaner Christmas
christmasPART 6: This time of year shouldn't be about buying things we don’t need and sending rubbish and unwanted gifts to landfill. Here are 10 tips on how to have a sustainable Christmas
Anyway you say it, it’s a merry greeting
christmasPART 7: Learn how to say Merry Christmas in 20 different languages and discover 10 amazing festive facts and some of the strangest yuletide world records
First Aussie reaches heart of Antarctica
humanitiesAn adventurer from Queensland has become the first Australian to reach Antarctica’s Pole of Inaccessibility, just one leg of an epic journey to help men and women experiencing breast cancer
World map of most common last names
geographyA fascinating new map has plotted out the most common surnames in every country in the world. Can you guess the most common last name in Australia?
Energy drinks robbing teens of sleep
healthEnergy drinks loaded with caffeine are depriving Aussie teens of sleep, a major new survey shows. Experts want advertising of the drinks banned on public transport
World No. 1 Barty’s precious gift
sportAs Ash Barty accepted the Newcombe Medal for the third year in a row, she admitted she’d given away all her racquets to force herself to take a break before a big summer of tennis
Student uses art in fight for peace on Earth
humanitiesAfter reading about the experiences of child soldiers in Africa, student Elijah Lewis created a unique art piece to highlight that war is wrong and all children should be able to grow up in peace
Junk food tells lies to your brain
healthSugary and fatty foods have the power to change how your brain works and stop you knowing when you’re full, but scientists believe you can retrain your brain to beat junk food addiction
A daring rescue and a refugee tale win top prizes
book clubWith 1900 entries received in our short story writing competition it was a tough task for the judges to pick our winners and the top 50 finalists. See if your story was a winner here.
Drones deliver baby coral to save Reef
scienceScientists with an army of robotic drones and a fleet of backpack-sized inflatable pools are working to save the Great Barrier Reef as part of the world’s largest science and tourism group project
Operating on Obama’s 3D-printed brain
scienceIn a world-first, Australian doctors have operated on a 3D-printed brain to rehearse for a real brain operation. Up next, 40 brain surgeons operating on 3D printed brains all at once
Farewell good boy, Sergeant Ridgleigh Blue III
animalsThe Australian Army has said goodbye to their much-loved retiring blue heeler mascot, who makes way for two-month-old pup Private Ridgley Blue IV
10 and under winner: Emily to the Rescue
book clubRose Pullinger. of Hobart, has won the 10 and under prize in the Kids News short story writing competition for her story about a daring rescue that threatens to ruin a family celebration
11 and over winner: A New Beginning
book clubAmaeh Reed of Cairns has won the 11 and over prize in the Kids News short story writing competition for her tale about a refugee’s risky journey to flee and find a new life in Australia
Row, row, row your boat to a better world
artsIn our weekly series, award-winning cartoonist Mark Knight explains why he drew young climate change activist Greta Thunberg rowing rock band Coldplay to their next world gig
Getting to know the mysterious blue whale
animalsUsing a bright orange heart rate machine attached with suction cups, scientists have achieved the incredible feat of measuring, in the wild, the heart rate of the world’s biggest animal
Astronauts’ blood flows backwards in space
spaceNASA doctors have made the surprising discovery that astronauts’ blood sometimes flows in reverse, with major implications for space tourism and trips to Mars
Treasure trove of Ancient Egyptian animal mummies
historyMummified crocodiles, a mongoose, birds, cats and lion cubs are among an incredible discovery uncovered by archaeologists at Egypt’s “City of the Dead”
First-ever global rule book for the internet
technologyWorld Wide Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has released the first-ever global internet rule book designed to protect people’s rights and help everyone make the internet a better place
15 amazing sculptures around the world
artsEarth is so big and so filled with things to see it’s hard to know where to start looking. To help you out, we’ve compiled this collection of incredible sculptures to look at and learn about
