Best News for Kids Services in India

Help your child develop their personality, be empathetic, and boost their confidence!

Each member of society is a part of the news ecosystem irrespective of their social status or economic background, except for children. The few children who know the news often hear incorrect or half-backed information from their peers. But that’s not their fault.

Mainstream news sources leave much to be desired from a child’s perspective in terms of presentation, content, motivation, interaction, etc. These factors highlight the need for a formal structure to share the news with children.

Children are still in the process of understanding the world and forming opinions. A child who grows up reading about the importance of gender equality, individual liberty, cultural sensitivity, etc., will undoubtedly make a better citizen and human being.

We have made a list of the best news for kids sources available in India. We hope that this list can drive more parents to share the news with their children in a safe and age-appropriate manner. 

• Newsahoot

Newsahoot is India’s first interactive news platform for kids. Our news is published in three reading levels and includes word meanings. Each article is thoroughly checked for being non-partisan and factually accurate.

We don’t just publish the news; we also motivate kids to read it! How do we do this? By using positive reinforcement strategies, such as a leaderboard, a reward system, weekly activities, etc.

Several things set Newsahoot apart from any other news service for kids. For example, kids can play a quiz related to the news to earn ‘Hootcoins’ that can be used to purchase discounted items like pens, crayons, books, etc. Kids can also use them to publish book reviews, game reviews, etc.

Newsahoot also has a news discussion section where kids across schools can discuss, debate, and share their thoughts on recent events. Students recently discussed their thoughts on fake advertisements, sugar consumption, AI replacing humans, etc. 

• Times NIE

Times NIE (Newspaper In Education Program) is the brain-child of the Times of India newspaper, adopted in India in the year 1985. It is meant for students of classes 4 to 9, and it's delivered to schools on all weekdays.

It is a specially crafted newspaper for kids that covers various topics, such as science, lifestyle, environment, sports, leadership, etc. It is replete with fun facts, quizzes, and games and features school news and the creative works of its young readers.

Times NIE looks and feels very similar to an adult newspaper. It is bulky and tedious to read, given its small font size. Though it started with the intent of improving language skills and fostering reading habits among young children, it is difficult to get students hooked on a news source that is as text-heavy as most textbooks they are required to read.

• The Children's Post of India

The Children’s Post of India began as a daily newsletter for children which could be printed out at home. However, later on, it shifted to a website mode. It is an entirely free news service.

In its present format, it is a news portal exclusively for children. It publishes news on topics that interest children, such as history, space, nature, etc. It has an online shop that sells books and question papers. It also has many fun activities for readers, such as quizzes, memory games, crossword puzzles, etc.

They publish their news articles relatively infrequently, and their articles are heavy on facts.

• Curious Times

Curious Times is an educational website for children that hopes to bridge the gap between school curriculum and world affairs. It has a news website and a newspaper.  It publishes different news articles for differing reading grades, i.e. foundational, primary, middle, and secondary.

Curious Times publishes at least one article for its 12 news categories daily. The articles are less ‘news’ and more ‘fun-fact’ oriented.

• The Children’s Newspaper

The Children’s Newspaper is a news service for children aged 6-13. It publishes news thrice a week but delivers all three editions together to the child’s home.  The newspaper also has a digital version that can be printed at home. The newspaper also features contributions from readers, puzzles, quizzes, interviews, etc.

Although their newspaper is better designed with children’s needs in mind, the service is expensive.

• Kids Age

Kids Age is a monthly newspaper for children aged 3 to 14. It has won many accolades for its innovative newspaper editions, e.g., Wet & Reveal, Glow in the Dark, Coded, etc. It publishes three editions of its newspaper: Seedling (3 to 5), Junior (6 to 7), and Senior (8 to 13).

Although every edition of its newspaper has been tailored to the needs of different grades, the content needs to be more focused on news and less on fun facts, games, stories, activities, etc.

• The Junior Age

The Junior Age is a fortnightly newspaper for children aged 7 to 13. It publishes news on a wide range of topics and also has a ‘Junior Age Kid Reporter’ internship programme. 

Apart from the bulky newspaper format, their services are offered at an expensive price.

• The Curious Owl

The Curious Owl is a weekly current affairs newspaper for middle school students. Unlike most kids’ newspaper services, they have designed a short newspaper with a larger font size and good textual and visual content balance. 

However, they only cover news from four categories, i.e. India, World, Sports, and Entertainment.

• HT School

HT School is an event-led platform for children's holistic learning and development. It publishes child-friendly newspapers on weekdays. It collaborates with schools to offer its news services to kids nationwide.

HT School does an excellent job organising various competitions and events for school kids; however, its newspaper needs to catch up in many aspects. First, the newspaper's appearance is no different from adult newspapers. Second, children between the ages of 8 and 15 have vastly different reading levels - having only one edition for all age groups does not suffice.

• KidzByte

KidzByte is a current affairs aggregator for children. It shares snippets of news from other mainstream media houses. It is a paid resource focusing on turning children into “kidfluencers.”

They do this by asking children to record themselves presenting the news. KidzByte then adds a fancy studio layer on top of this video to boost children’s confidence.

The application's interface may be difficult for children to use easily. We also encountered some technical issues when we tried to use the app!

• RobinAge

RobinAge is a newspaper for children. The newspaper offers a mix of fun facts and slightly serious news written in a manner that is palatable to them. However, RobinAge is expensive - an annual subscription costs ₹1725 (ages 4 to 6) and ₹2500 (ages 7 to 15).

One key feature of RobinAge is that it also allows children to submit content for its newspaper. Their newspaper also includes advertisements which children and parents may find interesting.

RobinAge also publishes content on its website. The news articles may interest students in classes 3 to 5. The website also contains recommendations for movies, books, stories, etc.

• What’s New Today

What’s New Today is a free podcast that helps children learn about the world without screen time. It is an excellent resource for school mornings, car rides, and even when kids return from their evening activities!

They cover new and exciting topics at least once a week. We recommend that parents also hear this podcast with their children. Discussions on small, exciting topics make for fantastic conversation starters with children. It’s like learning without studying!

• International brands

Many international brands publish kids’ news. The big drawback for Indian kids using these services is that their main focus is often the news from their country.

Since English is not the mother tongue of India, kids may also have difficulty with the reading level and narration accents that some of these services use. We have prepared a short list of international brands publishing news for kids:

1. NewsForKids

NewsForKids was a fantastic news website for kids. It covered some of the best stories with attractive creatives. It also had built-in word-meaning functionality. Moreover, it was completely free to access and use. However, NFK shut down on 12th December 2023.

2. KidsNews (AU)

KidNews is a great free resource for kids. Its content focuses on news events in Australia and around the world. The colour-coded reading level system is easy for any child to understand and use. 

3. TIME for Kids

TIME for Kids is designed specifically for children up to six. Ample images and less text make the interface extremely easy to use.

Although the content needs to be updated regularly, the topics covered are interesting. Content from students across the United States also keeps things fresh and exciting!

4. CBC Kids News

CBC Kids News is a branch of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that publishes news for kids. The articles are concise and well-written. However, the homepage seems cluttered with content. We bet kids love their dark mode!

5. DOGO News

DOGO News is a paid news service for kids. Its content is published in English and Spanish - which can help Spanish speakers who are learning English and visa versa.

It also provides schools with nonfiction reading material and comprehension exercises. Although its content is interesting, DOGO News cannot be accessed in India.

6. KidNuz

KidNuz is a free audio podcast based in the United States that kids can enjoy while getting ready for school, eating meals, enjoying screen-free time, etc. It does include advertisements sometimes since the core service is free.