6 search engines kids

6 Kid-friendly search engines for the classroom and home

Search: that thing you do when you need to know something. Years ago, we may have asked questions or looked in books for answers, but now, we turn to the web. The internet may be a wealth of information, but we all know that not all information available on the web is appropriate for all ages – even when you’re searching for something innocent and legitimate.

For search, Google may still be king, but how can you ensure that your students are only going to find kid-friendly search results? Even if sometimes the site content is “safe”, advertisements may not be. Luckily, there are a number of different search engines available that were designed with kids in mind.

In the handy infographic below, you’ll find six different search engines for kids. Depending on the task at hand, these search engines may not find older students all the information they need, due to some of the filters applied, so you’ll find that these are most appropriate for kids up to middle school aged. You’ll notice most of them are pretty similar, so it’s more about finding the one you like than about features.

Do you have some favorite kid-friendly search engines that you use in your classroom or at home? Share with the Daily Genius community by leaving a comment below, heading over to our  and giving us a shout there, or dropping us a line on Twitter.

6 Kid-friendly search engines for the classroom and home

Kidzsearch

Kidzsearch is basically a site that runs a ‘custom’ Google search, and only returns “strict” results. While that in and of itself isn’t super special, it saves you and your students from having to set up custom searches in Google and instead is a totally separate website, so the students won’t be tempted to search other channels or use less safe settings.

KidRex

KidRex is also another custom Google search, returning “strict” results. It emphasizes kid-centric content and has a super cute design to boot.

Kidtopia

Kidtopia: Yes, it’s another custom Google search web page (are you seeing the theme here?), but this one additionally offers some subject-based browsing ability. For example, you can head over to “Science and Technology” and then “Human Body” to find some videos on the human body along with the search bar and some related links to resources curated by the folks at Kidtopia.

Teach the Children Well

Teach the Children Well is a collection of links to sites carefully selected by a teacher

for students as well as their parents and teachers. Users can browse by topic or use a custom Google search that returns “strict” results.

GoGooligans

GoGooligans is designed for younger students, and functions as a custom Google search returning “strict” results. The makers of this site also offer a version for slightly older students as well, as well as the ability to view “student” results and “teacher” results (both are filtered).

KidsClick

KidsClick is an annotated searchable directory of websites created for kids by librarians. Searchable by subject, reading level and degree of picture content. We think you’ll find this one particularly useful for the younger students.

 

Featured image via Flickr

Written by Katie Dunn



Explorer, eternal learner, animal lover. Perpetually drawn to the ocean. Adventure ready. Suffers from wanderlust. Likes chasing things down the sink with the little sprayer thingy.

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