Squiz Kids

Latest Episodes:

Astronaut rescue mission underway, and dachshunds break a record. Mar 18, 2025

Show notes

Astronaut rescue mission underway; Iguanas raft to Fiji; the world’s longest church build; and dachshunds break a record.

Sign the petition and send a message to politicians ... Our kids need digital literacy education now!

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.

Get started for free HERE.

Check out the Squiz Kids website for all of our other Fun, Free and Fresh offerings!

Your daily kids news podcast.

Imagine planning an 8-day trip and staying for 9 months! Two astronauts were stuck on the International Space Station after their spaceship had issues. Now, they’re finally heading home—blazing through the sky before splashing into the ocean.

In Barcelona, builders have been working on the Sagrada Familia church for 143 years! Delays included running out of money and even a civil war. That's one long construction project!

How did iguanas get to Fiji from South America? Scientists now think they rafted across the ocean—floating on tree trunks for 8000 km while munching leaves.

A town in Germany just hosted the biggest dachshund parade ever, with 897 tiny sausage dogs marching together.

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Ned Kelly... Your Shortcut Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

Sign the petition and send a message to politicians ... Our kids need digital literacy education now!

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.

Get started for free HERE.

Check out the Squiz Kids website for all of our other Fun, Free and Fresh offerings!

He was Australia’s most famous bushranger, a lawbreaker to some and a legend to others. This is your Squiz Kids Shortcut to Ned Kelly—the podcast where we dig into the who, what, when, where, why, and how of big news stories.

We’ll take you through WHO Ned Kelly was, WHY some saw him as a hero while others called him a criminal, and WHAT was up with his famous bulletproof armour.

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Links:

A virtual reconstruction of Ned Kelly's armour

The Jerilderie letter (original and transcript)

Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly art

Background to The Story of the Kelly Gang, the world's first feature film

Watch the remaining footage from The Story of The Kelly Gang

Slip n’ slide Aussie Grand Prix, and Gout Gout does it again! Mar 16, 2025

Show notes

Sign the petition and send a message to politicians ... Our kids need digital literacy education now!

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.

Get started for free HERE.

Check out the Squiz Kids website for all of our other Fun, Free and Fresh offerings!

Your daily kids news podcast.

Slip n’ slide Aussie Grand Prix; Rivers turn green for St Patrick’s Day; Fisherman survives three months at sea; and Gout Gout does it again!

Aussie driver Oscar Piastri had his hopes of a home victory washed away as rainy weather turned the Australian Grand Prix into a slippery mess! Instead, his teammate Lando Norris sped to victory, just beating superstar Max Verstappen.

Chicago has dyed its river bright green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! The tradition honours Ireland’s patron saint, and people everywhere dress in green to avoid getting pinched by mischievous leprechauns.

Seventeen-year-old sprint star Gout Gout is officially the fastest kid in Australia! He just ran the 100m in 10.38 seconds—only 0.8 seconds slower than Usain Bolt’s world record.

A fisherman from Peru was lost at sea for three months—surviving by eating sea turtles, birds, and even cockroaches!

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Kids vs Adults Weekly News S'Quiz Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

Who's smarter, kids or adults?

For the full episode transcript, click here.

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.

Get started for free HERE.

Classic - The Secret World of Maths... Your Shortcut Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

We can find it in shells, flowers, pine cones and snails... It's needed in sport, construction, space exploration and more... and it pairs very nicely with a sweet, flaky dessert.

Squiz Kids Shortcuts give you and your primary-aged kids the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the big news stories.

Classroom Resources

LINKS:

TedEd on Pi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a5vHXsUvUw

Jaden Chong recites Pi to 1,800 places: https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/melbourne-sevenyearold-memory-boy-becomes-sensation-remembering-pi/caf43ef6-dc39-486b-89eb-a79bfba64641

How to count seed spirals on a sunflower: https://momath.org/home/fibonacci-numbers-of-sunflower-seed-spirals/

The Fibonacci sequence spiral: https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/fibonacci-sequence.html

More Fibonacci:

https://www.naturphilosophie.co.uk/fibonaccis-golden-spiral-relationship-maths-nature/

https://mathimages.swarthmore.edu/index.php/Fibonacci_Numbers

NASA's Starshade: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/1015/flower-power-nasa-reveals-spring-starshade-animation/

Maths in art: https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/math-is-muse-for-these-artists

Dino-prints in Aussie playground, and Saturn has all the moons. Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

What’s a tariff and why should you care?; Dino-prints in Aussie playground; Marvel’s Black Widow gets cranky; and Saturn has all the moons.

America is slapping a 25% extra charge (a "tariff") on Aussie steel and aluminium. That means it’s more expensive for American companies to buy from us, which could affect jobs in Australia. Economics in action!

Turns out Saturn has way more moons than we thought—128 more, to be exact! That brings its total to 274, leaving Jupiter’s 95 moons in the dust.

Imagine finding dinosaur footprints in your school's playground! That’s what happened in Queensland, where a rock sitting in a school office for 20 years turned out to have 66 dinosaur tracks on it!

Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson is fed up with fake videos using her face and voice without permission! These deepfakes can trick people into believing things that aren’t true. She’s calling for new laws to stop them

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Check out the Squiz Kids website for all of our other Fun, Free and Fresh offerings!

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.

Get started for free HERE.

It’s NAPLAN time again, and Vienna’s vibing veggies. Mar 11, 2025

Show notes

It’s NAPLAN time again; Vienna’s vibing veggies; row row row your pumpkin; and an annual British riot.

Your daily kids news podcast.

NAPLAN is here! Over a million students are diving into reading, writing, and maths tests this week. It’s not about passing or failing—just seeing where you’re at.

Forget guitars—how about a cucumber saxophone? The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra has taken home a Guinness World Record, playing 344 concerts using instruments made from fresh veggies!

A scientist in NSW has done it again—rowing his 426kg pumpkin down a river! Growing these mega-pumpkins isn’t easy, but Mark Peacock has it down to a science.

In England, a football match like no other just took over the streets! Royal Shrovetide has hundreds of players battling over a giant ball in a two-day game through rivers, fields, and alleyways. The only official rule? No murder. Yep, it’s that wild!

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Keep listening after the podcast for a special Q+A when former NAPLAN boss, Peter Titmaniss, takes the Squiz Kids Hot Seat to answer questions from the kids of Australia.

Check out the Squiz Kids website for all of our other Fun, Free and Fresh offerings!

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.

Get started for free HERE.

Peru... Squiz the World Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

Each fortnight, we give the world globe a spin and see where we land. Then, we take the kids of Australia on an audio excursion to visit that country and its people. Join your captain, Amanda Bower, on an audio adventure.

Today, we’re off to a country where you can swim at Pacific Ocean beaches, trek through the Amazon jungle, and hike the Andes mountains—all without leaving the country's borders! It's a place where you’ll find ancient cities built by the mighty Inca Empire, where potatoes were first cultivated, and where people still speak a language inspired by the sounds of nature. So, buckle up and get ready to discover Peru!

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Links:

Machu Picchu 101

“Secrets of Machu Picchu”

Recipe - Lomo saltado

Recipe - Peruvian ceviche

The sting in Cyclone Alfred’s tail, and the mysterious woolly mammoth mouse. Mar 09, 2025

Show notes

The sting in Cyclone Alfred’s tail; Giants and Hawks win big; Moon landings and Sun missions; and the mysterious woolly mammoth mouse.

Your daily kids news podcast.

Wild winds, torrential rain, and massive floods hit Queensland and NSW as Tropical Cyclone Alfred wreaks havoc! Over 300,000 homes lost power, and 500 schools shut down—giving kids an unexpected day off! Rescuers worked nonstop, and now, the big clean-up begins.

The Moon was the place to be last week! One spacecraft landed successfully, another tipped over (oops!), and NASA had to cancel two missions. Scientists are working hard to explore space, but sometimes, things don’t go to plan.

The AFL season kicked off with big wins for the Hawthorn Hawks and the GWS Giants! Meanwhile, the NRL saw the Broncos and Storm score massive victories. Get ready, sports fans—it's game on!

Scientists are one step closer to reviving woolly mammoths! Using ancient DNA, they created tiny, shaggy-coated "mammoth mice."

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Check out the Squiz Kids website for all of our other Fun, Free and Fresh offerings!

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.

Get started for free HERE.

Kids vs Adults Weekly News S'Quiz Mar 06, 2025

Show notes

Who's smarter, kids or adults?

For the full episode transcript, click here.

What is Newshounds - video explainer.

Find out more about Newshounds.