Your daily kids news podcast.

The Minecraft Movie has exploded like a creeper at a party! With $493 million earned in its opening weekend, it’s now the biggest video game movie launch ever.

In Alaska, grizzly bears are helping humans by testing rubbish bins for bear-proof-ness! If a bear takes a while to break in, the bin gets the thumbs up.

Aussie scientists have created “Peter Pan toads” that never grow up and chow down on cane toad eggs like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet. Trials start soon — fingers (and webbed feet) crossed!

Move over “awesome” — US teens are now calling things “dodgy”, “cheeky”, and “bonkers”! Thanks to British TV American slang is getting a British remix.

For the full episode transcript, click here.

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!

They live in every ocean, they've been around since before the dinosaurs, and they've got a reputation that makes lots of people shiver. This is your Squiz Kids Shortcut to Sharks—the podcast where we dive into the who, what, when, where, why, and how of big news stories.

We’ll take you through HOW a scared surfer became a shark scientist, WHAT makes sharks so weird and wonderful (including baby sharks that eat their siblings!), and WHY many shark species are now endangered—and what we can all do to help.

For the full episode transcript, click here.

LINKS:

The marine food web, and how overfishing affects it

What is sustainable fishing? 15 minute film

Where to find sustainable seafood

The "insane biology" of hammerhead sharks

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.

Queensland floods seen from space; rare tortoises welcome hatchlings; Mushroom mission accomplished; and Ronin the mine-sniffing rat.

Queensland got hit with more rain in four days than it normally gets in a year! The flooded area is as big as Egypt – yes, really! You can even see it from space. Experts are calling it one of the biggest floods ever, and it’s not over yet.

Meet Ronin the rat – a real-life hero! He’s sniffed out 109 landmines in Cambodia and just set a world record.

The first Aussie astronaut on a private mission is back from space—with mushrooms! The team grew them in orbit to see if they could be future moon food.

Two Galapagos tortoises just became parents at over 90 years old! Four adorable hatchlings joined the zoo family, and it’s great news for tortoise conservation.

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Put democracy into action and send a letter to our leaders.

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!

Who's smarter, kids or adults?

Put democracy into action and send a letter to our leaders.

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!

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Mushrooms in space; Sam Kerr’s back; avoiding the AI face thief; and Minecraft hits the big screen.

Put democracy into action and send a letter to our leaders.

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!

Mushrooms are blasting into space! An Aussie astronaut is testing if these tasty fungi can grow in orbit.

The world of Minecraft is jumping from your screen to the big screen! With stars like Jason Momoa and Jack Black, this movie’s mining for box office gold.

Super striker Sam Kerr isn’t playing, but she’s still scoring big with fans at Matildas training! The team is getting pumped for two friendlies against South Korea.

Millions of people are turning themselves into cartoon characters using a new AI tool—but it could mean handing over your face to the internet!

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Put democracy into action and send a letter to our leaders.

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.

Queensland’s colossal flood; South Africa’s flying rhinos; some Redback revelry; and a snappy suburban salty.

Queensland’s got a serious soggy situation! With floods stretching over an area twice as big as Victoria, locals are scrambling to save homes, farms, and flocks.

Look up—it’s not a bird or a plane, it’s a rhino hanging by its ankles! South African conservationists are airlifting sleepy rhinos to safety in the coolest rescue mission ever.

Beach? Check. Theme park? Check. Baby croc in the middle of the road? Wait, what?! A 60cm freshwater croc surprised Gold Coast locals this week. No microchip, no explanation.

Astronauts Butch and Suni were meant to spend 10 days in space—surprise! They stayed for 9 months. No panic, no drama—just science, space chores, and a $5-a-day allowance. Talk about the ultimate work-from-home setup!

Listen to our Shortcut - All About Autism

More info on World Autism Understanding Day

For the full episode transcript, click here.

This episode is a special release for International Fact-Checking Day. You’ll find the full, free Newshounds digital media literacy program on the Squiz Kids website.

In this sixth session of Newshounds, you'll help Squiz-E earn a set of handcuffs! You'll discover how to 'arrest' the deceptive tricks of generative AI and sharpen your skills in telling fact from fiction.

Learn how to:

• Spot images created using artificial intelligence
• Use a reverse image search to find out where an image really came from
• Help friends and family steer clear of online scams

Watch the video of this episode at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhrizKb9KI4

Want to use this episode as a class activity?

We’ve made it super easy! Download the:

• Teacher Manual
• Student Workbook Pages

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Put democracy into action and send a letter to our leaders.

Put democracy into action and send a letter to our leaders.

Your daily kids news podcast.

Making kids heard this election; Myanmar’s massive earthquake; the Bombers’ newest star; and Gout Gout pipped at the post.

It’s election time in Australia, and the politicians are out in full force—smiling, waving, and making promises!

Brush up on your Aussie politics in The Sensational World of Civics!

A massive earthquake hit Myanmar over the weekend, causing huge damage and leaving many without homes. The 7.7 magnitude quake was a big one, but countries—including Australia—are stepping in to help.

Speedy sprinter Gout Gout just missed first place by a blink (literally!) in a 200m race. But no worries—he and his mate Lachie hugged it out and will race again soon.

Essendon’s Saad El-Hawli made a legendary debut during Ramadan—playing like a champ even without food or water all day. He’s a proud trailblazer for Muslim athletes and scored a big win for the Bombers.

For the full episode transcript, click here.

A fun kids vs adults news quiz to test who’s been paying the most attention to the week in news.

For the full episode transcript click here.

Your daily kids news podcast.

Salmon stoush in Tassie; Socceroos revive World Cup hopes; tackling ADHD misinfo; and Toy Story has a birthday.

There are a bunch of salmon farms off the west coast of Tasmania. And right now, they’re at the centre of a  fight, in this case between politicians and people opposed to salmon farming.

The Socceroos are now in second place behind Japan in their qualifying pool just ahead of Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. One more win should mean they have a guaranteed place at the 2026 World Cup - to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The Toy Story movie series is 30 years old - with Pixar studios this week releasing social media posts marking 30 years since the first Toy Story movie - and Buzz first dreamed of going to infinity and beyond. 

For the full episode transcript, click here.

Your daily kids news podcast.

Brisbane Olympics stadiums revealed; Valerie the adventurous dachshund; Mars rover find signs of life; and why kindness makes you happy.

A brand new Olympic Stadium will be built in central Brisbane - in a place called Victoria Park and other parts of the Sunshine State will be feeling the Olympics love too - with Olympic events taking place as far afield as Cairns, Toowoomba, Rockhampton and the Whitsundays. 

Valerie the dachshund has been missing for 500 days on Kangaroo Island but she may have been spotted romping in a paddock yesterday. 

The robot rover sent up to Mars a couple of years ago, has dug up organic compounds in its travels and found a rock estimated to be about 3.7 billion years old!

For the full episode transcript, click here.