Kiddle-Kid Safe Search Engine

Let’s talk about search engines. How often do we search Youtube for videos or Google for images and hope nothing inappropriate pops up while you’re trying to share a quick something with your students on the fly? GUILTY. With technology being front and center these days and common core taking us deeper into research, we are in desperate need for a kid safe search engine.

I came across a new search engine, powered by Google, specifically for kids! It’s called Kiddle (that’s kiddle.co -no “m”). Yes, there are a few other “kid-friendly” search engines like kidzsearch.com & safesearchkids.com, but I’m here to explain why KIDDLE is my #1.

It’s SAFE. When using the search engine, the content is handpicked, check by the editors, and/or filtered by Google Safe Search.

Uh-oh, someone was being silly and typed in something inappropriate. Don’t worry, the robot blocks it!

Found something you don’t like? We all make mistakes and miss things. They offer a “request to block” if you run across words or sites that are inappropriate.

It’s SEARCHABLE. Just because it’s kid-friendly, doesn’t mean it lacks in content. This search engine pulls up (safe sites) that are specifically for kids. It filters it’s results based first on kid-friendly webpages (think “fun facts”, “kid zone”, etc.), then by content that is written simply, followed by expert content written by and for adults (which will show up last in the filters since it’s on a level that will be harder to kids to understand).

It’s got all those pesky things we need when we research: webpages, images, news, and videos!

Here are some search examples for each type:

and yes, sometimes some searches are more popular (like getting the hockey team penguins instead of the animal penguins)

It’s VISUAL and READABLE. Each search stands out with a large thumbnail, making it easier for kids to scroll through the results and pick what they are looking for. We all need simple, large print sometimes. This print, although not HUGE, is still larger than a regular search engine result size. This makes the results to a search clearer and easier to read for some kids. It also allows ample space between results, as not to confuse anyone.

It’s PRIVATE. It will never ask for any information. I did run across a few ads, depending on what I put into the search engine, but they weren’t inappropriate (example: habitats-ad: habitat for humanity, polar bears-ad: polar bear safaris).

It’s APPEALING. Let’s be real, it’s cuter than it’s counter-part, Google.com (and as a matter of fact, more visually appealing than other kid search engines). Now that’s just vain, but someone had to say it. We know we all like Macs over PCs just because they’re pretty.

I’ve happily made this my homepage on my school computer, so when I need a quick informational video or a photo to show my students, I can type it in this search engine and not have to turn off my projector or be afraid of what comes up in the future.

If your school/district blocks most websites, you may want to take the time to show your administrator the Kiddle Website and see if you can put in a request to your district to unblock it. It would be worth it!