About Our Site
Ask Kids is a search engine designed exclusively for young people ages 6 to 12. It's a free, safe, fun way for kids and their parents to quickly and easily research school topics like science, math, geography, language arts, and history in a search environment that's safer and more age-appropriate than traditional, adult search engines.
Studies prove that visual learning improves children's comprehension, retention, critical thinking, and organization. Additionally, children are better at "mousing" than typing. Ask Kids was built with this in mind, and organizes search results in a graphically vivid three-panel display that includes SmartAnswers and related images, current events, videos and encyclopedia results.
Each web site in the Ask Kids core search index was selected by the Ask.com editorial team as child-appropriate or as a relevant and practical site for reference and learning. Ask's proprietary search algorithm then identified communities and collections of web sites linked to the core list, and filtered those to remove adult content.
Kids can use keywords or phrases to get the information they need. Find out who the 40th President was, the solution to 2*(3+4), or everything we know about the planet Neptune.
Here's to Kids - the most demanding searches of all!
Site Features
Ask Kids offers many innovative tools to help you get Kid friendly info quickly and easily.
Binoculars Site Preview
Binoculars Site Preview FAQ
Conversions
The Ask Conversion Tool converts world currency, temperature, weight, length, area, and even cooking/volume conversions. There is no need to search the web for multiple conversion tools when you can do it quickly on Ask Kids.
Sample Searches:
Dictionary Search
Need to know the definition or pronunciation of a word, origin of a word or just a new word altogether? Quickly search the online dictionaries and thesauri for the information you need.
Sample Searches:
Famous People Search
Get the latest news and pictures about your favorite celebrities or historical figures using the Famous People Search tool.
Sample searches
Movie Search
Quick access to the latest information for upcoming and recent film releases for PG13, PG and G rated movies. Just enter the name of the movie you are looking for.
Sample Searches
Image Search
Find celebrity images, pictures of your next vacation destination, or a diagram of a mathematical principle. Simply enter the key words and get great image results in one click.
Sample Searches
Smart Answers & Ask3D results
Smart Answers provide fast, straightforward information right at the top of the search results.
Smart Answers provide fast, straightforward information right at the top of the search results page. Ask3D results are smaller blocks of info and links that can be found down the right side of results page of many searches. These can add context and extra information around your main query including news, images, current event updates, encyclopedia briefs and more. We know that when some kids type in the search query "dogs," what they really want is "pictures of dogs;" with Ask Kids we already have it there for you!
Sample Searches
Video Search
Searching for videos across many kids friendly sources can be useful for school research, current events and more. Some video sites on the web can include inappropriate content, so we've limited the amount of sources to try to ensure a safer experience. Here's a list of some of the sources available via video search on Ask Kids: Here's a list of some of the sources available via video search on Ask Kids:
- Animal Planet
- BBC
- cNet
- Discovery
- PBS
- Smithsonian
Plus many more!
While we have tried to weed out sources that show user generated content, occasionally sites can have a change of policy. Please let us know if you come across any inappropriate video.
Weather Search
Quickly get the latest weather information and temperatures in locations around the world. Before heading off to vacation or out the door for school, get the 7 day forecast by searching the weather for any destination.
Sample Searches
Search Tip: Use the city name or 5-digit zip code plus the term "weather" or "forecast."
Zoom Related Search
Narrow or broaden your search with possible alternative search terms that appear on the left side of our search results page.
- Narrow Your Search: helps you to drill down into topics that are specifically related to your search
- Expand Your Search: allows you to explore topics that are conceptually related to your search
- Related Names: presents a list of names that are conceptually tied to topic options within the "Narrow Your Search" and "Expand Your Search" lists
Make Ask Kids your Home Page
The Ask Kids homepage is interactive to inspire artistic expression and fun with the tools in the Draw It! Pen Box, including a pen, pencil, highlighter and virtual stickers.
Find what you are looking for faster by making Ask Kids your home page.
Follow the instructions below for your web browser. If your web browser isn't on the list, please contact us for help.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0:
- Go to the AskKids homepage.
- Hit the "Alt" and the "M" key together.
- Select "Add or Change a home page."
- Select one of the homepage options.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 and under:
- Go to the "Tools" menu and choose "Internet Options."
- On the "General" page, the first entry reads, "You can change which page to use for your home page."
- Enter http://www.askkids.com into the space for "Address" and click "OK."
Mozilla Firefox:
- Go to the "Tools" menu and choose "Options."
- On the "General" tab, enter http://www.askkids.com into the space for "Location(s)" and click "OK."