Kids News - Social Studies for Kids

For U.S. residents, fall and pumpkins go hand in hand. Some use the fruit to make delicious soups and bread, others to carve out scary jack-o-lanterns. Then there are those that spend months growing giant-sized gourds that they use to compete at pumpkin weigh-offs. While there are numerous competitions held across the country, the 'Super Bowl' takes place at Half Moon Bay, CA which prides itself on being the 'Pumpkin Capital of the World.'...

Every year around this time, thousands of hot air balloon enthusiasts flock to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to participate in the city's annual International Balloon Fiesta. Now in its 44th year, the 2015 festival that took place from October 3rd -11th is the largest gathering of balloons and balloonists in the world....

On October 3rd, East Coast residents were relieved to hear that Hurricane Joaquin which had been hurtling towards the U.S., was no longer a threat. According to meteorologists, the hurricane that was weakened to a category 3 after battering the Bahamas, would likely remain out to sea instead of ramming into the coastline as had been previously thought....

On August 3rd, 1492 Italian explorer Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, to seek out a western sea route to China and India. However, the explorer and his crew never made it to the gold and spice islands of Asia. Instead, about two months later, on October 12th, they landed on a small island in the modern-day Bahamas that Columbus claimed for Spain and named San Salvador....

Two Belgian men have come up with a way to take fine dining to a whole new level - Literally! Diners at their pop-up and franchised restaurants enjoy gourmet meals perched upon floating platforms suspended 180-feet above ground with the help of a giant crane!...

Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, England, is one of the world's most well-known ancient religious and burial sites. Situated amidst a dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments, the modest looking circle of stones that are visited by millions of tourists annually were declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. Now it appears that the ancient tombstones that are believed to date all the way back to 2,000 B.C. have some bigger competitors right in their own backyard....

Some sculptors like to create clay masterpieces; others prefer metal. Then there is Theo Jansen. This Dutch artist uses PVC tubes to build giant Strandbeests (beach animals in Dutch). Part work of art, part fantastical creature, the multi-legged insect-like creations are both awe-inspiring and terrifying!...

According to ancient Polish folklore, during the final days of World War II, Nazi officials dispatched a train filled with stolen treasure from what used to be the East German city of Breslau. They were hoping to protect it from the fast approaching Soviet Red Army....

The proliferation of smartphones with cameras that can take self-portraits or selfies as they are popularly called has liberated us. We can now document every moment of our life and instantly share it with the world through the myriad of social networking websites. However, some believe that the incessant quest to capture the "ultimate" selfie is causing people to take unnecessary risks that in some cases are proving to be deadly!...