CIA Kids is a small reference site for parents and grandparents who want to help a child use technology well — learning to code, exploring STEM, and building sensible habits online. The name is our shorthand for coding and internet awareness, the two things families ask about most.
The internet is full of strong, free resources for kids and tech: Scratch from MIT, Code.org, NASA's student activities, and the online-safety programs run by national nonprofits. The problem isn't a shortage of material — it's knowing where to start, what fits which age, and what to sort out at home before handing a child a device.
That's what this site does. Our guides answer specific questions parents actually type: what age a child can realistically start coding, whether block-based tools like Scratch are "real" programming, where to find free STEM activities that don't require a purchase, and how to put family screen rules in writing before the first phone or tablet arrives.
Start with the First Device Readiness Check, a short checklist that scores how prepared your household is before a child gets their own device, and points you to the guide that fills whatever gap it finds. Everything here links out to established, non-commercial sources — MIT, Code.org, the CSTA, ISTE, NASA, the AAP, NCMEC, and Common Sense Media — so you can go deeper with organizations that have been doing this work for years.