Thing #1: Gakken Kids Science Website

What’s that you say? Facing a page full of science based Kanji makes you want to cry and poo?

Bladow: Gakken Kids! Science : a science site for Japanese kids.

On the top right of the page, you’ll see a button labeled ‘ふりがな’　and then ‘なし’ and’あり’. (Furigana are hiragana or katakana text above a kanji to help you read it even if you don’t know how.)

Punch ‘あり’ and all the ‘hard’ kanji (as judged by the site’s makers) will magically have furigana letters to help you read along .

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Phrases you might learn:

「どうしてあくびがでるの」

doushite akubi ga deru no?

(Why do yawns happen?)

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「宇宙（うちゅう）はいつどうやってできたの」

uchuu wa itsu douyatte dekita no?

(When and why did the cosmos come about?)

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… both useful phrases for confounding little Japanese kids or supervisors.

Reading this stuff is also a good way to bone up on science terms for 2kyu and 1kyu tests. If you’re into that sort of thing.

FUN FACT: Type キッズ into Google, along with any other Japanese word, and you’re likely to come up with an easy to read site on that topic. (キッズ　is the katakana spelling of ‘kids’ that’s used in lots of Japanese kids products).

I’ll look for more of these sites and post the best ones that I find.