[1] In a broad sense, the publication is a version of National Geographic, the publisher's flagship magazine, that is intended for children.

In October 2002, the advertising-free World was retitled National Geographic Kids and began accepting advertising.

The first advertisers in Kids were The Walt Disney Company, Minolta, Nintendo, Scholastic Corporation, and Tony's Pizza.

[5] In 2015, National Geographic Partners, a joint venture with 21st Century Fox, gained a controlling interest in Kids.

There also are eighteen editions of National Geographic Kids in different languages instead of English, published in Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Latin America, Lithuania, Benelux, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.