Kid and child mean the same thing, a young person, but the tone differs. Kid is informal: people use it with friends and family. Child is neutral and fits anywhere, from conversation to forms and essays. Child has an irregular plural: not childs but children.
kid or child — can you pick the right one?
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a child → children; a kid → kids; have kids/children; children under + age; be kidding (= joking)
- Our neighbours have three kids, and they all play football in the street.
- Children under twelve can visit the museum for free with an adult.
- Are you kidding? The concert tickets sold out in five minutes?
What changed
First versionIn conclusion, the government should provide free sports clubs for kids.
RevisionIn conclusion, the government should provide free sports clubs for children.
This sentence is from an essay: In conclusion immediately sets a formal, written tone. Kids sounds like a conversational slip here. In IELTS essays and business letters, write children.
The verb kid has nothing to do with children: it means to joke or tease. Are you kidding? means Are you joking?, and I'm just kidding means I'm only joking. That's also where jk in texts comes from.
Your turn
My sister has two ___, a boy of five and a girl of eight.
Show the answer
children — The plural of child is children. The form childs doesn't exist in English, even though the general rule makes you want to add -s.
Describe the family of some friends or neighbours. Say how many children they have and what the children like doing.
My neighbours have two kids, a boy and a girl, and both of them love building things out of Lego.
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