What's the best way to SSH to machines on the local network?

Solution 1:

Run:

avahi-browse -tl _workstation._tcp

To get a list of Ubuntu workstations in the local network, then you can connect to them by running:

ssh <username>@<computer-name>.local

Solution 2:

You can use the IP address to ssh into the kid's computer. If you want to use the computer name, edit your /etc/hosts file to include the computer name.

192.168.1.104  dad
192.168.1.105  kids