Our 5 Favorite Educational Podcasts for Kids
July 31, 2024
In today’s world, parents and teachers have seemingly endless options when it comes to early educational resources for their kids. The internet is overflowing with engaging resources to support every child’s early learning and curiosity. With so many exciting options, especially considering videos and games, it may seem that podcasts have lost their relevancy or may not even be ideal for young learners. That couldn’t be farther from the truth!
Listening to podcasts supports learning in many ways because unlike virtually every other online resource that is visual in nature, podcasts strengthen imagination, listening comprehension and ultimately, language skills.
Listening to new vocabulary and a variety of sentence structures works wonders to support reading and writing skills, which is exactly why parents read to children beginning from birth. Best of all, podcasts can be used to extend and connect to many of the same concepts and skills your kids practice while working on our worksheets. Join us as we discuss our favorite podcasts for kids!
Here are five fantastic podcasts that we enjoy and recommend:
Parents and teachers already know that reading to youngsters is critical to their early literacy. Toddlers and preschoolers need as much exposure as possible to text, but as they begin to learn to read independently, their interest may begin to wane, especially if it doesn’t come easily to them.
We love the Story Seeds podcast because instead of merely reading stories, it gives listeners the opportunity to see their own stories come to life, which can spark their creativity and ignite a love for storytelling. This podcast encourages kids 13 and younger to submit a “seed”, which is an idea for a story. Professional storytellers then take submitted ideas, and with the help of the young author, grow them into original short stories that are presented in each delightful episode.
As all moms and dads know, children are just brimming with questions, with one of the most common being why something is the way it is. The Just Why podcast aims to quench a child’s curiosity with answers to anything and everything both big and small. While the channel doesn’t focus on any one subject area, most of the questions fall under the realm of science or social studies to explain how and why things work.
Does your child have their own burning question? The podcast’s website has a button for listeners to chime in with their own questions!
Kids and adults alike enjoy listening to stories for entertainment, which is what makes many podcasts so popular. Created and produced by parents, Circle Round is a podcast that adapts folktales from around the world and sets them to music engaging sounds to bring them to life. Each episode is just short enough to keep a child’s attention and focuses on wholesome messages like generosity and kindness.
Pair stories with our cultural coloring pages to begin a wider discussion about people and customs from around the world!
Look around, there are so many things in the world that make us say “wow”! This podcast is a science-based show in which each episode explores a topic that the show dubs “bonkerballs”, or something that is super cool! Episodes discuss fascinating, yet wacky topics, like whether slime is a liquid or a solid, and what beaches are like on Mars.
Perfect for all ages, this show is sure to put a smile on any child’s face while learning about the most awesome topics in science. The podcast’s parent company, Tinkercast, also puts out a variety of “wow” shows, such as Once Upon a Beat, which mixes fables and hip-hop music.
Smash Boom Best is a show from the makers of the award-winning Brains On, a learning podcast focused on science and history. What makes this podcast unique is that it’s a debate show for kids in which every episode features two cool things and debaters face off to give both sides so that the listener can decide which is better for themselves.
What sort of things do they debate? One recent episode discusses which is cooler: a Pegasus or a centaur. Not only do kids learn about these mythical creatures from Greek mythology, but they can get all the info they need to make up their own mind about which they think is the coolest.
If you’re looking for another option to supplement your child’s learning, or even just a more wholesome form of entertainment for kids, there are a plethora of podcasts that can easily be paired with your child’s studies. Do you have a favourite children's podcast? Tell us its name and why you like it in the comments below!
