What We're Listening To | Podcasts for Kids
I won't go into all the details, but this week has me pulling my hair out. Spring Break starts Friday and I am THREE DAYS behind on all the things I needed (OK- wanted) to get done before then. Some of it HAS to get done and a lot of it could wait but it would stress me out to not have it checked off the list. Does that ring true with any of you? I'm working on this. I'm working on remembering that not everything has to be done for me to relax and enjoy life. That is a difficult task, perhaps especially as a parent. There are always loads of laundry to do and toilets to clean and dinners to prep. There won't always be 3 and 6 year olds to play with.
When ignoring my checklist isn’t an option and I've blown through the amount of screen time I'm comfortable with, I always turn to podcasts. We have grown fond of them as a family thanks to podcasts for kids. We started out listening to The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian about a year and a half ago and now Riley has his own podcast, Kidosaurus. Our library has grown exponentially and the love of listening to stories hasn’t waned. Both of the boys LOVE listening to the fun voices of the storytellers and learning about everything from weather to animal...waste products. (I'm sorry- I cannot bring myself to type the actual words... 💩 🤷🏼♀️).
Since I know a lot of moms and dads who follow my blog also have young kids, I wanted to share a list of our favorite podcasts that the whole family can enjoy! They are perfect for car rides or for listening to while resting on the couch when (gasp!) naps are no longer occurring in your home. One of my 6 year old's favorite things to do is listen under our pop-up IKEA tent in the yard on summer days. Honestly? He could sit out there for 3 hours and not complain once.
So, get a good, durable bluetooth speaker and get ready to enter the world of podcasts for kids! They will make life so much richer for you and your kiddos.
What We're Listening To | Podcasts for Kids
First off, if you don't already have the app Kids Listen, download it now! When we first started listening to podcasts, I found it difficult to find shows for kids easily. Kids Listen organizes them all in one place and it is so great!
The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian/BeeBop Tales will always be a favorite! The boys LOVE listening to BeeBop make fun of the creator/narrator Jonathan Messinger (Messingham/Messingcheese/etc) and the shows never fail to keep them entertained!
Kidosaurus, of course! This is a shameless plug, but we love listening to Riley's new podcast. He, the Kidosaurus, makes learning about dinosaurs fun for all ages and is doing this to spend more time with his dad AND help save Dinosaur Ridge. Listen to the first two episodes to learn more and stay turned for episode 3 which will be out at the end of the month!
The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd is a new favorite in our house. We have listened to about 1/3 of the available episodes and the boys are hooked! The episodes are short (4-8 minutes for the most part) making them perfect for transition times when you just need a few minutes.
Ear Snacks with Andrew and Polly is an obsession. We have listened to the first episode, Fruit, approximately 8 million times. And I'm not going to lie: I LOVE IT. It's possible that I have the Grapes song 100% memorized IT'S FINE. The other episodes have been wonderful as well and Andrew and Polly also have an album that we listen to on Spotify quite often.
Brains On is great for the 6 year old but a little too advanced for the 3 year old. This makes it perfect for when little brother is sleeping and big brother cannot keep his voice quiet. JUST BEING HONEST.
Story Pirates features stories written by kids! They take the stories and turn them into sketches and songs for everyone to enjoy. It's really fun and helps kids see how amazing writing and telling stories can be!
Smash Boom Best is so much fun for the boys to listen to together. Here’s the premise: there is a debate over which thing (tacos vs pizza, Loch Ness vs Bermuda Triangle, etc) is best. Two people make their argument and one person keeps score. It’s fun to have the kids keep their own score to see if their decision matches the one in the episode!
Tumble is a super informative science podcast (our Kidosaurus even had a little feature on one of their episodes a while back). We love the cool facts they share and we (parents) appreciate their calm approach to relaying that info. Even I learn something every time we tune in!
Sparkle Stories is perfect for calming things down. Whether we are in the car or at home, I can always rely on Sparkle Stories to have something engaging for the kids to listen to that will help them slow down at the end of the day.
I'm going to leave it at that for now, but as our list grows I'll hopefully be posting about this again! One of the most common responses I get from other parents when I tell them to give podcasts a try is that they don't think their child is old enough. That may be completely true, but before you decide, I would recommend listening to a couple episodes with your kiddo. Ask them questions, make comments about the story, and help them learn how to listen and enjoy the podcast episodes. You won't regret it!
Have other podcasts for kids that you love to listen to with your little ones? Leave them in the comments below! We love getting new suggestions!
