 |
YouTube has become one of the big entertainment centres for people,
especially as it allows everyday people to be creative in a way that TV didn’t
allow before it. Despite this, there have been a lot of channels and videos
pretending to be for children when they’re actually not, making it hard for
parents to be sure what is safe for their child to watch.
One of the things I try to make sure that I’m on top of is the
current trends in regards to what kids are interested in or not. It makes it
a lot easier to make sure that they are viewing things that are appropriate for
their age and that they are protected from the dangers of everything being
online these days. YouTube is thankfully one of those places that are very easy
for me to keep an eye on because it’s just a matter of hearing about a channel
or video and sitting down to look through it myself before letting the parents
I work for know what is going on.
Believe it or not, that is actually how I found Tik Tok but that is a
story for another day.
Since I’m on YouTube a bit for professional and personal reasons, I
wanted to share five of my favourite channels that are aimed at children. Some
of them focus on developing skills while others are just or fun or to learn
something interesting.
GymbaRoo
GymbaRoo is a popular children’s class here in Australia. I’ve been to it
a few times and I’ve found that it’s a lot of fun for kids of all ages as it
focuses on a lot of developmental skills that I talk about on here. Unfortunately
not everyone is able to have access to this class due to distance or financial
reasons, which is why I think that it is fantastic that the franchise has added
video’s on YouTube so that parents and caregivers who are unable to attend a
class in person can still have access to the activities and information that
they share.
The videos focus on both the activities as well as telling you
developmental information in either a video or in the description box. What is
so great about these videos is that while they do focus on babies, you can also
include older children in them as they provide the same learning experiences to
them as well. The video’s contents include exercises, dancing, baby massage and
tummy time activities that help you to develop your baby or child’s visual development,
hearing, speech, balance, and body/spacial awareness.
I’ve started to include a few of these video’s in our morning awake
time with AJ and while she does get upset that she’s not being held in some of
them, the annoyance quickly disappears once we start doing the actions.
To check out the channel click here.
MissEmsBookworm Read-a-loud
I am a HUGE advocate for reading. At some stage I will do a post on why
I believe reading is such an important part of a child’s development and why I
think children should read what they’re interested in and not be forced to read
something they don’t like, but for now I want to focus on this channel.
I’m fully aware that sometimes life can get very busy and you’re not
able to read to your child as much as you would like to. That’s where this channel
comes in handy. Miss Em reads popular stories aloud while showing pictures of
the book on the screen so it is like someone is sitting with them and reading
the book to them. I liken it to those books you used to be able to get that came
with a cassette and a book; you’d put the cassette on and you would follow
along in the book. This is a more modern version of that. Only this is more
portable.
To check out the channel click here.
ABC Kids Music
If you’re an Australian and have young kids, then you are aware of ABC
kids; a free to view channel that is filled with children’s programming for all
ages. What is so fantastic about this channel is that it’s not like other child-focused channels that have ads interrupting the programs or showing ads for toys
and the like. It allows the program to fully play and in between only give ads
for other shows that the channel has, brings on Giggle and Hoot for some fun or
plays a music video.
The ABC Kids Music channel features all the music that you would have
been playing on the TV. On there you will find artists such as The Wiggles,
Justine Clark, Play School, Teeny Tiny Steevies, Banana’s in Pyjamas, Giggle
and Hoot and so many more. This channel allows you to play the songs that your
child (and yourself) are familiar with so you can sing and dance the day away.
To check out the channel click here.
Cosmic Kids Yoga
Yoga is a very popular pastime for many people and many preschools and day-cares
are seeing the benefit of doing yoga as it allows children to slow down and
centre themselves after a morning or afternoon of playing.
Cosmic Kid’s yoga brings the moves that you would have done in your gym
yoga class and transforms it into an interactive adventure for your child to
help build their strength, balance, and confidence.
To check out the channel click here.
The Sci Kids Show
I’m a huge fan of John and Hank Green. They are known as the Vlog
Brother’s on YouTube and it was through trying to decrease world suck that I was
able to meet some of the best people that I know. Over the years, the brothers
have branched out from just their channel and created other channels that are
focused on learning. Many teachers of older students use the video’s that these
channels have created as an introduction to the concepts they are going to be
teaching so children and teenagers are able to get a grasp of what they are
about to learn from the very start.
The Sci Show Kids takes what is so great about the Sci Show and
transforms it into something that children are able to understand. They take
many aspects of science and explore complex science concepts in a fun way. It’s
a great channel for children who love science to have access to as it looks at
all the different pathways under the science umbrella.
To check out the channel click here.
What are some of your child’s favourite
YouTube channels?
Post a Comment