One thing the pandemic taught even the most technophobic of us was that the online world can be a friend. We all learned to use Zoom and go on ‘digital dates’ and for our children too, screen-life became an essential experience. The Elite Nanny Company recommends ensuring that you have parental controls enabled on all devices your children might access, and once that’s done, you can relax in the knowledge that your children, and nanny, are safe to enjoy some excellent programming especially designed for children. Here are five of our favourite YouTube channels for kids:
- Blippi
Blippi has had some controversy (there was a period where a new actor took over the Blippi live show and it caused consternation in some parents!) but by and large Blippi, and his best friend Meekah, do a good job of offering high energy, child-appropriate education. “Blippi … loves singing, dancing, playing and exploring” is the claim, and this is certainly true – the Blippi approach is very entertaining and while it’s largely American the channel does travel internationally including to London museums.
- CBeebies
CBeebies is ideal for younger children in particular, drawing on a huge reservoir of BBC programming including excellent bedtime stories. You can feel confident that nothing here will disturb the under six age group and it’s specifically designed to work for adults watching with children, so this is a great YouTube channel to choose when kids and nanny are able to sit down together and can lead on to educational activities after watching a video.
- NetflixJr
NetflixJr (stands for junior, obviously) is a great resource, with especially valuable playlists featuring topics like volcanoes, dinosaurs and vehicles. One attractive feature about NetflixJr is the range of voices and cultures on display, from Mighty Little Bheem, a super-strong Indian toddler, through to a Celebrating Black Voices playlist.
- Art For Kids Hub
This family led YouTube channel is ideal for young artists. It’s been going for a while now, so the kids who were younger children at the beginning are teens today but that doesn’t affect the value of the videos, which range from pre-school drawing lessons to sophisticated teenage creations. The really nice thing is that the draw-along features a ‘teacher’ and a ‘student’ so even the least confident artist can find their own level.
- RocknLearn
RocknLearn is a ‘love or hate’ channel. Partly that depends on how your child is being taught – or how you want them to be. Preschool phonics for example might be right up you street or something you want to avoid, but the French and Spanish tuition is great. It’s bright and simple and when you catch yourself singing the Looby Loo song for the thirtieth time, you’ll probably realise just how catchy it is too!
Photo by Tatiana Syrikova
https://www.youtube.com/c/Blippi/featured
https://www.youtube.com/c/cbeebies/featured
https://www.youtube.com/c/NetflixJr
https://www.youtube.com/c/ArtforKidsHub/featured
https://www.youtube.com/user/rocknlearn