There are times in a mom’s life when she needs to distract her toddlers and preschoolers. Like when the chores need to be handled, there’s an important phone call, or the weather is crazy, and you can’t get out. For all these reasons and more, YouTube can come to the rescue.
While it’s not a good idea to let kids watch endless hours of programming no matter how educational it is, sometimes a little screen time is good. If it saves you from burning dinner again, it’s a win.
So, what’s good for your little one to safely watch?
1. Oregon Zoo
If you can’t make it to the Oregon Zoo, you can check out the YouTube channel, which posts 2 new videos a week. From the West Hills of Portland, kids are in for a treat with videos about animals and animal care.
2. Blippi
Blippi is a real guy with a bow tie and suspenders that captivates little ones so well. He teaches kids about colors, numbers and takes them on adventures with him. He’s silly and fun yet educational…the perfect mix!
3. Sesame Street
Did you grow up watching this classic show as a kid? Sesame Street is still as captivating and educational as it was when it first started 50 years ago. Let your kids fall in love with Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Mr. Snuffleupagus, and all the rest.
4. National Geographic Kids
With frequent uploads that include awesome animal videos, fun science, and colorful places to visit, there’s so much for toddlers and preschoolers to discover with National Geographic. Another bonus – they have playlists that go with your child’s interests. So if your child becomes mesmerized with learning about animals, they can queue up all those videos and enjoy.
5. Mother Goose Club & Mother Goose Club Baby
If you’d like to put on some kid-friendly songs and fun, this is what to let your kids watch. It’s mostly singing with little talking, but there are baby videos that can keep kids occupied while learning classic kid-friendly songs.
6. PBS Kids
You can’t go wrong with PBS! These shows teach your kids about the language and alphabet, math, and science. Kids really love it because each show is loads of fun and has something that everyone can relate to.
7. Speakaboos
Classic fairytales come to life in animated form with Speakaboos. These stories help kids that are learning to read with highlighted words. They’re short and sweet, perfect for keeping their attention spans intact.
8. Super Simple Songs
And finally, if you need your kids to be distracted, Super Simple Songs presents colorful videos with simple songs everyone loves from “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” onward. It’s fun and happy, the perfect way to have them dance, sing, and burn off that never-ending energy while you do what you need to do.
Naturally, you don’t want to give your kids too much screen time, but a little bit of it with an educational twist is just fine, especially when your laundry pile is starting to look like Mount Everest!
