Podcasts for Kids (i.e. Help for Parents)
- REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids (Soundsington Media) is "[an] exploration of our galaxy (and beyond!)," in which the hosts answer kids' questions (What IS space? Why is Mars red?), interview experts and suggest at-home experiments. REACH is from the same folks who created Unspookable, "a family-friendly look at the history, science, and power dynamics behind urban legends and scary stories all told through a modern lens." This past season the show released an episode about pandemics (in which kids chime in on how social distancing is going) and the Momo phenomenon.
- Quaranteen'd (HodgePodge Media). "All-ages audio treasure hunt about a ragtag crew of kids, chasing breadcrumbs they believe will lead to the cure to a viral pandemic that has the globe on lockdown." The show was produced with zero human-to-human contact (a show for our times!). HodgePodge is also readying a whodunnit "parodying the podcast that launched 750,000 ships," and a musical called All Girl Werewolf Killing Squad.
- Radiolab pulled a genius move and created Radiolab for Kids, a feed dedicated to family-friendly installments of the show. Episodes tackle everything from whether animals can laugh to the surprisingly global game of Tic-Tac-Toe. Co-founder Jad Abumrad hopes the show will "help parents keep their kids inspired, engaged, and occupied during this time of uncertainty and extended time at home."
- Timestorm (Cocotazo Media), which follows "twelve-year-old twins who travel through time to preserve Puerto Rico's true history," returned to the airwaves last month. (Timestorm has also joined kids' network TRAX from PRX.)
- Kids These Days, produced by Michigan Public Radio and Community High School in Ann Arbor, provides an "unfiltered look" into what high school-aged kids are "thinking about, laughing about, and stressing about." The show recently released an episode about how kids are talking to their families about race.
- In May, Vox's Today Explained produced an episode for kids explaining how COVID-19 spreads and why staying home from school was necessary as well as this handy "Six Feet of Fun" activity sheet.
- The Weirdness (Gen-Z Media and PRX). This scripted adventure drama follows two middle-school kids as they investigate "why the creatures of legends are disappearing." Gen-Z is also home to the Six Minutes spinoff Remy's Life...Interrupted, which features bite-sized quarantine dispatches from an eleven-year-old host.
- Kids Listen Activity Podcast (Kids Listen). This activity podcast features new episodes from Kids Listen's member podcasts, along with activities that can keep kids engaged.
- Goodnight with Dolly (Imagination Library). Dolly Parton hosts this video series (which can be played as audio), in which the icon reads a bedtime story to kids. The show also serves up printable activity sheets.
- And finally, I think of Parcast as the network for true crime junkies, but have recently learned that the production studio produces Dog Tales, "the true stories of heroic canines that have gone above and beyond their 'best friend' duties." Perfect for dog-loving humans of all ages.
If this collection doesn't satisfy your appetite, take a gander at Sean Allen's 33 Kid-Friendly Edutainment Podcasts to Stay Sharp (helpfully organized by topic), The New York Times' Seven Podcasts for Stir-Crazy Kids, Nick Quah's 18 Great Podcasts for Kids to Get Your Family Through the Quarantine and Erik Jones' Survival Guide For Parents: Introducing Podcasts Into Homeschooling.
Finally, if you're willing to pay for content, check out kids' podcast network Pinna, which charges $39.99 per year for access to a plethora of podcasts including The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls (based on the book), and The Totally Unauthorized Minecraft Fan Show. Start 'em early, I always say.