Raising a child in the 21st century is quite different from what it was a few decades ago. Gone are the days when a good education was all one needed to get ahead in life. Nowadays, with technology advancing at such a rapid pace, children need to learn a whole new set of skills to be successful in the modern world.
But with the ever-increasing pressure put on parents to ensure their children are well-equipped for the future, it can be difficult to find the time to teach them these so-called “21st century skills.” Thankfully, there are now a number of great YouTube channels that can help parents give their children the skills they need for success — without having to spend hours scouring the internet for quality educational material.
In this blog, we share with you the basics of YouTube Channels, the variety of information available, and the top list of YouTube Channels. Some of the featured channels are evergreen, meaning they regularly update with high-quality material that may be used in a variety of contexts, including classroom instruction.
What is YouTube?
YouTube is a video-sharing website where users can upload, share, and view videos. It was created in 2005 and is now owned by Google.
There are many educational videos/channels on YouTube that can help to foster a child’s education. These videos can cover a wide range of subjects, including science, math, history, language arts, and more. These channels often feature videos that are designed to be fun and engaging for kids, while also teaching those important concepts and skills.
Topics covered on YouTube channels
Here is a list of topics that may be covered on top YouTube channels for kids, as a guide for parents:
- Entertainment:
These channels may feature content such as comedy sketches, music videos, and movie trailers.
- Education:
There are many channels that focus on providing educational content, including lectures, tutorials, and demonstrations. These channels may cover subjects such as science, math, history, and art.
- News and current events:
There are many channels that focus on providing news and analysis of current events, including local, national, and international news.
- Lifestyle:
These channels may focus on topics such as cooking, fashion, beauty, home décor, and personal development.
- Gaming:
There are many channels dedicated to gaming, including live streams of gameplay, reviews of new games, and gaming news and analysis.
- Sports:
There are many sports-focused channels that cover live events, analysis, and news from the world of sports.
- Politics:
There are channels that cover political news and analysis, including channels that focus on specific political viewpoints.
- Science and technology:
These channels may cover topics such as new scientific discoveries, technology news, and reviews of gadgets and devices.
- Music:
There are many music-focused channels that feature music videos, concerts, and other music-related content.
- Travel:
These channels may feature videos of travel destinations and experiences, including vlogs and travel guides.
This is just a small sampling of the types of topics that can be covered on YouTube channels. There are many other types of channels that cover a wide range of topics, and new channels are constantly being created.
Top 13 YouTube Channels for your child
Here are 13 YouTube channels based on subscriber numbers, material quality, innovation, and diversity that may be suitable for children and can help to foster their education:
Bright Side
Bright Side is the greatest YouTube channel for kids and teenagers who love puzzles and logic games. With no age restrictions, it welcomes viewers of all ages and provides them with entertaining content including insightful titbits from the fields of psychology and science.
TED-Ed
Choosing Ted-Ed as your family’s go-to educational YouTube channel is a no-brainer. This channel is loaded with high-quality, professionally produced instructional films that are sure to inspire. It’s great for younger kids and preteens because of the wealth of useful information it contains.
Netflix Jr
Netflix Jr. is an excellent program for teaching kids the fundamentals like counting and the alphabet and is often regarded as the greatest educational channel on YouTube for children under the age of 5. It has high-quality content that is both engaging and educational for children, such as short, to-the-point films.
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is a fantastic YouTube channel with a wide variety of engaging instructional films. It has footage from many different shows that kids love, such as the Wild Kratts, Sesame Street, Molly of Denali, Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood, Arthur, and Alma’s Way. It’s great for kids of all ages because it has access to hundreds of educational videos, lesson plans, and activities without cost.
Cosmic Kids Yoga
Cosmic Kids Yoga is the ideal YouTube educational program to direct your children to if you value their physical activity, emotional stability, and ability to focus. This will have the added benefit of assisting your youngsters in developing stability, muscle, and self-assurance.
Art for Kids Hub
On Monday through Friday of every week, Rob, a father of four, updates the Art for Kids Hub YouTube Channel with new art courses geared at elementary school students. This channel includes art coding classes for kids of all ages, from drawing and painting to origami and more.
Kid’s Learning Tube
Kids will be hooked on learning after watching the videos on Kids Learning Tube. A collection of children’s instructional films with different educational themes. This channel’s movies give young children an enjoyable learning environment by fusing animation with original sing-along instructional melodies.
SciShow Kids
The goal of the YouTube channel SciShow Kids is to pique children’s curiosity in the natural world and encourage them to pursue further scientific study. It offers movies on several fascinating themes, such as space exploration and astrophysics, and covers a wide range of scientific disciplines, from biology to physics and chemistry.
Crash Course Kids
This fantastic education YouTube channel focuses on topics covered in fifth-grade science, such as food chains, gravitation, Newtonian fluids, and more. It’s a great way to get youngsters aged 9 to 12 interested in science and provides them with a solid foundation for further exploration.
BrainPOP
If you want to keep your kids interested in learning across a wide range of disciplines, go no further than BrainPOP, the finest educational channel on YouTube. This channel is fantastic for motivational purposes, as it covers a wide variety of themes, from Emily Dickinson to engineering.
Khan Academy Kids
Khan Academy Kids is the finest education channel on YouTube for pupils in elementary school through high school. It has a custom dashboard that allows you to track your progress through a series of videos and tasks designed to help you learn. To hone one’s scientific, mathematical, and standardized test-taking abilities, it’s a fantastic resource.
Nat Geo Kids
Wild and crazy videos on NatGeoKids make learning about the globe a blast. Curiosity-driven youngsters are the target audience for a wide variety of video content, including clips of amazing wildlife, fascinating scientific discoveries, hilarious pet antics, and much more. Find anything you’re interested in and start watching right away.
Storyline Online
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation developed Storyline Online with the intention of promoting reading among young audiences. They’ve launched their own YouTube channel for elementary school-aged children, and it has footage of famous performers like Viola Davis and Allison Janney reading children’s books with graphics.
All of these YouTube channels are free to watch. It is important for parents to monitor their children’s use of YouTube and to be selective about the content they watch.
What is YouTube Kids and how to use it?
YouTube Kids is a free video streaming app that is specifically designed for children. It features a wide range of age-appropriate videos, including educational content, music, and more. The app also has features that are designed to help parents keep their children safe while using it, such as the ability to set limits on screen time and to block inappropriate content.
To use YouTube Kids, you will need to
- Download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store onto your child’s device.
- Once the app is installed, you can set up an account for your child using your email address.
- You can then customize the app to meet your child’s needs, including setting limits on screen time and blocking inappropriate content.
To find videos on YouTube Kids, you can use the search function or browse through the various categories that are available. You can also add specific channels or playlists to your child’s home screen for easy access to their favourite content.
It is important to note that YouTube Kids is not a substitute for parental supervision. It is important for parents to monitor their children’s use of the app and to be selective about the content they watch.
Why do you need to set parental control?
You may tailor your child’s experience on the YouTube Kids app with the parental settings. You have complete control over what they can watch, how much time they spend on the screen, what websites they can’t access, and much more.
- Make unique profiles for each of your children.
- Consider what you let your kids watch.
- Accept complete collections from reliable resources.
- Choose content based on your child’s age.
- Minimize screen time.
- A simple method to filter videos.
- Follow what they are watching.
- Remove all commercials from YouTube Kids.
- Working collaboratively to keep them secure.
Besides YouTube app, there are other places where you and your child can learn how to communicate freely about the internet, helping each other to make informed choices and form positive routines while using it.
Related reading
Apps to keep tabs on your child’s whereabouts online
There are several ways that parents can use to monitor their children’s use of the platform; here is a list of top apps which can help you tab your child’s online activity:
- Famisafe:
Available for both Android and iOS, FamiSafe is a robust parental control tool. It’s a useful tool for keeping tabs on a child’s whereabouts, screen time, and social media use.
- Norton Family parental control:
For today’s hyper-connected youngsters, Norton Family provides parental control and monitoring options.
- Qustodio:
With Qustodio, you can monitor your child’s social media and messaging to make sure they aren’t giving out private information to strangers.
- Kids Guard Pro:
If you own an Android device, you may use Kids Guard Pro to keep tabs on your children’s whereabouts, web use, and social networking applications from afar.
- Net Nanny:
To help parents keep tabs on their kids’ smartphone and computer use, there is a suite of software called Net Nanny.
- ESET:
This app limits children’s time online and helps them stay safe while they’re doing it. It may be used on any device that runs the Android operating system.
- MM Guardian:
It allows parents to install strict restrictions on their child’s Android device. Among its many parental control tools, MM Guardian can filter out inappropriate content and even stop images from being sent or received.
- Family Keeper:
This is a secure parental control tool that is user-friendly, straightforward, and intuitive, all with the goal of facilitating a more positive and productive family digital life.
- Secure Teen:
This is all-encompassing mobile software that allows parents to monitor and restrict their children’s use of smartphones and tablets. It helps you relax by screening the websites your children visit, keeping track of the applications they install, and informing you of their whereabouts, text messages, and phone conversations, among other things.
10. Bit Guardian:
An android app is a parental control tool that will help you feel more at ease about their safety.
Conclusion
In conclusion, YouTube can be a valuable tool for boosting your child’s 21st century skills. By subscribing to educational channels like Bright side, TED-Ed, Netflix Jr, Crash Course, and Khan Academy, your child can gain access to a wealth of knowledge on a wide range of subjects. These channels offer engaging and interactive videos that can help your child develop important skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication. Additionally, channels like Cosmic Kids yoga which helps in building emotional stability and focus and Scishow kids and Art for kids’ hub which pique children’s curiosity and creativity skills.
Overall, there are many top YouTube channels that can be a great resource for your children’s learning and development. It’s important to monitor their use of YouTube and ensure that they are watching age-appropriate content, but don’t be afraid to let them explore and learn from the wealth of educational resources available on the platform. Set up a secure environment for your youngster to use the Internet by following the guidelines provided by applications and instructions.
By – Ms. Manpreet Virk, Head of E-learning and an educator at SkoolofCode with degree in M.Phil. and Master in Computer Science. She is passionate about learning and teaching young minds.