in my kids’ ears: favorite kids’ podcasts

The kids are going to a new school this year, which has brought with it more time in the car. While I’m a little cranky (and feeling guilty) about more car time, I am not sad about all of the great podcasts that we’ve found that have led to LOTS of amazing conversations. I asked for the kids’ help in developing this list of favorites. We don’t listen to any that don’t retain my interest too, so I bet you adults will find yourself enjoying these too. Even if you don’t have a school commute, add some of these episodes to your next road trip play list and let me know what you think!

1. The Past and the Curious. This is Jasper’s favorite because “I like real stories about real things,” which always leads to my lecture on how stories can be true even if they didn’t actually happen. It’s like a kids’ version of Stuff You Missed In History Class, but I like how it seems to prefer to tell stories about women and minorities. I have yet to hear one story on TPATC that I’ve heard before, so I feel like I’m learning something too.
2. Tumble Podcast. This is a science podcast for kids mostly about more recent scientific discoveries. The hosts interview real scientists, so Maeve is always intrigued by all of the different jobs that scientists can actually have. We all prefer Wow In The World, which is similar, but we have learned a ton from Tumble.
3. Smash Boom Best. This is Maeve’s favorite, but there is only one season, so we quickly listened to them all. Basically, each episode is a contest between two somewhat similar things. It’s fun because we all participate in which one we think should win. A similar show that we all participate in is Pants on Fire. The kids loooove it, but I think it is a little confusing because the premise is like a game show in which the kids/listeners have to figure out which expert is lying about their expertise. In the age of fake news, it just seems to hit a little too close to home for me, but the kids do love it.
4. Eleanor Amplified. Eleanor Amplified is a serial story about Eleanor, a reporter, and her many adventures. We loved this one and were all a bit sad when we got caught up on all of the episodes. This would be a fun one for a road trip to listen to a whole season in a row. The kids would get so into the story and cliffhanger that they wouldn’t want to get out of the car when we got to school!
5. Story Pirates. I love Story Pirates because kids submit the stories, and then the podcast creators bring the kids’ stories to life. Jasper and Maeve have been working on their own stories to submit, so sparking that creativity in them alone is worth listening to this pod. But it’s really funny too!
6. Brains On! This was our first non-story podcast, and we still love it. The host is great, and they tackle different questions about our world. There are tons of episodes, so I usually let the kids vote about which one to listen to next.
7. Wow In The World. We all love this one, and I think we’re all a little attached to the co-hosts, Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz. They lead us on an adventure each episode to discuss all sorts of things: science, technology, biology, and more. We always learn something new on this one and have fun while we’re at it. Most of the episodes last almost exactly the length of the car ride, so the kids like not having to wait to listen to the end.
8. Peace Out. The kids don’t love this one because they hear enough about mindfulness from Grant and me, but I like to use it because it always calms them down. We’re usually fine on the way to school, but the way home can get a little loud and crazy. So I like to put an episode of this one on to calm things down a notch. It would also be a good before bed routine.
9. The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids Podcast. I’m so sad because they don’t seem to be making this one anymore, but we still re-listen because they’re super fun and are some great conversation starters on things like kindness, responsibility, feeling your feelings, etc.

What are your and your kiddos’ favorite pods? Do share, so that we can try them out for ourselves!