The best podcasts for kids to listen to when stuck indoors
Educate, entertain, and make long days at home fly by with our selection of the best podcasts for kids and teenagers.
David Walliams' Marvellous Musical Podcast
Classic FM has come up with a brill way to get kids into composers: have David Walliams host a podcast introducing them to classical music, where seven-to-12-year-olds can uncover composers like Mozart and Liszt, as well as fun facts about instruments, ballet and more. Walliams' characteristic zany sense of humour brings musical history to life. For more Walliams magic, kids can tune in to him reading a chapter from his World's Worst Children books daily at 11am while schools are shut.
Read more ...Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls the Podcast
This podcast series, based on the bestselling books, focuses on an inspiring, rule-breaking woman in history each episode, including Frida Kahlo, Ada Lovelace and Billie Jean King. The third series recently launched and features episodes on Junko Tabei and Julia Child so far. Perfect for inspiring the next generation of phenomenal women (and men), the stories are also told by inspirational present-day authors and activists.
Read more ...The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel
An award-winning podcast that's both for kids and made by kids, this serialised mystery follows the story of a missing child, and is performed by middle schoolers. Like Goonies, Spy Kids and Stranger Things (it's been described as a hybrid of all three), it has a cult following.
Read more ...Stories
Bedtime stories, in a podcast. Stories features retellings of tales your kids know and love (The Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood), folklore from around the world and plenty of original prose. Perfect for igniting small imaginations – and getting through those evening car journeys.
Read more ...Six Minutes
A gripping mystery, Six Minutes is made by the award-winning team behind Mars Patel and follows the story of 11-year-old Holiday, who has no idea who she is when she's pulled from icy Alaskan waters. Bite-sized, six-minute episodes make this the ideal witching hour distraction.
Read more ...Peace Out
Peace Out is a podcast for mindfulness and relaxation, when kids – or their parents – just need a little relaxation. This podcast guides kids through visualisation and breathing exercises, and fans have said it can help with everything from insomnia to anxiety. A new episode is released every Monday, helping families start the week with tranquillity.
Read more ...What If World
Storyteller Eric O’Keeffe comes up with weird and wonderful stories in each episode of this podcast, based on a 'what if?' question. He uses a query posed by one of his young listeners alongside a suggestion of something they like, as a starting point to create a funny and creative story. The idea for this podcast came from O’Keeffe’s Skype sessions with his nephew, where he would create stories on the spot, and the podcasts are likewise improvised.
Read more ...MuggleCast
One for the Harry Potter obsessed kids out there, this podcast will discuss all things related to the Wizarding World. The analysis is pretty in-depth, so it's better for teenagers and hardcore fans. If you know some kids who have read all the books, been to the Warner Bros Studios, and think they know everything there is to know about Hogwarts, then this podcast might make them think again.
Read more ...Short and Curly
This ethics-based podcast discusses anything and everything, like whether we should ban lollies to how we can work together through coronavirus. Each podcast debates moral and ethical issues in a fun and engaging way, and, although targeted mainly at kids aged seven to 12, can provide a good listen for older kids and parents as well.
Read more ...Wow in the World
NPR's Wow in the World is an accessible science podcast that makes big concepts and genuinely confusing facts digestible for children. Presenters Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas, veterans of the podcast world, do a great job of making tricky ideas easy to understand without being patronising.
Read more ...The Past & The Curious
Aiming to share the lesser-told stories of history, this podcast chats about funny anecdotes and inspirational tales from the past.
Read more ...Eleanor Amplified
Recommended for kids aged eight to 12, this podcast follows the character of Eleanor, a world-famous radio reporter, in her pursuit of truth and the big news stories. It's like an old-style radio drama, packed with crafty villains and wild adventures. And our heroine's preoccupation with uncovering the truth is a happy tonic amid fake news saturation.
Read more ...Fun Kids
Fun Kids is primarily a radio station, broadcasting all day with hosted shows between 7am and 8pm, but online you can access their wide array of podcasts, from Fun Kids Book Club to Fun Kids Science Weekly. Their full-length podcasts last around 30-40 minutes, but for those days when you’re short on time, or for younger kids with shorter attention spans, they also run several series of short podcasts, which are only around five minutes each.
Read more ...Tumble
Hosted by a science journalist and a teacher, this podcast knows kids and it knows science. With a special guest scientist each episode, the presenters discuss the weird and the wonderful in the world of biology, physics and chemistry, from 'The Tale of How Ants Conquered the Earth' to 'The Laboratory of the Haunted House'.
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