Best YouTube Channels and Shows To Keep Kids Engaged“

YouTube can be a great source of education and entertainment, and that makes it a fantastic tool for keeping children occupied. In this article, we explore the best Youtube channels for your kids (1-9 years old)

Raising children is no easy task, and it’s a long-term commitment that requires dedication, time, and deliberate efforts. Children get bored easily, and parents can only do so many funny faces, so it’s important to think of ways to keep them entertained, while at the same time catering to their nutrition, education, and all-round wellbeing.

Over the years, YouTube has proved to be a valuable resource when it comes to learning. From cooking recipes to new languages, there is literally something for everyone who is looking to either pick up new skills or improve on already existing ones. YouTube has tons of videos to keep children entertained and at the same time educated, but there is a lot of content on YouTube that is not appropriate for viewing by children. This is why it is important to place restrictions on your mobile devices before letting children have access to them. Better still, download the YouTube Kids app from Google Play or the Apple Store, so that they only get to watch that.

YouTube Channels and Shows for Kids Aged 1-3

There are several age-appropriate shows and channels to keep kids of different age grades entertained. For kids aged 1-3, they can watch the following:

1.    Sesame Street: Made by the Sesame Workshop (a nonprofit education organisation that produces multiple educational programmes for children), Sesame Street has been a children’s TV staple for more than 50 years. The show’s YouTube channel is packed with videos designed to help your child learn essential life skills – everything from tying a shoelace to caring for ourselves and others.

2.    National Geographic Kids: This is the child-friendly version of the immensely popular network National Geographic. Nat Geo Kids features videos about animals, science, culture and much more. The videos are short but informative, and there’s loads for your child to choose from to help feed their curiosity.

3.    Crash Course Kids: Describing itself as “science with a side of awesome”, Crash Course Kids is a fantastic way to engage your younger children in the exciting world of science. Covering topics ranging from habitats to space to chemical reactions, the producers of this show have one goal: making science fun.

4.    Little Baby Bum: This YouTube channel was particularly created for preschool children. The videos you will find on this channel are educating and entertaining, you will find your child nodding to the rhythm of the songs in the videos. New videos are posted weekly on the channel.

5.    Cocomelon – Nursery Rhymes: This channel was formerly known as ABCKidTv. If you have a toddler at home or a child in preschool, you should encourage him or her to watch the videos on the channel. Cocomelon -Nursery Rhymes specialises in 3D-animation videos of both traditional nursery rhymes and original songs for kids.

YouTube Channels and Shows for Kids Aged 4-9

As kids get older, their interests change, and what interested them before may not appeal to them anymore. Here are a few shows and channels guaranteed to cater to the tastes of kids aged 4-9:

1.    Ted-Ed: You’ve probably already heard of TED Talks, a collection of topical videos from expert and influential speakers. TED–Ed is an extension to TED Talks, with a commitment to “creating lessons worth sharing”, straight from your device. With a library full of expertly produced content from collaborations between educators and animators, TED–Ed celebrates education worldwide – and is a great way for older children to challenge their knowledge.

2.    Netflix Jr: Netflix Jr. features characters from children’s Netflix shows, complete with bright engaging content to help kids learn, sing and play. The DIY videos are particularly fun (providing you have the time to assist), and are a great way for younger children to get stuck into some arts and crafts after school.

3.    Ryan’s World: With 24.5 million subscribers, Ryan’s World, starring eight–year–old Ryan, features science experiments, challenges, arts and crafts and music. The videos can vary in length – anything from five minutes to half an hour – but the content remains engaging and upbeat throughout. It is a fun channel with lots of variety. 

4.    NumberPhile: This channel is excellent at teaching children maths. If your child struggles with numbers, then you should subscribe to this channel; he or she would learn a lot just by watching the videos on the YouTube channel. NumberPhile has over 2 million subscribers on YouTube.

5.    CoolSchool: This channel for kids is suitable for children in primary school. It has videos that help kids in reading, language, art class, and storytelling. Kids can find their favourite teachers in Ms Booksy, Crafty Carol, Jim Class, and other characters.

Staying Connected With Paga

Getting and maintaining access to YouTube is impossible without mobile data and internet subscription. Also, children can get addicted to these shows, so it would be necessary to top up data on a regular basis. This can easily be done with Paga, a payments solution that has distinguished itself over the years as a leading mobile platform. Paga allows users to transfer money electronically and make payments through their mobile devices. It acts as a mobile wallet, with which anyone who has an internet-enabled phone can conduct financial transactions.

You can sort out your cable TV, internet subscription and electricity bills with Paga’s smooth bill payment service. The platform currently caters to payments for DStv, GOtv, Smile, and Spectranet.

You can easily buy airtime or data on Paga and get 2% cashback instantly. To get started, dial *242#, download and register on the Paga app, or visit mypaga.com.

Opening a Paga account is pretty easy. To get started, click here to download the Paga app on your device, then click on ‘Sign Up’, and follow the instructions from there.