When you need a minute to get chores done or make a phone call, you might turn to YouTube for a video, any video, to keep your baby, toddler, or young child entertained. Meanwhile, older kids love spending hours scrolling through videos of all kinds on YouTube, whether they be about video games or of influencers and their silly antics. How can you cut through all the noise that’s available to find videos that are not only age appropriate but also educational or inspirational in some way for kids?
We have you covered with the best YouTube videos for kids that range from fun videos about science to silly ones from top influencers, cooking videos, nursery rhymes, bedtime stories, and more. There are video options for all ages, arranged by age category so you can easily find content that will suit your little (or big!) kids.
Baby Shark Dance | 3babyshark Most Viewed Video | Animal Songs | PINKFONG Songs for Children
Pinkfong
Best for Ages 0-4
We all know the song. Maybe it has been played over and over again in your home. But it might also be the only thing to keep your baby or toddler soothed when they need something to distract and entertain them. The catchy tune has been viewed and heard on YouTube more than 14 billion times. Watch kids sing about mommy, daddy, and grandma shark (doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo) as they dance amid animated fish.
It’s just the right level of repetitiveness that, as little ones learn their words and sounds, they can replicate the tune with ease. Hearing the words over and over again will help with memory retention, and it’ll instantly put your kids in a good mood. Don’t forget to sing along, too!
Bingo
Super Simple Songs
Best for Ages 1-3
Repetitive songs are the name of the game when it comes to babies and toddlers. Repeating lyrics, words, and tunes help kids learn and follow along, expanding their vocabulary from just a few words to many. Bingo is one of those classic kids’ songs, and with 432 million views, this video is a wonderful integration of both the song and visuals, as well as elements of interactivity as kids get older.
Along with a soothing male voice singing the tune are colorful images of the farmer and his dog, Bingo. The letters are highlighted on-screen as they are slowly sung. Kids are also encouraged to do things like pat their tummy or head in sync with the sounds. The video is under three minutes long and it repeats the sequence over and over with different actions each time. Kids will be singing along in no time and asking for the video to be played over and over again.
Classical Music for Toddlers — Symphony of Fun
Baby Einstein
Best for Ages 1-3
As a parent or grandparent, you might be so tired of hearing the same nursery rhymes and cartoons over and over again. Plus, what parent doesn’t want their child to be intelligent and cultured? This video is fairly simplistic in nature but it will give adults a much needed break without forcing you to put in earplugs to get back some sanity. But most important, it will keep toddlers curious and engaged.
Alongside the classical music that plays throughout the video is a selection of images to stimulate kids. These range from other kids playing instruments, to toys, colorful motion images like mosaics, and puppet animals generally acting silly. The video is just over six minutes, just enough time for you to empty the dishwasher. It features three timeless classical tunes that’ll help you de-stress, too. Combining calming music with visual sensory images, your toddler won’t be able to avert their eyes for the entire time, and you’ll enjoy the quick daily interlude, too.
Baby Learning with Ms Rachel
Ms Rachel — Toddler Learning Videos
Best for Ages 1-2
Ms Rachel’s soft, welcoming tone will instantly please babies and small toddlers, and videos like this aim to help teach them valuable skills like speaking, interacting, and playing. As a teacher in the real world, Ms Rachel also knows how to approach young learners. This video is an hour long, so it will keep your little one occupied while you do chores or enjoy brunch with a friend. But it isn’t mindless viewing: They’ll learn plenty.
She begins with the basics, helping them say “mama” and “dada,” sing the words, clap them, and even sign them. Her segments are interspersed with songs and animated videos to tantalize all the senses.
Humpty Dumpty Grocery Store — CoComelon Nursery Rhymes and Kids Songs
CoComelon
Best for Ages 1-4
Any parent with a toddler is probably already familiar with CoComelon, one of the most popular YouTube channels with more than 168 million subscribers and frequently one of Netflix’s 10 most popular shows. The videos are musical, engaging, colorful, and fun. But most important, they are also educational. They’re a great way to keep your toddler occupied for a short time if you need to get something done or they’re being extra finicky.
This video, one of many on the channel, features a fun variation on the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. Nina is chasing down the plastic toy egg she got from the vending machine at the grocery store, but it keeps eluding her. The tune is catchy, and the fact that lyrics appear at the bottom, karaoke style, makes it easy for kids to learn the words and follow along with the cadence. The distinct sound effects as the egg soars through the air, bumps items, and bounces on the ground will have kids giggling as they watch it, likely over and over again.
Sesame Street: Elmo’s Bedtime Story
Best for Ages 1-3
Sure, giving your kids screen time right before bed is not recommended. But this video is an exception. Toddlers might not be excited about tucking in for the night. But with the help of Elmo in this short, under two-minute video, the cuddly Sesame Street character can help get them in the right frame of mind.
Elmo runs through everything he does as part of his bedtime routine, including having dinner, bathing, putting on his pajamas, brushing his teeth, and singing a lullaby. He sings the song, and kids and parents can join in. He’s yawning and getting sleepy by the end, hopefully having toddlers feeling just the same.
Celebrate Thankfulness with Daniel Tiger! — Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood
PBS Kids
Best for Ages 1-4
Parents love the PBS Kids YouTube channel just as much as kids do. It’s particularly wonderful for kids getting ready to start kindergarten. Daniel Tiger’s show is one of the options on the channel praised for its focus on teaching kids positive emotional intelligence.
This video, an hour-plus-long episode, is about being thankful for people, what you have, and special moments. Kids learn about being helpful, caring for family, and having a positive attitude, even when mistakes happen. The dialogue is mixed in with musical numbers to keep kids entertained the whole way through. Educational moments about shape recognition, measuring, and object identification are interspersed throughout the episode.
Saying Hello and Making New Friends — Read the Book Bonjou! — Circle Time with Khan Academy Kids
Khan Academy Kids
Best for Ages 2-8
Online learning platform Khan Academy has its own YouTube channel filled with great resources for kids and parents. One of the recurring segments is called Circle Time, where kids are encouraged to play with others, learn about new topics, and read. These lessons can be combined with ones offered in the free Khan Academy Kids app.
This video in the series is about helping kids make new friends. The hosts read from the book Bonjou about a boy named Leo. He speaks Creole to a new student in the school, helping him feel welcome. You can also opt to display subtitles along with the audio reading and illustrations from the book pages. With these visual and audible options, kids can follow along in the way that’s most comfortable for them.
Very First Piano Lesson (2010) — Free Piano Lessons for Kids
Hoffman Academy
Best for Ages 4+
If you’re considering enrolling your child in lessons to learn how to play a musical instrument like piano, you might want to get a feel for how they like it before committing. There are tons of free online lessons, and this just under 8-minute video is perfect. Kids can follow along with the easy instruction provided by Joseph Hoffman. While the video quality is pretty rudimentary, it has the feel of having the teacher in your home with you. Prop the phone, tablet, or computer atop the piano and the child can follow along with his guidance.
He talks about patterns and groupings of keys, and then goes through reading basic sheet music and how to properly place your hands and fingers on the key sbefore starting with a simple tune, Hot Cross Buns. By the end, the child will feel accomplished and potentially ready to learn more. The YouTube channel has tons of other instructional videos, including some on how to play specific songs and even sight reading challenges to learn more about musical notes.
10 Interesting Insects — Insects for Kids — Bugs for Kids
Socratica Kids
Best for Ages 4-8
Have a child who is obsessed with bugs and other insects? This short, seven-minute video will walk them through all types, from butterflies to creepy crawling spiders. Along with the enchanting video, the narrator provides interesting facts about each insect so kids learn more about them in the process. Younger kids will love acquiring all this knowledge about these common insects and then heading to the backyard to see which ones they can find and examine for themselves.
The video has a timeline underneath that guides you if you want to skip ahead to the proper time for each of the 10 bugs covered. This is ideal if your kids only want to know about ants, for example, or caterpillars. Or, they can watch all the way through, learning about each bug one at a time. This is the kind of video you can return to again and again to study all the key facts worth knowing. The video encourages outdoor exploration and might even help kids afraid of insects overcome their fear when they see how fascinating bugs can be.
Avengers Kids Tabata Workout
Get Kids Moving
Best for Ages 4-10
Want to encourage your kids to get moving? The Get Kids Moving YouTube account has tons of fun workout videos using characters inspired by popular movie and comic book franchises. There are workouts of all types of styles led by a coach in full costume with common exercises called more kid-friendly names. In this one, for example, one of the channel’s most popular, the exercise known traditionally as High Knees is called Super Soldiers, and Captain America performs it. After a short rest break, you move on to the Asgard Smash with Thor, effectively squats with reaches.
It’s a wonderful way to encourage kids to exercise and is something the family can do together. What better way to get kids active than by showing them some of the most powerful Avengers in the MCU doing exercises? Parents might even find themselves secretly exploring the various workouts on the channel once the kids are in bed. At just over four minutes long, it’s a short burst workout that kids might even want to do a second time.
A Bad Case of Stripes read by Sean Astin
StorylineOnline
Best for Ages 5-9
This YouTube account was created by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and was designed to complement the children’s literacy website of the same name. It’s filled with tons of videos of actors reading children’s books combined with illustrations. There’s a wonderful mix of actors, but kids (and their parents) will love this one with Sean Astin. He’s reading about a young girl named Camilla Cream who loves lima beans. But she never eats them because other kids at her school don’t like them.
Each story has a moral lesson and helps kids expand their vocabulary and comprehension. This one is about learning to accept yourself and not worry so much about what others think of you. The video includes a link to an activity guide kids can do afterward.
Bill Nye the Science Guy on Static Electricity
Bill Nye
Best for Ages 6+
Bill Nye is quirky, fun, and one of the best-known personalities in the science space for kids. This classic video remains one of his most popular, teaching kids about static electricity. He uses a Van de Graaff generator to explain how to literally get an electrical charge. This isn’t an experiment kids can replicate at home, but they can learn how it works and leverage this knowledge for a school project.
In his typically silly fashion, Nye will keep kids engaged and laughing. Chances are, after kids become acquainted with how static electricity works, and with Nye’s silly style, they’ll want to go down the rabbit hole and check out more educational videos on his channel.
How To Draw a Cute Cupcake Monster Folding Surprise
Art for Kids Hub
Best for Ages 6-10
Has your child ever Googled “how to draw” something? Plenty of kids are interested in the arts, and if yours falls into this space, the Art for Kids Hub YouTube channel is a great place to start. Not only does it feature step-by-step instructional videos of how to draw all types of objects, animals, and cute creations, but it also features kids themselves doing the work. Rob is a dad of four who walks viewers through the projects alongside his kids, making the channel a great one to promote family values as well.
One of the more popular videos on the channel is this one that involves drawing a cupcake creature and manipulating it to deliver a cool effect once folded. Rob is joined by his daughter as an overhead view shows his work side-by-side with hers. Seeing her draw alongside him shows how easy the process is for even young kids to follow. In just 15 minutes, your child will be mesmerized by what they just created.
NERDY NUMMIES — Geeky Cooking Show
Rosanna Pansino
Best for Ages 8+
Younger kids will need a little parental help with this one, but if they love to cook and play around in the kitchen, they’ll feel accomplished after making this incredible Minecraft-themed cake. Rosanna Pansino and her friend Jordan Maron walk you through all the steps of making this layered cake, complete with icing. The steps are simple enough for a child to follow while the piping can be done freehand without extra accessories beyond a piping bag.
Pansino is engaging and her step-by-step directions are easy to follow for kids. If it’s going too quickly, kids can pause the video to catch up as needed and ask parents for help with using the oven and in the cake assembly stage. The best part? You have a sweet treat to enjoy at the end of it! At just 21 minutes long, the video is one to bookmark so you can make this cake again and again.
How the Food You Eat Affects Your Brain — Mia Nacamulli
TED-Ed
Best for Ages 8-10
You are probably familiar with TED Talks conference sessions, which feature influential and inspiring people from all types of industries discussing topics about life, career, science, and more. TED-Ed is an extension of that, geared towards kids. The YouTube channel itself has content designed for kids from K-12, with a wide variety of videos designed to inspire curiosity and educate children about things that are valuable to them.
This video, suitable for older kids, including teens and tweens, is great to inform kids about how their food impacts them. Kids who love sugar and junk food will learn why good nutrition is important. It will hit differently when it isn’t mom and dad telling them to eat their veggies, but it’s coming from a trusted, scientific perspective. Sure, younger kids might get bored after a minute or two (the video is under five minutes long). But for older kids, this video could be a game-changer. Maybe they’ll even ask for another helping of vegetables at dinner (they’ll probably still want that cookie after, too, though!)
Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint
Common Sense Education
Best for Ages 12+
Parents of tweens and teens are often faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to let them have their own social media profiles. Technically, most social media sites don’t allow kids to join until they are at least 13. But some parents give permission for kids to set up accounts using their credentials. There is some value in giving trustworthy kids the autonomy to go online. But in the end, they are still kids, and it’s important that they understand the risks along with the benefits, and how best to manage their time online and, most importantly, what they post.
This three-and-a-half-minute informational video helps kids understand the dangers of oversharing by using kids themselves to explain them in a relatable fashion. Kids will learn things they might not realize about how permanent things are on the internet. They’ll be informed about how people can screenshot their photos or even edit them, and how what they post could be forever accessible to anyone. The relatable selection of kids also provide advice about why you shouldn’t overshare, warning about things like false attention. This video should be mandatory viewing for any parent before handing their child a smartphone.
Carnival Scam Science (and how to WIN)
Mark Rober
Best for Ages 10+
If you have a child and have visited a local carnival at any point, chances are they’ve pulled at your pant leg, begging you to fork over an exorbitant amount of money to play a game in hopes of winning a prize. It’s usually a small stuffed animal worth under a buck (when bought in bulk), but it means the world to this child. Sometimes, they’ll want you to play for them, confident that their amazing parent can win. But with some carnival games, winning is next to impossible. At least if you don’t know the tricks of the trade. Popular YouTuber Mark Rober, who your teen or tween probably already follows, explores the science behind some of the most common carnival games in this educational and enlightening video.
Rober, who worked as an engineer at NASA for nine years, observes, collects data, and tries out a few games for himself. He then educates kids on the scientific reasons why a game, from random chance to skills-based ones, isn’t worth playing. Not only will your kids be shocked to learn these facts after watching the 10-minute video, but it might also save you a few bucks in the process. On the flip side, however, Rober also provides tips for how to win some of the more challenging but still winnable games, which might end up backfiring when your child wants to put their newfound knowledge to the test. You might end up being just as curious as them, however, to see the outcome.
I Built Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!
MrBeast
Best for Ages 10 and older
Let’s be honest: there are much more educational videos on YouTube than the silly ones from MrBeast. But if you have a tween or teen, chances are they love watching MrBeast’s popular videos. As a YouTuber who is also a philanthropist, you don’t need to worry much that your kids will be learning anything bad from watching his content. Admittedly, they won’t learn anything at all. But it’s a fun video that they’ll label you the “cool” parent for letting them watch. And what kid can resist a video about a replica Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory where one player comes out winning it, just like in the original movie?
The 16-minute video is a sight to behold, with a custom-made candy land visited by players who found a Golden Ticket in one of MrBeast’s branded Feastables candy bars (talk about clever cross-promotion). They play a mix of childhood schoolyard games like Hide and Seek and reality show competition games, including one called Cake or Not (a spin on Is It Cake?) It’s pure silliness, but kids will absolutely love the competition aspect, tie-ins with the movie, and MrBeast’s signature frantic pacing.
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