Audiobooks and podcasts are a pretty big part of my children’s day. We don’t often do television during the day, but they really enjoy having something to listen to while they play during their afternoon quiet time. We also listen to podcasts while we travel to and from library or grocery store visits, which helps with the long drives (and cuts down on the arguing in the car). This is what they have been enjoying:
Paws and Tales
Paws and Tales is a cute little series put out by Insight for Living, about a group of animal friends that live in a place called Wildwood. It’s designed for preschool to early elementary and my kindergartener really loves it. Big Sister still enjoys it but prefers her audiobooks these days. Each story is related to faith and character, and includes catchy songs that my kids love to sing.
Adventures in Odyssey
Big Sister loves Adventures in Odyssey! AIO is produced by Focus on the Family and has been around for almost 30 years. It’s target audience is a bit older (8-12) than Paws and Tales, and Big Sister enjoys it much more than Little Sister does. The stories centre around John Whittaker (Whit), a grandfatherly character, and his ice cream shop. There are a few free podcasts available on iTunes, CD compilations that can be purchased, and I was recently pleased to discover that you can listen anytime to their daily radio broadcasts online for free.
Melody, Mystery and Mayhem
This is a new podcast, and as of my writing this post, there have only been two podcasts produced. It’s a good one though, and Little Sister has already listened to both episodes twice. It is the work of Alison Burr, who is also the Project Coordinator for my absolute favourite podcast, The Read Aloud Revival. Melody, Mystery and Mayhem is a podcasts for the whole family, featuring variety show style content in stories, interviews, and song. It’s really cute, and not at all annoying to adults as some children’s programming tends to be. We are looking forward to what they come up with!
Sparkle Stories
Sparkle Stories have a variety of characters and story lines, both of the animal and human type. It also has both paid and free options. So far we have only made use of the free stories available via iTunes. Some of their stories even feature homeschoolers!
Classics for Kids
Classics for Kids is a podcast featuring classical composers. It is largely biographical in nature, but their website has all kinds of information on musical instruments, timelines of composers and more. They even have lesson plans and activity sheets on their site for you to use with your children. I’m using this to fill in the gaps of our musically education – I’ve not done any composer study to date, so the only music that has been formally covered in our home is the piano lessons Big Sister receives.
I’m always on the lookout for great podcasts for my kids to enjoy! Are there any that your children are enjoying that aren’t on my list?
