The kids and I have settled into a pretty nice summer routine and it usually begins with watching a mom-curated YouTube playlist while I drink my coffee. This is usually after breakfast and before we start whatever adventures we have planned for the day. I look through the channels we’ve subscribed to and the videos suggested based on our viewing history and add anything that looks good to my “watch it later” queue. This becomes our playlist.
You can drag and drop videos on your watch it later list so that you can watch in a specific order. So if you are Type A kinda gal, you can curate days at a time of video watching with a view videos from each of your favorite channels. Or if you are so not that mom, you can just watch in whatever random order the wind blows.
Either way, here are some of our favorite channels and playlists in case you need some viewing inspiration. I watch videos from these channels with my 8 year old and 12 year old so there is kind of a spread in targeted age here. These are not the same channels my kids would watch on their own – a lot of those would make my eyes bleed from pure boredom or annoying voices. Dan TDM is not here. Kids unwrapping LOL dolls? Not here. These are slightly more educational in variety but still entertaining for sure.
Here are 10 of our Favorite YouTube Channels to watch together.
Are We There Yet? series on National Geographic Kids
If you and your kids are basically walking wanderlust, this is the series for you. It’s just one of several dozen playlists at National Geographic Kids. It features several sibling pairs who record videos of their adventures while vacationing around the world.
My daughter launches into the next room to grab a pad of paper and pencil when these videos come on. There are drawing tutorials for just about every animated character you can think of and more basic tutorials like how to draw a better circle or how to draw a cartoon baby seal.
Did you know that author John Green also has a hugely popular youtube channel that he makes with his brother Hank? They have educational videos on, basically everything. Science, literature, history, politics – they’ve got you covered.
Same concept as above except geared towards younger kids. My 12 year old prefers the original channel. My 8 year old greatly prefers this one. I try to keep a healthy dose of both in rotation. As far as I can tell, John Green does not narrate any of these videos so if you are only there for your John Fix, this channel will probably not help you.
Space How-Tos Series from Video From Space
This is an oldie but a goodie. Astronauts from countries from around the world show you what life is like in space. Everything from how they cook food to how they brush their teeth is covered here.
My eight year old is obsessed with this channel. Any science question your kid could ask can probably be answered here. It stars the world’s perkiest red head and her robot mouse. They do science experiments and talk about various topics in science like space, animals, biology and more. They also show kids how to make pillow forts and paper airplanes.
This is a real treasure trove videos. They have a whole series devoted to kids trying strange foods from around the world. They also have a series where kids meet people from different professions or life circumstances (i.e. kids meet a ballerina and kids meet a guide dog for the blind).
These days most zoos seem to have their own YouTube channel. Watch videos of adorable baby animals or learn more about animals in general. This is great for a rainy day when your plans to go out in nature have been thwarted – or to get your kids pumped for a trip to your local zoo.
This is a fan favorite in our household. There’s something magically satisfying about watching things explode in slow motion. These videos walk you through the entire process of setting up the experiment, filming it and then watching it back in slow motion. We’ve watched several dozen now and it doesn’t seem to get old.
In general, this series is geared more towards older kids and teens. I wouldn’t personally let younger kids loose on this channel but if you do the hunting and pecking yourself, you can find some great videos for all ages. My kids especially love their music videos but they also have more educational videos (and some clearly geared towards teens and young adult videos).
Mommablogsalot 