I don’t know about you, but we have had a bevy of unwelcome germs come through our house so far this winter. Combined with the ultra-cold weather, conditions have been ripe for entirely too much screen time. And while we did exceed our Netflix limit this winter (any port in a storm), one thing that has helped my sick or bored kids be creative and enjoy some downtime has been podcasts.
Podcasts are a great way to encourage a recovering child to rest, pass time on a car ride or during a daily commute and something to play in the background while kids color or doodle (or even just sit and stare at the low gray sky outdoors).
There are so many podcasts for kids these days, finding something to suit your children’s interest is probably just a Google search away. That said, here are a few for the elementary-aged cohort that we’ve found entertaining. For the record, my kids are in fourth grade and kindergarten and mostly agree with these.
Greeking Out by National Geographic Kids
This is a podcast that retells the stories of Ancient Greece. This might skew a little older, as tales often include dangerous monsters and disastrous outcomes, but there are also epic heroes, the quest for immortality, sibling rivalries, gods behaving badly, ancient curses, and, of course, divine intervention. Each episode begins with the announcer letting you know what content will be included, so you can make a choice for your family. That said, we’ve personally never found we need to skip an episode for content reasons. The podcast itself is a spinoff from a book series called Zeus the Mighty (about a hamster who believes himself to be the Greek god of sky and thunder, Zeus). We have the accompanying books and they are great, fun reads for kids ages 8-12.
Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest
In this podcast, storyteller and author Adam Gidwitz retells fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. If you are familiar with the original Grimm fairy tales, you know these can get a bit strange. But in each retelling, Gidwitz has an audience of kids cracking jokes, predicting outcomes and otherwise making each story accessible. This podcast also precedes each episode with a content warning for kids and parents, and each story is categorized as “Grimm”, “Grimmer” and Grimmest,” so you can pick what level of strangeness you want. Overall, this podcast has been highly engaging for my kids, but I do listen alongside them just in case things get a little spooky or weird.
But Why?: A Podcast for Curious Kids by National Public Radio
In this show, kids from across the country write in their questions, and the But Why? staff at Vermont Public Radio answer them. Episode topics range from how do people whistle, do earthworms have eyes, where does the sky end (mind blown on that one) and how does food turn into poop?. Like all kids, mine are more interested in some topics than others, but this one can also be good for family listening on a road trip (I fondly recall learning about the U.S. Mint somewhere on 1-70 in Kansas… although my children probably weren’t paying as close attention to that one).
The Week Junior Show
If you have kids ages eight or so and older, you might already get a subscription to The Week Junior, which is a weekly news publication for kids ages 8-14. The Week Junior Show is an accompanying podcast that covers one story from each weekly paper. I don’t think you’d need to read or subscribe to the magazine to listen along. Either way, it’s a short and concise way to inform kids about the news so that they can discuss it with parents, teachers, other kids or whomever. Honestly, it’s a nice way to hear about interesting news stories without any spin, since it’s geared to kids in communities of all demographics and political leanings.
Those are our current podcast subscriptions, but of course this is just a smattering of a few ideas that work for us. There are tons of other options out there for kids of all ages who are interested in all sorts of things. Overall, podcasts can be a really fun and engaging way for kids to interact with topics that interest them. Don’t overlook the usefulness of podcasts on sick days or bad weather days. Happy listening!
Pamela Savage is a freelance writer in Springfield. In the winter, she spends a decent amount of time walking her dog while listening to podcasts.
This article appears in Spring 2025 February 2025.
