One of the hardest things about the summer is getting kids to practice the skills they’ve acquired during the school year so they don’t lose the knowledge learned. It’s true that kids’ knowledge slips when they don’t use their math and reading skills. To prevent the summer slide, it’s important to find age appropriate content that is engaging, fun, and educational. For the second year in a row, I’m glad to see that YouTube Kids helps kids keep reading along with them through their free app.
How YouTube Kids Helps Keeps Kids Reading Through the Free App
The read along content in YouTube Kids helps kids keep reading by letting them discover the magic of reading. Simply sign in and you’ll notice a dedicated Reading tab that features hundreds of pieces of reading-related content focused on early language literacy. Kids will love playlists from Universal’s Despicable Me and NFL star, Martellus Bennett, that will launch in time for Father’s Day.
In addition to star studded content, some of the biggest book publishers are participating in YouTube Kids’ global campaign. I love that Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, National Geographic Kids, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt want to make a big impact on the next generation of little readers by helping them hone their reading skills. A wealth of new content from publishers on YouTube Kids Read Along encourages a lifelong passion for reading.
Here’s a look at the new reading content you’ll be able to find on the YouTube Kids app beginning today!
- Look for new videos from HarperCollins produced in partnership with YouTube and YouTube Kids. Content includes a series featuring kids and moms using only the front and back covers of books to guess what the stories are about. Harper Collins also has a new Kid Critic series featuring book reviews for kids, by kids.
- Penguin Random House has several picture book read-along videos for Reading Month on the YouTube Kids app and you can find other content featured on their Brightly Kids YouTube Channel.
- The National Geographic Kids channel on YouTube and YouTube Kids will feature several reading-related videos about animals, nature, and more in an effort to expose young readers to non-fiction books, an area that is often limited for early readers.
- During June, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Curious World channel will publish one storybook video a day for 30 days that will become part of a playlist called “30 Fairytales and Fables #ReadAlong.” The videos will enable kids to read along with the unique feature of simultaneous screen text and voice over.
The YouTube Kids app is also the place where you can find exclusive series from top content creators from around the world that was created especially for Reading Month. YouTube Kids helps kids keep reading with content from channels like these.
Word Play by PINKFONG
Pinkfong inspires children to discover the wonders of the world by learning everyday words and phrases through singing and playing
Toycantando
This famous YouTube channel revisits some of the most classic tales for children and introduces kids to the wonderful world of reading. Each episode includes song interstitials and is divided in five parts, each part focusing on one specific word for kids to learn. This series will be released exclusively on the YouTube Kids app in both English and Spanish and just for Reading Month!
ChuChu TV’s Learning English is Fun™
Learning more about the 26 letters of the English alphabet and other concepts will help young pre-school kids build a strong reading and verbal skill foundation. Kids will love the upbeat songs in each episode that will also help them strengthen their language, motor, cognitive and social skills. Songs will help children build critical listening skills, develop sound discrimination and to introduce new vocabulary. This series will consist of 40 Alphabet learning episodes through which your little one is sure to rock in the English Language!
Bob the Train
Learning Street with Bob is a spin-off from the popular character Bob the Train. This new series is designed to enrich toddlers’ learning experience of the English language and expand their imagination. Through fun activities, music and play, this new series starts to form the basics of learning the letters of the alphabets, phonics, understanding simple words, sight words, forming sentences, every day words culminating in stories. The series is designed in a structured format that will help in the cognitive development of a toddler thanks to 3D colorful animation, original songs and fun activities.
YouTube Kids helps kids keep reading through the free app that is available through Google Play and the App Store. If you have a YouTube Red subscription ($9.99/month), you can enjoy features such as offline video viewing and ad-free content.
For a full review of the YouTube Kids app, read my review: YouTube Kids App: A Safer and Easier Way for Kids to Discover and Explore Educational Content
I am a member of the YouTube Kids Parent Panel but am not compensated for my involvement. Images courtesy of YouTube.
