‘You can’t learn everything off YouTube.’
One of my nearest and dearest once told me. Right after YouTube had featured rather heavily in a discussion about home ed and learning 🙂 I’m sure she’s right. But it can be a pretty cool place to hang out. There are some amazing channels and content out there.
We’re all big fans of YouTube in our house and have learnt loads from it. We love discovering new channels and hearing what others are watching. So today I’m sharing some of our favourite channels for all of you who love learning and YouTube as much as us. Maybe you’ll find something new to enjoy or we can nerd out together in our shared love of some old trusty ‘Tube treasures, now that’s a tongue twister and a half 🙂
Let’s start with 6 channels recommended by my 6 year old daughter. Enjoy x
*although first a heads up. We’ve not seen all the videos on all the channels we recommend and cannot guarantee their content as kid-friendly. Not that we’re even sure what that means, what’s friendly for one, might just scare the pants off another.
But as my son said the other day, sometimes the internet can show you stuff you don’t want to see. This was just after he’d been researching the latest Star Wars trailer, you have been warned. And although that happens so rarely, you’ll probably want to check out these channels yourself before watching them with anyone who might be freaked out by any of the content – no 4’s definitely made us jump on more than one occasion 🙂
1. Maddie Moate
Maddie presents the CBeebies show Do You Know? If you were a fan of Come Outside as a child, you’ll love Do You Know? It’s great viewing for all ages, and just like Auntie Mabel, Maddie explores how stuff is made and how it works.
But Maddie also has her own YouTube channel, Maddie Moates. My eldest daughter had been a fan of Maddie for a while when her little sister discovered Do You Know? And she was chuffed to see a YouTuber on the telly.
Maddie also has some great videos on the BBC Earth Unplugged channel. But it’s her Maddie Moates channel we love the most. My 6 year old says, ‘Watching Maddie makes me feel happy’.
Maddie’s channel is full of science and nature adventures, often filmed with her partner Greg (also with his own channel and previously the Science Guy on Blue Peter). Maddie inspires us all to Stay Curious and she does it so well.
2. Wonderquest
First, Stampy Cat and Wizard Keen must retrieve the 5 wonderments of the wondergem. And return them to Wonderberg, a Minecraft town where the inhabitants have stopped wondering. Then they have to travel back in time to prevent Keen’s brother, Heinous from interfering with the famous wonderings of some notable inventors and pioneers, else the present day could be changed forever. The series is set in Minecraft and if you know your Minecraft YouTubers, features many familiar faces. Guests pop in regularly to help Stampy and Keen solve the various puzzles they face along the way.
There is an accompanying animated series, ‘I wonder’ where Stampy and Keen explore some of the concepts from Wonderquest in more detail. The water cycle, seed dispersal, literal and figurative language, measuring, fossils and much more… (maybe a little US-centric at times but still lots of fun)
Despite having only two seasons and no new content on this channel for 2 years, my daughter revisits Wonderberg regularly. Although she’s very keen 🙂 to point out that Stampy has his own channels she would also recommend.
Stampylonghead is packed full of gaming videos. Stampy has his own lovely world in Minecraft with over 600 episodes, he plays Zelda, Stardew Valley and Ni No Kuni 2 among many others, and produces his own original animated short films. While Stampylongnose is more of a vlogging/sit down chat channel with lots of Behind the Scenes content.
Stampy has slowed down his uploading in recent months, having just got married to fellow YouTuber Sqaishey (another channel my daughter insists I tell you about) and been busy writing a book. There is so much content on these channels already though, it would take a long time to get through it all.
3. It’s Okay To Be Smart
Just like Stampy, we like to keep wondering. And we discovered Joe’s science and nature videos when wondering ‘are we all related?’
We then wondered ‘why do we itch?’ and ‘why is it that Beavers are the smartest thing in fur pants?’ And we got some pretty cool answers.
4. Brave Wilderness
This one’s all about animals. Coyote travels the world in search of close encounters with all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures. Offering insights into their behaviour and their habitats, Coyote encourages us to Be Brave and Stay Wild.
My daughter’s a big fan of the night-time shoots, his insect and reptile handling and swimming with manatees. But there are all kinds of big and small animals featured on the channel.
5. Mystery Doug
I heard about the Mystery Science website in a home ed group a few months ago and checked it out with my daughter. It was an instant hit. She loves the step by step instructions for activities related to the mysteries explored in each video.
Then we found that Doug has a YouTube channel too. All the videos are around 5 minutes long and are short answers to a mystery – What is the biggest spider in the world? How do earthquakes happen? Why is Mars red? and you get the idea 🙂
6. Cosmic Kids Yoga.
Meditation, mindfulness and Minecraft – what’s not to love? Jaime combines them all beautifully, creating themed videos to promote ‘strength, balance and confidence’. She has yoga videos on Star Wars, Harry Potter and Frozen, along with some higher energy yoga based around a just-dance style game.
There’s also a Cosmic Kids Zen Den where Jaime offers mindfulness and meditation videos. Guided relaxations encouraging children, and all of us, to Be The Pond, try some Mindful Walking and Refresh our Senses.
And there you have it, 6 YouTube channels my 6 year old recommends. I hope you feel inspired to have a look at some of these channels and that your children love them as much as mine.
Look out for recommendations from the rest of the family coming soon. You can find some great channels to help you get fit here. And please let us know your favourite YouTube channels for Home ed and for life, we’d love to check them out if you leave us a link in the comments 🙂