The 22 Best YouTube Channels For Kids

Ms Rachel

This former preschool teacher turned educational Youtuber has been taking screens by storm recently. Ms. Rachel uses her bright and cheery nature to employ techniques "recommended by speech therapists and early childhood experts to help children learn important milestones and preschool skills," the channel reports. With the help of Ms. Rachel, your little one will be mastering their first words, colors, numbers, and common nursery rhymes.

Gracie's Corner

Gracie's Corner was created by Javoris and Arlene Gordon-Hollingsworth, PhD. The two used their own professional experience (Javoris is a former educator and Arlene is a psychologist) to create a musical learning experience for kids that would teach them their alphabet, numbers, how to wash their hands, and more. The songs are voiced by the couple's daughter Graceyn and feature rhythmic genres like soca, reggae, afrobeats, and trap. Don't be surprised if you find yourself dancing alongside your little one to one of Grace's hits.

The Brain Scoop

Hosted by Emily Graslie, the chief curiosity correspondent of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, this channel engages children with videos that cover everything from scientific dissection to tours of museums and science labs. Note: content here is geared toward kids with an interest in natural sciences. (The Brain Scoop doesn't appear to be actively uploading videos right now, but there's a large and engaging library to work through.)

Sesame Street

It's Elmo's world, and we're all just living in it. The show that paved the way for preschool-age television programming has its own YouTube channel. All the characters we know and love make appearances in the various entertaining and educational videos. Murray Monster has his own series of videos that shows kids participating in fun science experiments, and Elmo and Cookie Monster star in "Monster Fixers," a series about fixing everything from Little Bo-Peep's broken fence to Humpty Dumpty's broken shell.

WordWorld

PBS has proven to be a reliable source for quality children's programming, serving as home to "Curious George," "Thomas & Friends," and "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood." WordWorld provides videos that help children build their vocabularies using rhymes, colorful characters, and catchy music. In the "Build Words With Duck" series, for example, Duck guides children through a series of words, sounding out the letters as he goes. (WordWorld doesn't appear to be actively uploading videos right now, but there's a great library of content to keep kids entertained.)

Baby Einstein

This channel was created to spark your baby's curiosity through discovering language, exploring the arts, and embarking on adventures with different miniseries like Sandbox.

PBS Kids

Feed your little one's curiosity about everything from science to navigating emotional challenges through PBS's huge inventory of educational shows. You can catch new seasons of PBS Kids favorites like "Elinor Wonders Why" and "Wild Kratts."

Smithsonian Channel

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is a must see if you happen to be in the Washington DC area. But if you can't get there in person, check out its YouTube channel for fun and educational videos that tackle a wide variety of topics from archaeology to astronomy. Besides, you might just enjoy it, too — because nothing is cuter than this baby orangutan trying to open a coconut. Nothing.

The Dodo Kids

This YouTube channel — from leading animal brand The Dodo — is the perfect place for kids, preschool and up, who love animals and love to see heartwarming, playful animal stories even more. From incredible rescue stories to the sweet "Baby to Big" series that chronicles newborn deer, tigers, seagulls, otters, and rabbits, this channel is furry feel-good fun. The Dodo has also partnered with Sesame Street to bring a sweet series on pet adoption called "Families For Furry Friends" that features Elmo, Cookie Monster, and real-life forever families. If your kids love to learn about animals, this will certainly scratch that itch.

TED-Ed

Run by the same nonprofit that brings us TED Talks, TED-Ed is building its library of educational content by producing animated shorts that challenge young viewers to use their brainpower and think outside the box. A lot of the content on this channel are better suited for older kids because some of the topics (like the ones in the series "Questions No One Knows the Answers To") are a little too abstract for younger kids. Personally, we love the videos that ask viewers to solve riddles. Now, in all fairness, I couldn't solve the one titled "Can You Solve the Bridge Riddle?," but my son and I had a blast trying to figure it out.

National Geographic Kids

National Geographic helps children explore the world through fun, well-produced videos that include everything from cool science experiments to adventurous field trips.

Little Baby Bum

The British YouTube channel features bright 3D animation, catchy original songs, and classic nursery rhymes. New content is posted weekly, so there's always something fresh to check out.

ChuChu TV

This channel provides educational entertainment with colorful animations, fun songs, and nursery rhymes. With over 55 million subscribers and almost 500 videos, ChuChu TV is now one of the most popular kids' channels on YouTube. The characters are inclusive, the music is catchy, and new content is added several times a week.

Cosmic Kids Yoga

This yoga channel features videos that teach mindfulness and relaxation geared toward kids ages 3 and up. The channel also offers interactive adventures where the instructor guides viewers on a make-believe trek through a forest or into outer space. The exercises help build strength and balance and encourage kids to use creativity and their imaginations. Chaturanga to Upward Facing Dog with a dragon in a magical forest? Yes, please.

Netflix Jr.

Featuring characters from popular Netflix shows, like "Ask the StoryBots" and "Super Monsters," this channel has fun sing-alongs and bright, engaging content. I'm a fan of the "ABC Jamboree" videos, where they take each letter of the alphabet and set it to original music performed by the StoryBots. The content here is usually under five minutes per video (perfect for waiting in line), and new content is added weekly.

Storyline Online

On this channel kids can cozy up for a virtual story time as actors like Angela Bassett, Betty White, and Mark Duplass read children's books. Storyline Online is an Emmy-nominated children's literacy website that spotlights books with positive messages for children between the ages of 4 and 7.

Super Simple Songs

This channel provides videos of colorful animated characters singing popular songs and nursery rhymes. The "Noodle & Pals!" playlist has songs that encourage kids to stand up, stomp, clap, and sing along to songs like "The Wheels on the Bus" and "One Little Finger." Super Simple Songs also has a kid-friendly app for iOS, where you can watch all the content from the YouTube channel without having to worry about the kiddos accidentally clicking on ads or other content.

Dave and Ava

The bright, engaging, and animated Dave and Ava are your hosts on this channel. They cover all the bases, from nursery rhymes, number and color songs, original tunes, and everything in between. You'll also find Spanish-language content for kids on the channel, as well as videos that are an hour or longer — so you don't have to keep clicking to new links every time a song ends.

Mother Goose Club

A fun and entertaining channel featuring kids and adults in colorful costumes. They sing songs, act out nursery rhymes, and host a mix of live-action and animated content.

Crash Course Kids

A weekly show that focused on grade-school science, host Sabrina Cruz covered exciting subjects like Earth, space, and chemical reactions. And while the last video was uploaded six years ago, the content holds up and is sure to keep kids riveted.

Houston Zoo

Kids will be enthralled by the behind-the-scenes content featured on the Houston Zoo channel. The educational videos showing the inner workings of the zoo and offering behind-the-scenes access to furry and feathered friends are a must see for young animal-lovers. In fact, there's an entire playlist called "Houston Zoo Babies" that visits the zoo's baby animals. Perfect for when you want your heart melted and your eardrums pierced by the excited squeals of your kids.

Free School

Keep kids engaged while exploring history, classical music, and literature with fun and informative videos from Free School. The "American History For Children" playlist covers everything from the drafting of the Constitution to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There are biographies of notable historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Vincent van Gogh, plus a series of "60 Second Science Questions," like "What causes thunder and lightning?"