Top Kids and Family Podcasts (November 2017)

Squeaking this in juuuuust under the wire, it's my November list of the top-ranked podcasts for kids and families.  (For those of you interested, here is October's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.)

If you're looking for a podcast for kids, you could -- and should! -- of course look at my list of podcasts for kids (now above 125!), but if that's a bit overwhelming, try the podcasts listed below, or the official Kids Listen app, featuring shows from Kids Listen members.  Popularity isn't always synonymous with quality, but you could do much worse than dipping into the shows ranked below -- many of which are Kids Listen members -- to start out.

At 18 ranked shows, November continues to be just shy of June's all-time high of 19 ranked shows.  (That means 18 shows that appeared in the top 100 of both the iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts when I checked it.)  The total number of podcasts listed below is 37, just 1 shy of October's new record.  While only one podcast hit the overall iTunes Top 200 (down from 4 in July and August), and the Top 200 Kids & Family chart featured 43 shows, down from August's 45-show record, the Stitcher total of 30 was 3 higher than the previous record.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on United States iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Thursday, November 30, 2017.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are ranked below; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.  Of special note: Dream Big appeared on iTunes' overall Top 200 and is #1 on the Kids and Family chart, but not at all on Stitcher's family list, so for that podcast at least, this list certainly underplays its popularity.)  Anyway: grain of salt noted.

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. Wow in the World

2. Stories Podcast

3. Brains On!

4. Story Pirates

5. Storynory

6. Circle Round

7. Story Time

8.  Tumble

9. The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

10. The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

11. Eleanor Amplified

12. The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

13. Little Stories for Tiny People

14. Peace Out

15. What If World

16. Ear Snacks

17.  Short and Curly

18. Bedtime Stories Cozy Corner Podcast

Others (listed alphabetically): 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales, Activated Stories, Bedtime History, Book Club for Kids, But Why, By Kids For Kids Story Time, Children Stories and Joyful Podcast, The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids, Disney Story Central, Dream Big, Family Folk Tales, Mick Munster Monster Hunter, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Podcast Kid, Spare the Rock Spoil the Child, Sparkle Stories, Summer Reading, That Story Show, This Podcast Has Fleas

Ear Snacks Season 2! Read (Hear) All (A Little Bit) About It!

Ear Snacks logo

I know that saying that a creative endeavor is unlike anything else that's out there sounds like hyperbole, but Ear Snacks fits the bill.  There are lots of great podcasts for kids, but in its absurdist and often non-story-based style (not to mention its greater though not exclusive emphasis on preschool listeners), the labor of love from Los Angeles-area musical duo Andrew and Polly is unique.

And it's back for Season 2!

Now what exactly is Ear Snacks? Well, why don't you let a few kids tell you...

(I love that, by the way.)

In any case, with Season 2 starting TOMORROW!, I went straight to the source, Andrew Barkan and Polly Hall themselves (OK, just Polly), to find out more about Season 2 and how it's more of the same, but also different, from Season 1.  (Also, on a related note, make sure you check out "How Does This Get Made?," a discussion on, well, how the podcast gets made.  It's not geared towards kids, but totally kid-friendly, if they happen to pull it up on your podcast player.)

Zooglobble: Is there a theme to season 2, or is it more or less random like season 1?

Polly Hall: It's more or less random, though this season we are being much more intentional about how the episodes tie into developmental milestones.

Can you give a sneak preview of some of the episode topics?  How about just the first letters of each topic?

What's happening this season on Ear Snacks?  Hands!  Puzzles!  Bad Guys!  And much more.  We'll keep the rest top super secret secret, but we are lining up some really fun guests to help us investigate science, music, art and culture in absurd & awesome ways.  Kindie music friends will be making regular appearances, starting with Jazzy Ash & TMBG's Danny Weinkauf and some podcast pals like Wow in the World's Mindy Thomas.  And to answer a question no one was asking -- yes, we are going to try to talk to conceptual artist John Baldessari.  Because stickers.

What are you doing to be more intentional about developmental milestones?

Ear Snacks Season 2 will still be built around super-fun topics for kids to explore, but each episode is also intentionally tied to an important milestone central to childhood and growing up.  We've met and sung with thousands of kids at this point and that "data set" really informs our work - but we're also weaving in our personal life, too.  As parents (to a 4-month old and 3.5 year-old), we're learning first hand from playdates, pre-school and the playground.  We know all about the big feelings that come while starting to make sense of the world - and this season we're trying to support kids as they're experiencing new situations, tackling new challenges and starting to connect with each other.  Don't worry, there aren't any lectures in these episodes!  Instead we take a sideways approach to topics like hitting, biting, differences and feeling confused that we think will equip kids to move through critical moments in an empowered way.

How has kids podcasting changed since you started Season 1?

The world of kids podcasts has changed A LOT since we started doing this in 2015.   Personally, we know that parents are seeking out and discovering podcasts for their kids way more now than they were a couple of years ago - proof we've seen from our audience growth alone.  We published our first episode of Ear Snacks in July 2015 and two years later we guess our weekly audience to be about 5,000 families and growing.  That feels like a lot of people to be talking to, since our own research - and research published by the non-profit organization Kids Listen, of which we are proudly founding members [Ed. note: As am I!] - indicates that kids in our audience range are almost always listening with at least one adult.  That's a lot of moms, dads, big brothers and sisters and lil' ones rocking out to our music, cracking jokes, knowing facts about seahorses and being curious about the world. 

There's generally more awareness now about this kind of content - perhaps partly because more attention is being paid to the medium by the press (see recent Common Sense and New York Times articles), or partly because more creators are entering the space including NPR, Panoply, and Peabody-winning Gen-Z Media - even Nickelodeon & Disney have podcasts for kids now.  Or a little bit chicken and egg?  We're excited to see more advertising and grant money (see Brains On! and Book Club for Kids) is becoming available to support the work we're all doing.  

There are even some podcast apps exclusively with kids content on the App Store now - Kids Listen, Leela and Panoply [Pinna] - and those are all great discovery tools for parents who are wondering, what should my kid be listening to?  

There's so much great audio out there right now for kids and it's even a little easier to find - but still not necessarily the first idea a parent of a pre-schooler might have when reaching for an activity.  A podcast for my pre-schooler?  Yup, there is one, and it's called Ear Snacks.

Top Kids and Family Podcasts (August 2017)

It's been about three weeks since the last time I looked at ranking podcasts for kids, and things are looking good for kids' podcasting.  (For those of you interested, here is July's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.)

If you're looking for a podcast for kids, you could -- and should! -- of course look at my list of podcasts for kids (now above 115!), but if that's a bit overwhelming, try the podcasts listed below.   Popularity isn't always synonymous with quality, but you could do much worse than dipping into the shows ranked below to start out.

August's ranked list is one less than July's list -- 16 ranked shows -- and 3 down from the all-time high of 19 in June.  (That means 16 shows that appeared in the top 100 of both the iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts.)  The total number of podcasts listed below is 36, however, up 1 from last month and a new record.  A total of 4 podcasts below hit the overall iTunes Top 200 (same as July's total), while in the Top 200 Kids & Family chart on iTunes, the total of 45 was up 6 (!) from July and beat June's record by 3 shows.  The Stitcher total of 21 is down (6) from last month, however.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on United States iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Thursday, August 17, 2017.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are ranked below; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.  Of special note: Dream Big appeared on iTunes' overall Top 200 and is #1 on the Kids and Family chart, but not at all on Stitcher's family list, so for that podcast at least, this list certainly underplays its popularity.)  Anyway: grain of salt noted.

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. Wow in the World

2. Brains On!

3.  Stories Podcast

4. Storynory

5. The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

6. Story Pirates

7. Story Time

8.  (tie)  The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

8. (tie) Tumble

10. Eleanor Amplified

11.  But Why?

12. Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child

13. Peace Out

14. Ear Snacks

15.  Short and Curly

16.  What If World

Others (listed alphabetically): 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales, Activated Stories, Biddy the Duck's Bedtime Stories, Children Stories and Joyful Podcast, The Children's Corner, Children's Fun Storytime Podcast, Disney Story Central, Dream Big, Family Folk Tales, Little Stories for Tiny People, Official Adventures in Odyssey, The Past and the Curious, Podcast Kid, The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, Road Trip Radio, Saturday Morning Theatre, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show, The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids

Top Kids and Family Podcasts (July 2017)

It's been a month since the last time I looked at ranking podcasts for kids, and the increased visibility of such podcasts, if not increasing, has maintained its momentum.  (For those of you interested, here is June's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.)  If you're looking for a podcast for kids, you could of course look at my list of podcasts for kids (now above 100!), but if that's a bit overwhelming, try the podcasts listed below.   Popularity isn't always synonymous with quality, but you could do much worse than dipping into the shows ranked below to start out.

In terms of big developments on the content side, I'm going to go with the debut of In Sight Junior, a kid-friendly spinoff of the popular In Sight podcast.  For those of you wondering when the burgeoning true crime genre would come to kids podcasting, the answer is "July."  (Note: it's not so much true crime as it is mysteries and legends.  Really, I've listened -- totally fine for listeners age 8 or so on up.)

July's list is ever-so-slightly smaller than June's record-busting list -- there are 18 ranked shows below, as opposed to 19 in June.  (That means 18 shows that appeared in the top 100 of both the iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts.)  The total number of podcasts listed below is 35, tied with June.  A total of 3 podcasts below hit the overall iTunes Top 200 (down from 4 in July), while in the Top 200 Kids & Family chart on iTunes, the total there (39) fell short of June by 3 shows.  The Stitcher total of 27 is a new record, however.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on United States iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Thursday, July 27, 2017.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.  Of special note: Dream Big appeared on iTunes' overall Top 200, but not at all on Stitcher's family list, so for that podcast at least, this list certainly underplays its popularity.)  Anyway: grain of salt noted.

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. Wow in the World

2. Stories Podcast

3.  Brains On!

4. Storynory

5. (tie)  The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

5.  (tie)  The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

7. Story Pirates

8. Tumble

9. Story Time

10 . Eleanor Amplified

11. Peace Out

12. Ear Snacks

13.  Little Stories for Tiny People

14.  What If World

15.  But Why?

16. Short and Curly

17. Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child

18.  The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids

Others (listed alphabetically): Activated Stories, Bedtime Stories, Biddy the Duck's Bedtime Stories, Book Club for Kids, Children's Fun Storytime Podcast, Circle Round, Disney Story Central, Dream Big, Family Folk Tales, Goop Tales Stories, In Sight Junior, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Road Trip Radio, The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, Saturday Morning Theatre, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home

Top Kids and Family Podcasts (June 2017)

It's been maybe 6 weeks since the last time I looked at ranking podcasts for kids, and it feels like things are continuing to change for the better. (For those of you interested, here is May's list of top-ranked kids and family podcasts.)  If you're looking for a podcast for kids, you could of course look at my list of podcasts for kids (now above 100!), but if that's a bit overwhelming, try the podcasts listed below.   Popularity isn't always synonymous with quality, but you could do much worse than dipping into the shows ranked below to start out.

In terms of big developments on the content side, I'm going to go with the debut of Circle Round, the new storytelling podcast from public radio's WBUR in Boston.  With just one episode (a pilot with Jason Alexander), the show already cracked this list.  When the show fully debuts in the fall, I'm sure it's going to move considerably higher.

The bigger development is really the overall health of the ecosystem.  May's list set or tied records regarding the number of shows in these lists, but June's list blew way by those records.  There are 19 ranked shows below -- meaning 19 shows that appeared in the top 100 of both the iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts -- just 2-3 months ago we usually only saw 10 or 11.   The total number of podcasts listed below is 35, by far a record high.  A total of 4 podcasts below hit the overall iTunes Top 200, while in the Top 200 Kids & Family chart on iTunes, the total there (42) exceeded last month's record by 9 shows.  (The Stitcher total of 25 tied the record.)  It's not clear if it's summer vacation, road trips, smart home speakers, or something else, but way more people know about kids podcasts now than did just a few months ago.

As always: this is a blunt instrument, combining pure rankings from two fairly opaque charts, and for a variety of reasons has only marginal value as a measure of quality.  (Results compiled from Top 100 podcasts on United States iTunes and Stitcher "kids and family" charts on Monday, June 26, 2017.  Podcasts that appear on both charts are listed with numbers; remaining podcasts only appeared on one list.)  So: grain of salt noted.

Two other reminders:

1.  If you're looking for a list that has most (or all) of these podcasts, check out my comprehensive list of podcasts for kids.

2. If you're interested in the future of podcasts for kids, you might be interested in Kids Listen, a grassroots organization of podcasters and folks like me interested in helping high-quality audio for children thrive.  We're looking for other interested folks -- producers or otherwise -- to join in!

With that out of the way, let's get to the chart.

1. Brains On!

2. Wow in the World

3. Stories Podcast

4. Storynory

5.  The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

6. Tumble

7. Eleanor Amplified

8. Story Pirates

9. The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

10. Story Time

11. But Why

12. Peace Out

13.  The Cramazingly Incredifun Sugarcrash Kids

14.  Ear Snacks

15. Short and Curly

16. Children Stories and Joyful Podcasts

17.  Circle Round

18. Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child

19. The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

Others (listed alphabetically): 1001 Classic Short Stories and Tales, Activated Stories, Bedtime History, The Children's Corner, Children's Fun Storytime Podcast, Disney Story Central, Dream Big, Family Folk Tales, Little Stories for Tiny People, Official Adventures in Odyssey, Podcast Kid, Saturday Morning Theatre, Sparkle Stories, The Story Home, That Story Show, What If World