Mediocre Mum

YouTube Videos for Kids?!?!

I wouldn’t in a million years watch YouTube videos with my daughter before vetting them first; even though I’m tempted at times when I have a spare 5 minutes to kill while waiting for dinner.  Unfortunately, I don’t often have time to sit down and sift through all the inappropriate content.   So tonight, I thought I would go through and make a list and share it with you in hopes that you would share a few of your favourites.

There are ways of making YouTube a bit safer for kids but they aren’t failsafe and I’m not willing to risk it.  You can create a favourites list in YouTube, watch them on full screen to avoid inappropriate comments popping up, put it in safety mode and/or register an account for your child with an accurate age so that YouTube’s filters kick in.

I started making quite a list and then came across the following two sites which were exactly what I was looking for.  Both of these sites pull the majority of their content from YouTube but they have been closely monitored.  Every video that I had found previously could be found on these two sites.  So, my list just got a lot shorter.

I like the looks of Kideos because you can search by age group (e.g 2-3, 3-4).  They have everything from Sesame Street to Disney to Dancing Bears.  Plus, they have an iphone app which I’m off to download now.

ZuiTube follows a similar idea but boasts the largest collection of Kids Videos anywhere and all of their content has been approved by parents and teachers.

Happy Safe Surfing!

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Comments

11 responses to “YouTube Videos for Kids?!?!”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    An iPhone app you say? Well, that makes it a no-brainer. Charlie’s already bored with flicking through my photos. Question is, will I ever see my phone again?

    Reply
    1. mediocremum Avatar
      mediocremum

      I’m having a wee problem logging into the App on my phone but will report back!

      Reply
  2. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Hi there. The iPhone app I use is called “Weet Woo!” It lets you choose the age group your child is in, then grabs the appropriate youtube vids. Everything from songs to cartoons and Disney shows, etc. My son never gets bored. And he’s 4. :)

    Reply
    1. mediocremum Avatar
      mediocremum

      If I can’t get Kideos to work I’m going to try this one. Thanks for the suggestion.

      Reply
  3. Maggy, red ted art Avatar
    Maggy, red ted art

    ooooh, VERY tempting, but have confess: the computer is ALL MINE! I made the mistake early on of letting “Red Ted” on and now he always want a go. So I discourage it! iphone I can cope with. LOL!

    But thanks for the review ;-)

    Maggy

    Reply
    1. mediocremum Avatar
      mediocremum

      It is a can of worms! I just managed to get hubby off my machine by buying him a netbook. May have to get another one for her. Like a lunatic, I’m about to buy a computer mouse for her! ;-)

      Reply
  4. the_mummys_club Avatar
    the_mummys_club

    Ours is a media Center PC so is plugged directly in to the TV. I often use YouTube videos to entertain the smallies – but we have come a cropper before and the odd video has contained foul language or moderate gore. Think we’ll try your suggestions :)

    Thank You

    The Mummys Club

    Reply
  5. Adrenalynn Avatar
    Adrenalynn

    Love this!! I've let my kids watch YouTube alone once or twice, but I'll never do that again after a little incident with a related video! I'm off to check out the sites!

    Reply
    1. mediocremum Avatar
      mediocremum

      I remember once I miss typed Mr. Men….oh, boy that was an eye opener!

      Reply
  6. Morag Gaherty Avatar
    Morag Gaherty

    I can understand parents of very young children wanting to control their access to the internet, but I have to say, I didn’t allow mine to use it ever until they were about 7. If youngsters are going to use the internet without a parent sitting with them, then the sites you have mentioned are a very good idea.

    My boys are now 9 and 11 and pretty mature for their age. I have to say, I have a deliberate policy of not following their every internet move like a hawk (though I often take a glance at their viewing history – luckily, they are not interested in things other than Doctor Who, for the most part!).

    Equally, I don’t have a child-filter on the internet. I don’t WANT them to believe the internet is a safe and happy place. I want them to see it for what it is. About a year ago, my younger boy went on hotmail and mistyped it as hotmale. You can imagine what kind of a site that brought up! He brought the laptop to me and said “I wanted to go on hotmail but my spelling isn’t very good.” The point was, he wasn’t embarrassed by the site he inadvertently found, he just thought it was a little bit silly.

    This is the attitude I want them to have, not shock horror at anything which might offend their middle class sensibilities.

    Also, I let them watch YouTube. Lots and LOTS of clips of Doctor Who and Lego Batman and stuff like that. They used to look up music videos on YouTube, but now they prefer to just listen to the music on Spotify.

    Reply
    1. mediocremum Avatar
      mediocremum

      I can’t agree more. There is an element of finding the balance. Kids are eventually going to find innappropriate things and like you I think it’s better show them what to do when it happens. However, I do think there should be some control and moderation. My daughter is only 3 so at the moment I do sit with her at the computer. Firstly, because she doesn’t have the mouse control and secondly she isn’t at an age that I would be able to explain to her what was going on if she did come across something. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

      Reply

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