I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get so incredibly tired of listening to the radio station (Spotify) and two toddler girls fighting in the car. “So-and-so touched me; she’s looking at me!”
When I reached my breaking point, I started to scroll through my podcasts for something kid-friendly, but not the same singsong over and over again. Because let’s be honest, I can only sing “Mr. Golden Sun” so many times in the car before I’m really just NOT loving the Charleston sunshine — and we do not need that kind of negativity.
When the girls reached the age of “I’m screaming to scream to be the loudest scream in the car!” . . . it was time to do some research.
Finding Kid-Friendly Audiobooks and Podcasts
One thing I suggest is to find books that interest your kids. My kids are nature lovers; we love all things gardening, hiking, and animals. Another thing everybody in my household loves is a good story. I retreat to my audiobooks when I’m doing laundry and going for a walk, but I will tell you the game changer has been the children’s audiobook stories in the car. The attention to detail and the eyes-wide wondering of what’s next has made the Charleston traffic bearable for all.
Here are some of our favorite kid-friendly audiobooks and podcasts. . .
For my girls and me, of course, we are always on brand — “Gardenkeeper Gus” is a crowd favorite! It depicts the adventures of Gus just doing garden-keeping things with his friends and family in his backyard. The natural sounds of birds, animals, and water keep us all so entertained. When we get in the car, I often ask the girls what they want to listen to, and it’s almost always “GardenKeeper Gus”!
This is a captivating podcast for kids with its catchy jazzy-like songs. The songs keep going long after we’ve reached our destination. One of our favorites is “Songs about Rainbows.” These songs are good for everybody.
If you have an older child in the four to seven age range, and all they ask is “But why?” even after you answer their question . . . well, this is the perfect podcast for you! This podcast dives deep into the why of all the wonders that kids have. It’s almost equivalent to the Stuff You Should Know podcast for adults.
Tablet Apps for Kids
Sometimes in between the waiting period of dinner time, or on a rainy day, and also time for mom to have a 20-minute peloton workout, the tablet time/audiobook time just works!
I highly suggest getting the PBS Kids app or the Khan Academy Kids app. They have read-aloud books that both help your child to read along with the story and provide a calming voice to the story. My child loves to use her pointer finger and follow along with the words on the screen. With the added animation, I’ve found myself peeking over at the stories myself.
Pro tip: Get yourself a Bluetooth speaker, connect your phone, and take that Audiobook outside with you all!
With all the resources out there, I hope this article gave you a little bit of a jumpstart to what you could be listening to in the car instead of kid screams and needing to say, “I promise, we’re almost there . . .” on repeat! Take my word for it with these favorites of ours, and prompt with, “Hey, what story do you want to listen to?! Let’s pretend we’re on an adventure!”
