Are you a fan of podcasts? With over 1 million podcasts out there and over 30 million episodes, there is something for everyone. I listen to education, business, and lifestyle podcasts, and my current favorite is the Office Ladies! But have you ever thought about using podcasts in the kindergarten classroom?
Until recently I didn’t really think about podcasts for children. When I started looking into it I couldn’t believe how many were out there. I started thinking about all the ways you could use podcasts in a classroom setting, and how they could be used during distance learning!
Benefits of Listening to Podcasts
- Promotes active listening skills – students aren’t glued to an iPad watching a video that gives them sensory overload. Podcasts help students to sharpen their auditory discernment skills.
- Strengthens attention span – essential in kindergarten! Students might not be able to listen to an entire podcast at first, but using them consistently will build their attention span!
- Enhance Lesson Plans – provide students with supplemental material that can strengthen their knowledge of a subject.
- Utilize a multi-sensory approach – connect with your auditory learners who find this method the easiest way to retain information.
How to Listen to Podcasts in the Kindergarten Classroom
There are many apps that provide you with free access to podcasts. Most smartphones and tablets are equipped with podcast apps immediately upon purchase.
You can pay for podcast apps that allow for commercial-free listening, but you can skip forward 30 seconds at a time within the podcast apps. Personally, I’ve never felt the need to buy a subscription to a podcast service because the skip forward feature has always worked for me.
To listen in the classroom (or at home) I suggest the website – https://www.kidslisten.org/ which provides easy access to popular children’s podcasts.
Podcast Recommendations
I went through and listened to snippets of all of these podcasts and chose the ones that I felt would be best for K-2 listeners. There are many more podcasts out there (and new ones are being added every day) so continue to explore the wonderful options out there!
Language Arts
These podcasts focus on imagination and storytelling. You can review story elements or use them to spark some creative writing or storytelling skills.
- Story Pirates
- Little Stories for Tiny People
- The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian
- What if World
- Sophie and Sebastian
- Stories Podcast
- Circle Round
- Julie’s Library
- Pinkalicious and Peterrific
- The Reading Bug
- Alpha Beats
- Storynory
- Molly of Denali
Science
These podcasts focus on engaging topics for students. They take a deeper look into some of the most fascinating subjects.
Music
Learn music terminology, practice musical concepts, and grow an appreciation for music overall with these podcasts.
Social-Emotional Learning
From growth mindset to meditation, these podcasts focus on a student’s emotional control and growth.
Social Studies
These podcasts cover current news topics and encourage critical thinking skills.
For Parents
Bedtime stories and sleep assistance podcasts.
Tips for Using Podcasts in the Kindergarten Classroom
So now that you have an extensive list of recommendations, how can you use these podcasts in the classroom? Here are a few suggestions of how to use them in your primary classroom:
- Use as distance learning assignments.
- Play during nap time or calm down time.
- Listen prior to creative writing activities.
- Use to discuss story elements – setting, characters, plot, etc.
- Listen when beginning or ending a science inquiry to gain more in-depth knowledge.
- Centers – set-up podcast listening centers.
- Storytelling – for pre-writers, use as inspiration for storytelling. Use puppets or other manipulatives to retell stories or create original ones.
- Classroom podcast – create your own podcast! Have students do deep dives on informational topics, or have them do some creative storytelling. Readers’ theater would work as well!
- For parents – listen in the car, during dinner time, or on family walks!
Podcasts don’t have to be listened to all in one sitting. Take them in 10 minutes at a time if that is where your student’s attention span level is at!
Podcast Activity
I made this quick one-page response activity that you can either do in your classroom or send home as a distance learning activity.
- Podcast and episode title – great writing and copying practice for young learners.
- About section and 2 things you liked/learned – I didn’t put any lines in this section so that pre-writers can draw a picture synopsis of the answers.
- Rating – The students can color in the stars to show how much they liked the episode.
- Listen again? – This will help you get a view of how well your students liked this podcast and if you should consider it for future assignments.
If you’d like a copy of the recording sheet just fill out the info below:
Using podcasts in the kindergarten classroom is just another way to get your students engaged in learning. Once you get started using them I have a feeling you’ll be hooked!
Want more distance learning resources? Check out my distance learning category with the link below:
