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Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

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Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#41

Post by mrweasel »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #34
mrweasel wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yt kids still show ads Isn't that illegal in many areas? In the EU you basically can't target ads towards kids. That being say: YouTube Kids is generally terrible and there's little reason to prefer it over the regular YouTube.

> In the EU you basically can't target ads towards kids How are toys advertised to children in the EU?

They aren't, more or less. Rules might be interpreted differently in different countries, but I think it mostly correct.

What you can do is create something like Paw Patrol. The show is a product in its own right, but really it's a massive ad for their line of toys. You can also get catalogs from toy stores, I don't know if they are allowed to mail them out, or if they don't do it because of cost.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#42

Post by obloid »

jordanwallwork wrote: post #27
jtvjan wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be a bit careful with that: https://www.wsj.com/articles/peppa-pig-a-pandemic-favorite-h...

I've noticed that a lot of my daughters friends put on American accents when they're playing; we're in the UK, so presumably they just watch a lot of american tv. I don't think it's particularly alarming though, I wouldn't think to warn someone to 'be careful' of letting their kids watch My Little Pony because they might imitate the accents

That's funny, I'm in the US and my daughter puts on a British accent when she's playing. I guess for either one it's something that sounds exotic and fun.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#43

Post by kgwxd »

Double_a_92 wrote: post #32
speps wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be mindful of Roblox https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vTMF6xEiAaY

Those videos seemed a bit over-alarming to be honest. It's about kids spending their bought ingame-currency for ingame things... which is the whole point of buying it. If you don't like it just don't buy the ingame currency for your kids. And then it's about kids being used as unpaid game developpers because they had fun creating games.

My first kid had a real problem with wanting Robux, it’s all he cared about, I dreaded even hearing the name Roblox and never played with him. 10,000 arguments later and he was over it. He introduced our younger kid and stressed to him that “Robux are a scam” on the first day, and it’s now one of my favorite games to play with him and he started on Roblox Studio a few weeks ago. The older one doesn’t play much anymore but he’ll join us occasionally. it’s sad I missed out on all the fun with him because of the obsession with Robux and my inability to distract him from it. I think if I had just played with him, he might have not have cared so much, but my hate for it from all the fights stopped me from even installing it.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#45

Post by atonse »

jtvjan wrote: post #16
Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #9

CBeebies/CBBC? Not sure what access is like outside the UK.

I'd be a bit careful with that: https://www.wsj.com/articles/peppa-pig-a-pandemic-favorite-h...

haha what’s there to be careful about that? I love that thanks to Peppa Pig we had a little bit of British culture added to our home.

Similarly now with Bluey (Aussie show) and us occasionally saying Brekky for breakfast.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#46

Post by duxup »

speps wrote: post #18
aegis4244 wrote: post #7

Curiosity Stream might be worth a look. I have a 6 year old, and her youtube history isn't what I'd hoped. I have to look through things with her though. Space stuff, dinosaurs and animals help. It still loses her attention though. Reading to her is much better. That one on one attention is a drug. And "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" kicks ass. Have the "Princess Bride", "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm" and "Rascal" l…

Be mindful of Roblox https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vTMF6xEiAaY

My kids play Roblox. It has been a great experience for them.

I've seen a lot of critical articles. I find them to describe a completely different experience than we have had.

The fact that it is hard to get attention for your games is just a good life lesson, when the kids grow up and decide to be youtubers they will learn it then too. That's not a bad thing.

Meanwhile they get very creative games for free (more creative / fun than the traditional video games out there), a free development environment to play and learn on.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#47

Post by JoshuaEddy »

For a Preschool-Kindergarten range:

PBS Kids has at least two free apps: one video streaming, and one educational games. Both are great.

Sensical [1] is a free streaming service/app that only includes content that meet Common Sense Media criteria. Common Sense Media [2] rates/reviews media for quality and age-appropriateness.

Kanopy [3] is a streaming service/app that is freely available through many libraries. It has a walled-off kids area with movies, shows, and videobooks that are not garbage. I have no concerns letting my kid loose in the kids area to choose among that content.

YouTube Kids [4] is a free streaming service/app that can be terrible or decent. To be decent, you must curate the content yourself (rather than the algorithm) so you have to find and add "channels" or even individual videos, and remove them when they are outgrown. Some channels I found are...

YTK General: PBS Kids (collection of 5 channels), Sesame Studios (collection of 6 channels), Khan Academy Kids, Bluey, Deep Look, PBS Space Time, TheDadLab, Super Sema, Mystery Doug, Brainzy Games, The Kiboomers [for toddlers]

YTK Animals: Nat Geo Kids, The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Animal Wonders Montana, San Diego Zoo, BBC Earth Kids

YTK Drawing: Super Simple Draw, Muffalo Potato, Draw So Cute, Art for Kids Hub, drawstuffrealeasy, Red Ted Art

Enough with the streaming video. For educational but fun apps, I recommend:

PBS Kids Games, as mentioned before.

Khan Academy Kids [5].

Teach Monster: Reading for Fun [6].

NumberBlocks/Alphablocks [7] have freemium game apps (NumberBlocks World, AlphaBlocks World) that combine the show and games. They also have lame free apps (MeetTheNumberBlocks, MeetTheAlphaBlocks) that I wouldn't waste time on.

[1] https://www.sensical.tv/

[2] https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

[3] https://www.kanopy.com/en/kids

[4] https://www.youtubekids.com/

[5] https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/

[6] https://www.teachyourmonster.org/readingforfun

[7] https://www.learningblocks.tv/

Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#48

Post by thenerdhead »

Make your own.

There's PBS kids shows in spirit like Daniel Tiger, Tumble Leaf, Octonauts, Llama llama, Bluey, Puffin Rock, and many more.

I watch an episode first to make sure it is something educational and not too "entertaining". I'm personally in the camp that if something is too entertaining, you aren't learning much. i.e. Cocomelon, Sesame Street, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?

#49

Post by duxup »

> that got discontinued

What makes you think that?

It is alive and well for me. In the US.

My family lives and dies on the TV channel, video app, the games app, and the roku app. I've never found anything nearly as high quality / dedicated to education / learning... just seem to actually care about the end customer (kids). I'm a happy member of my local PBS station.

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