The Spotify Kids playlist of podcasts for homeschooling

With the UK in yet another lockdown, and schools still closed across the nation, many parents are feeling the pressure. Taking on the role of both carer and teacher – with many also having to balance working from home – it’s no easy feat!

Feeling overwhelmed? Spotify has given us this helpful roundup of the best podcasts to support home learning. There are a variety of podcasts available on the platform that are suitable for both parents and kids to listen to together – enabling families to enjoy learning from home!

Whether your child wants to grow up to be a scientist, musician or a historian – these podcasts are a fun learning tool to supplement their studies and inspire them to stay engaged with their favourite subjects. And if they simply want to entertain themselves over lunch, or first thing when they wake up, why not keep this educational too? Spotify’s children’s platform, Spotify Kids, is full of amazing and appropriate music choices, as well as audio books around their favourite stories to keep them going and learning throughout the day.

Top Podcasts include:

Primary school

• Keeping The Kids Entertained  – Are the kids bored again? With Keeping the Kids Entertained they’ll be able to discover new stories, dramas, and learn something new!
• Maddie´s Sound Explorers – Hosted by Maddie Moate, in each episode, listeners are taken on a journey of science and nature sounds, with experts leading the way. Listen to Maddie discussing the show on Episode 54 of the Pod Bible Podcast here!
• David Walliams Marvellous Musical Podcast – Join David Walliams as he goes on a marvellous musical journey of discovery and meets some of the most famous faces from the history of music.
• Fun Kids Book Worms – A fortnightly podcast hosted by Bex, where she meets your favourite authors and finds out what makes them tick.
• The Week Junior Show – The Week Junior Show takes you behind the scenes of the award-winning magazine for 8 to 14-year-olds. Hosted again each week by Bex, she is joined by members of The Week Junior team to discuss their favourite stories or debate the week’s hot topic.
• Maths Appeal – The Maths Appeal podcast features discussions about key maths topics, maths puzzles and interviews with maths champions from the worlds of tech, entertainment, comedy and education.
• Fun Kids Science Weekly – Hosted by Dan from Fun Kids, each episode looks at the week’s biggest science stories.
• Wow In The World – Hosts Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz guide curious kids and their grown-ups on a journey into the wonders of the world around them. We’ll go inside our brains, out into space and deep into the coolest new stories in science and technology.
• Tumble – Tumble is a science podcast for kids, to be enjoyed by the entire family. They tell stories about science discoveries, with the help of real scientists!
• HomeSchool History – The podcast provides fun history lessons for all the family, presented by Horrible Histories’ Greg Jenner. Full of facts and jokes, the series brings to life a broad range of historical topics.

Secondary school

• A Brief History of Mathematics – Hosted by Professor of Mathematics Marcus de Sautoy, this podcast reveals the personalities behind the calculations and argues that mathematics is driving the force behind modern science.
• Science Weekly – Science Weekly is a podcast from The Guardian, and due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Science Weekly podcast currently explores some of the crucial scientific questions about Covid-19.
• BBC Inside Science – Hosted by Dr Adam Rutherford, guests join each week to illuminate the mysteries and challenge the controversies behind the science that is changing our world.
• Tech and Science Daily – From the Evening Standard, this podcast focuses on the daily bulletins reporting the latest news from the world of science and technology.
• The British History Podcast -The BHP is a chronological retelling of the history of Britain with a particular focus upon the lives of the people. It is not dry and doesn’t recount dates and battles, but instead teaches who these people were and how their desires, fears, and flaws shaped the histories of England, Scotland, and Wales.
• Stuff You Missed in History Class – Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed in History Class in this podcast from iHeartRadio.
• The Black Curriculum – Teaching Black British history 365 days a year.
• How to Save a Planet – How to Save a Planet is a podcast that asks the big questions like, what do we need to solve the crisis climate? Join journalist Alex Blumbers and scientist Dr Ayana Elizabeth Johnson as they scour Earth for solutions, talking to the people who make a difference.
• BBC Earth Podcast -BBC Earth’s podcast is everything you’d expect – a blend of nature, science and human experience, with world class storytelling and immersive soundscapes. They also bring you insights and stories from the BBC’s crews as they make some of the most impactful television on the planet.
• Duolingo French Podcast – Deepen your language skills and knowledge of the French-speaking world through fascinating true stories and easy to follow French, with added English for context.

James Cator, Head of Studios, UK at Spotify says:

“We appreciate how tough the latest lockdown is on families and with schools shut there are even more pressures on parents during this difficult time. We hope this  round up the top educational podcasts provides a bit of inspiration for parents that are looking for ways to entertain and educate their children – there’s lots available on Spotify across a number of subjects and suitable for a variety of ages. Podcasts are an especially great choice for those worried about how much time their children are spending in front of screens. The beauty of audio is that it can be enjoyed while doing other activities like walking or chores – enabling both parents and kids to learn while completing other daily tasks.”