Turn YouTube Kids app into a Teacher

Or at least, take some control back while screen time goes crazy. :)

To cut a veeeeery long story short, we all want our kids to be exposed to "good" content. Current applications in the market simply can't deliver on that promise. So, occasional cringe stuff will land before your kid's eyes, or there will be ads that are deemed strange, at the very least.

Screen time became an issue in every household, where parents (those who really care) battle the kids over how much is the right, or propper screen time amount, or not screen time at all.

Well, if you are like me (no arm twisting), you could justify the fair screen time if you know your kid is actually learning something useful. :)

As the YouTube Kids app is regarded as a "baby app" as my 8th-year-old Srna told me, its main features: time control, content control and Search exclusion, can be used to curate your own custom content for your kid and if you are like me, you can create wonderful playlists and expose your kid to some cool stuff, customized to the age of the kid.

Here is how to turn YTK app into a learning powerhouse:

Step 1 - Download the YouTube Kids app.

Step 2 - Set up your account (set Approved content only, turn Search off)

Step 3 - Create a separate account for each kid

Step 4 - Make sure you select Approve content yourself when presented with Review content settings for your Kid

Credit: https://tinybeans.com/

Step 5 - Use Search to find channels, collections, and videos you WANT your kid to see

For Senka (2 years) I chose videos with content on the Serbian language, songs, learning colors, animals, numbers, words, shapes, and some cartoons: Ma?a and the bear, Pepa the pig, etc.

For Srna (8 years) I chose educational videos about the planet, nature, science, tech, and how stuff works, also I have added alphabet, English language practices, math challenges, and some fun cartoons.

For Konstantin (12 years), well I am still working on that. The plan is to include programming, how-to videos, music, skills development tutorials, and of course, cartoons.

Well, if you got up to this point, here is a special tip and a gift: You can share any YouTube video directly to your youtube kids account. If you have both apps installed, there will be an option share With kids which you can use to push the videos to kids playlist when you find them.

This ability to use parental controls on the YTK app, and combine it with your own curated content from start and updated with occasional direct shares from the YouTube, might help kids to learn something and more importantly, prevent the cringe to sip into their innocent lives at least for awhile longer.

Try it and share back the results.