Podcast Blog

The podcasts I chose were Sesame Street’s Word on the Street and Billy Gorilly’s Podcast for Kids. The Sesame Street Podcasts include a variety of podcasts about five to eight minutes long which each teach about a different vocabulary word. The words are common words children should understand like embarrassed, fascinating, deciduous, and empathy. Sesame Street is a great learning tool for children and the podcasts are a good way to get children involved and excited about learning new things! Each episode is hosted by a well-known actor, actress, or other famous person. This is an interesting aspect I really enjoyed about the podcasts. The Billy Gorilly Podcast is an audio podcast that teach kids to learn through songs. Children generally enjoy music, dancing, and/or singing new songs so I found this to be a useful tool as well. Billy Gorilly, “the gorilla”, is the host of the podcasts who takes charge of teaching two or three different things through songs during each podcast. The podcasts teach about things like identifying body parts, how to take care of pets, healthy snacks, and how to wash your hands.

My personal favorite of the two, The Sesame Street Podcast, teaches the meaning of words using fun examples, animations, videos, and by asking children what they think about the word. The podcasts are enjoyable and engaging and provide a fantastic way for children to expand their vocabularies. For more fun and activities, go to the Sesame Street's website. Episode One is the word prickly, with the host Joel McHale. Murray from Sesame Street asks kids on the street what prickly means to them. The word is introduced by Murray and Joel, is shown on the screen several times throughout the podcast, and several examples of the word are shown. Children learn that a cactus, a pineapple, and a porcupine all have one thing in common:  they’re PRICKLY! When Big Bird goes to sleep he’s uncomfortable and you find out that he has a cactus and a pineapple in his bed! Examples like this one are humorous as well as educational; children learn in different ways so being able to see the word, hear it used, and watch a video of an example of how the word is used, is essential. Episode Four is the word soggy, with the host John Krasinski. In the same manner, Murray and John present soggy in different ways so that children understand the meaning of soggy. Kids on the video say a sandwich can be soggy; a wet sponge, cereal with milk on it, and a rainy day are also soggy. It was interesting to find what kids imagine as being soggy and I actually learned some things about the word too! Episode Five is the word stubborn, with the host Nicole Kidman. In this episode, Oscar the Grouch refuses to help Nicole describe the word of the day to the kids. Through his arguing and refusal to change his mind, Oscar shows the perfect example of stubbornness. In this humorous episode, you learn that some kids stomp their feet when their being stubborn but also that being stubborn about something you really believe in is sometimes a good thing. Episode Six is the word measure, with the host Drew Brees. In this episode, Elmo and Drew show that measuring involves finding the height, width, length, or weight of an object. Elmo learns that you can measure with anything you want—a ruler, a scale, a football, or even a potato! Episode Twelve is the word fascinating, with the host Michelle Monaghan. This podcast teaches how different things are fascinating to different people. Books and airplanes are fascinating to some people while bugs and cars are fascinating to others. Abby from Sesame Street and Michelle teach children that something fascinating and extremely interesting and Bert and Ernie even give an example scenario! Now you can watch Kermit, Oscar, and the Cookie Monster's discovery of The Mystery Box!

The Billy Gorilly Podcasts for Kids are a collection of educational songs taught by “your friend”, Billy Gorilly and his friends from the Candy Appletree Woods. In the classroom, students could listen while working on projects. This radio show podcast is also great for car rides to entertain children while teaching them important concepts like counting, having good manners, and about never giving up! Each podcasts starts and ends with the theme song which helps children remember and learn it so they are excited each time they hear it come on. Episode 29 teaches children about body parts, how to wash your hands, and also how to decipher between a snack and a treat. The song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” teaches children how to identify their body parts through an interactive song. After teaching kids the importance of washing your hands, Billy Gorilly teaches the difference between a snack (something healthy like a banana, orange, or apple) and a treat (chocolate, cake, rice crispy treats, etc.). This part I very much enjoyed because I learned how I could teach children how and when to choose snacks over treats. For more ideas of healthy snacks for kids, click here. Episode 28 teaches children about birds and how to dance. Sometimes kids get embarrassed dancing around their classmates once they’ve hit a certain age or are just shy. This shows them that dancing and being goofy is a good thing, and that all you have to do is move your arms, legs, and hips! Episode 27 teaches the story about the Boy Who Cried Wolf and the importance of always being honest. The second half of the podcast is Billy Gorilly’s song about the 5 senses and how you use each one every day. Episode 24 teaches children about having pets and the importance of taking care of them and treating them well. Billy Gorilly’s friend Wendy sings a song about having a tiger in her house—yikes! In this podcast, kids learn that cats and dogs make good household pets—much better than tigers! To learn more about Billy Gorilly and print out activities, go to Billy Gorilly's webpage!

There are many great podcasts for kids on iTunes. The Sesame Street podcast and Billy Gorilly’s Podcast for Kids are fantastic audio and video tools I found to help not only in the classroom, but also for families! The podcasts are interesting, fun, educational, and provide an excellent way for children to learn in various ways!