Family-friendly podcasts for road trips? Talk amongst yourselves.
Kendra's leaving on a big road trip with her family tomorrow! Let's help her out with the entertainment:
I know it's short notice, but I'm looking for ideas. We're leaving tomorrow for a long family car trip. With all the technology we have to choose from now, are there any suggestions for family-friendly podcasts?
There will be three adults and a 9-year-old, 7-year-old, and 5-year-old. We got some good audiobooks, and I'm thinking Radiolab might be fun for everyone, but any other suggestions? Thanks for any ideas!
We love Science Friday, Ask Me Another, and New York Times Science Times.
What are your favorite family-friendly podcasts? Please tell us in the comments!
Sparkle Stories!! It's a paid subscription but we love it in our house. They're at SparkleStories.com.
Posted by: Tara | 21 March 2013 at 12:33 PM
The Thrilling Adventure Hour!
Posted by: monica | 21 March 2013 at 01:01 PM
I just discovered the Barefoot Books podcast today:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/BarefootBooksPodcastipod
Posted by: Dianna | 21 March 2013 at 01:02 PM
Neill DeGrasse Tyson's podcasts on http://www.startalkradio.net/ are great for kids/teens/families interested in science & space. Some of the podcasts may be better suited for older children (depending on your level of censorship).
Posted by: Brittany | 21 March 2013 at 01:43 PM
I forgot about Thrilling Adventure Hour! Great suggestion. : )
Posted by: Kendra | 21 March 2013 at 02:16 PM
We are taking a family trip this week, so this post is extremely timely. I'm a first-time visitor to your site and will definitely be returning. Thanks for the tips!
Posted by: Karen @SiciLean | 21 March 2013 at 02:53 PM
Spare the Rock (Spoil the Child)
The best kids' music podcast one can imagine. Actually, it's better than anything you can imagine.
Great music, great hosts (Ella, Liam, and (their dad) Bill Childs).
It's wonderful, and it's free: http://sparetherock.com/wordpress/
Posted by: adrienne | 21 March 2013 at 03:40 PM
I have gained *hundreds* of free hours to myself in the past 15 months since my daughter discovered Adventures in Odyssey! (In fact she just turned it on downstairs while I was typing this!!) It's a modern-day radio drama for kids, but definitely entertaining enough for the whole family!! It's been airing for the past 25 years and is now available on both CD and MP3 downloads. We started with The Platinum Collection, which a great collection of the producers' favorite episodes over the first 20 years. Do be aware that the first episodes of the series (Volumes ~ 1-3) were recorded in the late 1980's, so they are a little dated, but the more recent ones are completely up-to-date and as entertaining and professional as anything you've ever heard! Check them out here: http://www.whitsend.org/Home/AboutShow/WhatIsAdventures.aspx
Posted by: Holly | 21 March 2013 at 03:57 PM
We're in Canada, and listen often to The Vinyl Cafe Stories.
The show's web site @ The CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/home.php
The podcast: http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/vinylcafe.xml
Posted by: Rob | 21 March 2013 at 04:13 PM
Taking notes!
Posted by: Aimee Giese | Greeblemonkey | 21 March 2013 at 05:35 PM
Storynory keeps our kids entertained.
Posted by: Becky | 21 March 2013 at 05:55 PM
My 10 year old son is currently burning through hundreds of episodes of the Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd. We discovered these when the writer was one of the letter-senders for the Rumpus Letters for Kids program (http://therumpus.net/letters_for_kids/) where they send out a monthly letter from different authors ($5 per month charge).
Thanks for these other tips, looking forward to checking them out!
Posted by: Lara | 21 March 2013 at 06:05 PM
How Stuff Works[1] has a lot of good non-fiction podcasts for older kids, the How Stuff Works podcast series has a lot of good non-fiction stuff. Particularly "Stuff you should know" and "Brain stuff", though "Tech stuff" is pretty good too.
[1]
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hsw-shows/hsw-podcast.htm
Posted by: Tim Chase | 21 March 2013 at 07:54 PM
Storynory is a favorite here too. It's great for our 6-yr old, though definitely too long/complex for our 3-yr old.
Posted by: danika | 21 March 2013 at 08:32 PM
This might go without saying, but make sure to vet the Radiolab episodes before you play them. I love Radiolab a lot, but they often have some tragically sad and/or gruesome twists to their stories. Like the sad ending to the story of Lucy the chimp, or the chemist who not only invented mustard gas, but murdered his wife...
Posted by: BC | 21 March 2013 at 10:03 PM
Tales2Go for iOS is a favorite of my kids. Not podcasts, but thousands of audiobooks. It's a subscription, but I think there's a free trial.
Posted by: Jill | 22 March 2013 at 05:20 AM
My family enjoys Good Job Brain on long trips - good for older kids and teens. I like it too!
Posted by: Meredith | 11 April 2013 at 05:21 PM