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Ask HN: Is there any “PBS Kids” alternatives these days?
I think that was the only channel that had the perfect mix of education and being attractive for children, that got discontinued.
Any other alternative’s?
- bvoq 4y agoCan recommend vsauces curiositybox. Otherwise there are some great puzzle games like the witness, stephens sausage roll, talos principle, linelight, miegakure, braid, return of the obra dinn or more story driven ones like thomas was alone, it takes two, the forgotten city.
- Kon-Peki 4y agoIf you get over-the-air TV, PBS Kids is a subchannel of your local PBS station, broadcasting kids content 24/7
- SimianLogic 4y agoThere's some good stuff on Amazon. My kids loved Tumble Leaf and we bought all the seasons of Mythbusters as they got older.
- frumiousirc 4y agohttps://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/1409421393800822786 https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/140942139380082278...
- KerrAvon 4y agoPBS Kids seems to still exist. Is there a specific incarnation of it you particularly miss? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS_Kids https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS_Kids
- jumboshrimp 4y agoI agree and OP's question is confusing me. Our family lives on the PBS KIDS Video app, and the PBS KIDS Games and PBS Play and Learn Science are top notch. For anyone looking for another super immersive and layered kids experience check out the Crayola Create and Play app, which might only be available with an Apple Arcade subscription (not sure if it's exclusive to that platform); especially fun with an Apple Pencil.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago> which might only be available with an Apple Arcade subscription I just installed it and don’t have that subscription. Thanks got the recommendation.
- euroderf 4y agoI'm not seeing these apps in the iOS App Store in the EU.
- jimbob45 4y agoThat’s the one redeeming value of streaming services these days: the old stuff you know and love is still around. The one problem is that you have to queue it up for kids rather than just flipping on the channel but that’s certainly not the worst fate.
- Tomte 4y agoThe old Curiosity Show episodes got uploaded to YouTube after the presenters bought the rights. They are fantastic, but maybe a bit too old-looking? https://www.youtube.com/c/CuriosityShow https://www.youtube.com/c/CuriosityShow
- throwaway742 4y agoI just put on YouTube kids and let the algorithm take the wheel. What could go wrong?
- sergers 4y agoIf using on google tv, and you have Yt premium, Yt kids still show ads...(when Yt non kids does not show any ads). Plus my daughter found the most annoying whiny crybaby shows in her feed in Yt kids. Yt kids has now been removed from all devices. Regular YouTube with certain subscriptions/playlists are better
- defrost 4y agoYou can install the AFTVNews Downloader App * https://www.aftvnews.com/downloader/ https://www.aftvnews.com/downloader/ * https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.esaba.downloader&hl=en&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.esaba.down... ( AKA "com.esaba.downloader" in Google App Store ) and use that to d/load and sideload a YouTube app that doesn't inject adverts and sponser blurts midstream: ( See: https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext https://github.com/yuliskov/SmartTubeNext Read: Installation )
- mrweasel 4y ago> 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.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago> In the EU you basically can't target ads towards kids How are toys advertised to children in the EU?
- mrweasel 4y agoThey 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.
- xmonkee 4y agoThe PBS kids channel on my Roku is pretty good (and free)
- hbcondo714 4y agoI don't have a Roku; is it the same as the live TV on their website? https://pbskids.org/video/livetv https://pbskids.org/video/livetv
- gnz11 4y agoYes, you can also access on-demand episodes and clips in the app (plus the live stream). I think it’s available on most platforms.
- aegis4244 4y agoCuriosity 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" lined up. Roblox and Minecraft are great too, if you just want a time sink with a little creativity. Can teach them to build their own game with Roblox. My 6 year old is a little too young yet, didn't go well when I tried. She likes to play though. Best of luck....
- speps 4y agoBe mindful of Roblox https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXlauRB1EQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vTMF6xEiAaY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vTMF6xEiAaY
- Double_a_92 4y agoThose 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.
- kgwxd 4y agoMy 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.
- Doctor_Fegg 4y agoCBeebies/CBBC? Not sure what access is like outside the UK.
- jtvjan 4y agoI'd be a bit careful with that: https://www.wsj.com/articles/peppa-pig-a-pandemic-favorite-has-american-children-acting-british-11626627266 https://www.wsj.com/articles/peppa-pig-a-pandemic-favorite-h...
- highwaylights 4y agoIt seems rather odd to be upset that a television programme might teach one’s children to enunciate properly? One is genuinely rather confused as to exactly what it is with which you take umbrage.
- jwozn 4y agoThis is America, we speak American here. How dare you insinuate my American ain't proper enunciation. How 'bout you umbrage yerself back to whatever country you came from
- highwaylights 4y agoclutches pearls spit-takes tea drops biscuit Ghastly!
- jordanwallwork 4y agoI'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
- obloid 4y ago
- james-redwood 4y agoDa Vinci
- defrost 4y agoABC kids Australia launched the Wiggles, Bluey the dog, and has a lot of educational content. On the downside it's geo restricted, may require mad proxy skillz, and could possibly turn your children into leftist socialist communists that want a country with democracy, equality and long term consistent economic returns. https://www.abc.net.au/abckids/ https://www.abc.net.au/abckids/
- 2Gkashmiri 4y agodunno.... this might be an unpopular opinion but set up jellyfish/emby/plex at home, download all the stuff your kids "might" watch and let them be. you would be in control of what they can and cannot watch, there wont be any ads, your kids wont be exposed to "stuff" which overall is a nice thing. i remember doing this back in 2015 when i had a bunch of kids at home and internet was scarce. Now, there are no kids in the household so i stopped maintaining the library
- throwaway27727 4y agoThat's a great idea. How do you find appropriate and engaging content? I can go back in time to find copies of classics but I'm sure there are attractive modern options as well. This is one of the pluses of PBS, where you could let your kid loose with whatever they're showing and be comfortable with it.
- 2Gkashmiri 4y agothat honestly depends on the person who has taken the responsibility for that. i remember finding old charlie chaplin movies torrent, "all movies", or classics. then, most of the modern animated movies/shows that has been curated from imdb/commonsensemedia i know i know the whole piracy thing, people are put off by "tools" because "it could be used to stream pirated media" but that is honestly the end users responsibility.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y agoThe content was better back in the day. Bill Nye, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Cosmos, Reading Rainbow. I don't have kids but my friends do and the content that they watch is insultingly low quality. I like the idea that you can set up a media server with only what you choose and turn the kids loose on it. They can go nuts because it's only content you've chosen.
- 2Gkashmiri 4y agoyeah, thats the idea. a 1TB of media goes a long way to satisfying the "interests" of kids. cost wise that is peanuts as a pre-transcoded media could be streamed off a pi-HDD combo. that is fantastic.
- switchers 4y agoCbeebies is good for a mix of very safe content, mix of education and entertainment stuff. There's some annoying stuff in the schedule (teletubbies, ugh) but most of it is decent enough for square nanny content that doesn't need input from an adult.
- philjohn 4y agoAnd crucially, no adverts
- m0sa 4y agoMy 8y/o loves DaVinci Kids https://davincikids.tv/ https://davincikids.tv/
- suyash 4y agoOP - anything particular you're looking for in terms of education ? Is it about making / hacking or something else?
- yanokwa 4y agoThe Khan Kids app is pretty great
- TrueSlacker0 4y agoI highly recommend it. My kids loved it (until the learned that they were learning on it and it wasn't just a game). They learned a lot from it.
- JoshuaEddy 4y agoFor 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/ https://www.sensical.tv/ [2] https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ [3] https://www.kanopy.com/en/kids https://www.kanopy.com/en/kids [4] https://www.youtubekids.com/ https://www.youtubekids.com/ [5] https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/ https://learn.khanacademy.org/khan-academy-kids/ [6] https://www.teachyourmonster.org/readingforfun https://www.teachyourmonster.org/readingforfun [7] https://www.learningblocks.tv/ https://www.learningblocks.tv/
- thenerdhead 4y agoMake 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.
- duxup 4y ago> 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.
- blooalien 4y ago- https://pbskids.org/ https://pbskids.org/ - https://kodi.tv/addons/matrix/plugin.video.pbskids https://kodi.tv/addons/matrix/plugin.video.pbskids
- joobacca 4y agoHi, PBS KIDS is definitely not discontinued. Like other people mentioned, they have pbskids.org, the PBS KIDS Video App, and the PBS KIDS Games app (TONS of games from Wild Kratts and other fun shows) - all free in the app store and no ads. Their video and game content is also downloadable so you can take stuff on road trips. The video app is also available across a lot of streaming devices like ROKU, Apple TV, Amazon TV Fire, Samsung TV, etc.
- chrisdesrochers 4y ago