5 Best Podcasts To Help Kids Get Into Web Development
The popularity of podcasts is staggering. There’s one for every topic imaginable, and there isn’t a limit on who can and can’t host a podcast. Experiences, stories, tips, tricks, and techniques come from people all over and in every stage of life.
Now, many web development podcasts are making their way onto the scene. These podcasts range from more technical topics like JavaScript frameworks to more human ones like how to press on when things get difficult in your tech career. There are even kid-friendly tech podcasts to introduce young minds to the world of technology.
Similarly, parenting podcasts are abundant — and tech concerns are a prominent topic in the parenting sphere. The value and risks of screen time and digital efficacy for children are hotly debated. Regardless of your stance on parenting and digital devices, there are plenty of podcasts out there to give you whatever advice you seek. Particularly, this guide will give you a starting point to find podcasts to help you inspire your young ones to get into web development.
A solid list of podcasts to inspire young web developers is on its way. But first, let’s discuss the hype around podcasts for parents and children, alike.
Why Listening to Podcasts Is Beneficial for Kids and Parents
Podcasts are a nice break from visual and written content. They’re convenient and accessible on almost any device, and they’re also one of the best educational resources for nearly anything you want to learn. Kids, specifically, are sponges for new information. All children learn in unique ways, and sometimes audio can supplement learning.
Podcasts and Virtual Education
The accessibility of podcasts allows you to play them anytime and anywhere. For example, an overstimulated child in a busy public space may benefit from noise-canceling headphones playing a tech podcast. Even further, you may elect to use podcasts to aid at-home teaching.
The amount of parents that elect to homeschool or enroll their children in virtual learning environments has skyrocketed. Especially if you aren’t well-versed in tech as a parent, family-friendly podcasts can help both you and your children get up to speed on new technology. Whether you’re supplementing a pre-planned curriculum or teaching kids yourself, podcasts can be a valuable tool.
Web developers can benefit from podcasts because there are various shows to choose from to learn technical topics and how to navigate different stages of web development careers. Starting this interest early with your children can give them time to see if web development is something they want to pursue in the future.
Podcasts and Cognitive Development
Podcasts are also great to plug into during breaks. Online students — and budding web developers — will undoubtedly spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen. Breaks are crucial to alleviate eye strain, fatigue, and headaches. Putting the digital devices down and pressing play on a podcast gives their eyes a break while still pumping them with tech-centric knowledge.
More importantly, podcasts can improve cognitive function. Podcasts promote active listening skills in young learners. Active listening improves short-term memory and ensures they comprehend the information shared in these shows. This can benefit children and parents, alike.
Best Podcasts for Young Web Developers and Their Parents
Whether you are downloading podcasts for a family road trip or looking for kid-friendly tech shows to supplement at-home education, there’s likely a good match. Keep in mind the ages of your children when picking a podcast. For example, teenagers may be able to digest higher-level tech information and pick up on adult humor quite a bit more than toddlers. Consult the following list to see what tech podcast is right for you and your children to foray into the world of web development at any age.
1. But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids
Brought to you by Vermont Public Radio, “But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids” covers a vast array of topics. While it doesn’t focus exclusively on tech, there are tech-specific episodes that may drive your child’s interest in web development. For example, there is an episode on how NASA codes the rover to drive it on Mars. This podcast is intended for ages around 4 to 8.
2. Wow in the World
NPR is known for their plethora of fantastic podcast options, and “Wow in the World” is no different. Hosts Mindy and Guy explore innovations in science and technology in each episode through a kid-friendly lens. This podcast, in particular, targets kids and their parents to allow them to learn about STEM topics and innovation in a fun, accessible way.
Along with episodes like “Smart Bots” all about artificial intelligence, there are activities that parents can do with their children to further their education. You can even filter podcasts and activities by grade level and topic. Typically, this podcast is intended for ages 6 and up.
3. Technology and Engineering for Kids
These shorter podcast snippets — around three to seven minutes long — are available on Fun Kids’ website to listen to for free. Set up to sound like a live radio show, these are pre-recorded sessions that talk about computers and digital tech in a kid-friendly way.
For example, an episode called “Connected Cities” focuses on a character named Tim while he discusses ways to get around computer-based issues in their city. This format is likely best suited for younger listeners with short attention spans.
4. The Machine: A Computer Science Education Podcast
Students and faculty from Waterford Institute of Technology talk about a variety of topics related to computer science in this podcast. While “The Machine” is not exclusively for kids, parents can listen to episodes to catch up on tech topics. Some of the episodes are appropriate to share with children for educational purposes, such as — just be sure to vet them first to make sure they follow your own parenting parameters. There is even an entire episode on how to teach kids to code.
5. Solve It! For Kids
While “Solve It! For Kids” has a wide variety of topics it explores, it also has episodes based entirely on exploring tech. Specifically, episode 42 is called “Why Would You Want To Code Anyway?” and talks to kids about the fascinating aspects of computer programming. Named one of the top 15 science podcasts in 2021, it’s an excellent resource for parents looking to further their child’s education at home or supplement in-classroom learning.
Conclusion
There you have it. These are some of the best family-friendly web development podcasts to educate yourself and your children on what it means to code. This isn’t by any means an exhaustive list. Instead, it’s one to get you started putting together a playlist of web development podcasts that resonate with who you and your children are — and support where they want to go in the future and in their eventual careers.
