These 5 kid-friendly podcasts are perfect
for learning about Black history and culture!

Black History Month calls for an exploration of the key moments and nuances of a culture that has contributed so greatly to making our country the great nation it is. How can a preschooler be a part of this experience? We think the podcasts on this list can help. Happy listening!
It’s Black History Month, and we’ve rounded up some terrific content for you! We’ve given you recipes, books, and crafts before, so this time around, we’re giving you something a little bit different: podcasts! Podcasts aren’t ideal for preschoolers, we know, but when you’ve listened to the reccos on this list, you’ll know just why we chose them. Some of these are ideal for any little one aged 2–8, but some are more fitting for the 4–8 age group. Some explore the Black experience, while some explore African roots. If you’re still a little skeptical about your child sitting still through these and soaking up the goodness they offer, we suggest joining your little listener! Podcasts are a wonderful way to build a child’s listening skills; if you accompany your kid on the ride, you’ll be able to ensure they’re paying attention and comprehending what they’re listening to. You’ll even be able to enjoy some cozy bonding time. Let’s kick off our list!

Hey Black Child: The Podcast
If there’s any podcast for Black kids by Black kids your kid ought to be listening to, it’s this one. Hey Black Child doesn’t merely have a charming title; it loses none of its charm from episode to episode, season to season. Avery and Jackson take their listeners with them as they navigate the rich world of Black history, focusing chiefly on Black excellence and making stops now and then to explore topics such as mental health and banking. Your child will discover everything from Black Americans on Broadway to the contribution of Black doctors to America’s medical history. There’s even an entire season dedicated to ‘firsts’: Black people who were the first to achieve a milestone in their respective fields! The best part of this show is its young hosts. Boy, are they brimming with energy and personality! What makes it unique: There’s SO much that makes this podcast special, but what really grabbed our attention is the learning opportunities (Each episode comes with a worksheet!). Hey Black Child isn’t just about listening and learning; it’s also about testing your child’s listening skills. That’s why every episode has a Term of the Day and a pop quiz!

Stoopkid Stories
This one’s a popular recommendation for kids over the age of six. In fact, it even made a New York Times list! We can guess what you’re thinking right now — Why is Kiddopia recommending this podcast for my preschooler? The answer is simple: the content is THAT good! Stoopkid Stories stands out on our list because its episodes capture the African-American experience perfectly. The podcast narrates incidents in the lives of seven Black characters who are growing up in the United States. Why is it as good as it is? Well, because host, narrator, and creator Melissa Victor has theater training (which she puts to excellent use in this series!) and has set out to ensure “young kids who look like me… see and hear themselves in all forms of storytelling”! What makes it unique: Stoopkid Stories celebrates the birthdays of its young listeners! The channel has instructions on how you can ensure your little one gets a shoutout during an episode. Melly will even send your kiddo a birthday card if you’re a tier-3 Patreon member!

Bedtime History: Inspirational Stories for Kids and Families
Welcome to a podcast channel that celebrates all kinds of cultures. Bedtime History has made our list because of the heroes of Black history it celebrates, but it didn’t escape our notice that this channel recognizes and appreciates people, festivals, and moments from several other cultures as well. Here, you and your child will discover the lives of Bessie Coleman, Maya Angelou, Louis Armstrong, Mae Jemison, and the like. Here is also where you and your child will discover the lives of Miguel Hidalgo, Eva Peron, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Mother Teresa. That’s not it. Bedtime History’s library of quick listens further covers a myriad of other topics, including the Day of the Dead, the Berlin Wall, the history of Nintendo, and much, much more! What makes it unique: As a podcast alone, Bedtime History is a beauty, but this is a channel that offers still more. These Inspirational Stories for Kids and Families are also available as YouTube videos! The videos are perfect because they boost the storytelling through photos of times gone by and faces we only knew the names of before!

African Folktales with Miss Jo Jo
Preschoolers are the best audience for folktales. Why? They love being told stories! That’s just what Miss Jo Jo does in this ABF Creative series. A show that explores “African lands where animals talk and people fly”, African Folktales with Miss Jo Jo is podcast paradise for children, thanks to its charming narrator and its wealth of compelling stories. There are lions and turtles and cheetahs and fisherfolk and even men who never lie in Miss Jo Jo’s folktales. Each episode carries a different story and is bite-sized (never more than 15 minutes!). Oh, and they’re available for free. You could completely transform storytime with this Webby Award winner! What makes it unique: Towards the start of each of these folktales, Miss Jo Jo asks her little listeners to watch out for the dinging of a bell, which signals the mention of a magic word from the story. She reveals this magic word at the end of the episode, spells it out, and explains its meaning with examples. From storytelling to vocabulary building, just like that!

Afro Hair Kids Story Time & Positive Affirmations
Strictly speaking, it’s African-American History Month, so why are we closing this blog post with a podcast by an Englishwoman? Because it’s loaded with heart! Think about the title, for starters. This isn’t any ordinary series dedicated to telling kids’ stories; this is a channel that exists to celebrate the beauty of the Afro! How wonderful is that?! From her very first message (addressed to children and exhorting them to understand the uniqueness of their hair) to the very last story she narrates, Melissa Blake is all about that Afro hair. Her goal is to tell the many hair stories of little Black children. She even conducted an offline event to explore the subject some more! What makes it unique: Afro Hair Kids Story Time & Positive Affirmations is a podcast that seems to have ended (Fingers crossed for Melissa to revive it!), but it’s the kind of series that makes room for everything. Poems, stories, messages, even picture book read-alouds have a place in this podcast! We created this list as a way to celebrate Black History Month. Our hope is that it will be a list you and your tiny tot will keep coming back to throughout the year.
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