Best Educational YouTube Channels for Kids

What are the best educational YouTube channels for kids?

The best educational YouTube channels for kids depend on age: Ms Rachel and Khan Academy Kids for toddlers and preschoolers, SciShow Kids, National Geographic Kids, and Crash Course Kids for elementary, and TED-Ed and Khan Academy for tweens. The channels below are well-established, genuinely teach something, and are widely trusted by parents and teachers.

A quick, honest note before the list: even great educational channels live on the same YouTube that recommends everything else. Autoplay and the sidebar can carry a curious kid from a science video to something unrelated in a couple of taps. So use these picks as a strong starting library, and pair them with a look at what your child is actually watching.

Best educational channels for toddlers and preschoolers (ages 2–5)

For the youngest kids, look for slow pacing, repetition, and calm hosts. These channels focus on early language, letters, numbers, and social skills.

• Ms Rachel - Speech and language development through slow, repetitive songs and play. Excellent for toddlers and early talkers.
• Khan Academy Kids - Free, ad-free early lessons in letters, numbers, stories, and social-emotional skills. A trusted preschool resource.
• Numberblocks (BBC) - Colorful characters that make early math concepts click for preschool and kindergarten.
• Alphablocks (BBC) - Phonics and pre-reading skills through catchy, simple stories.
• Sesame Street - Letters, numbers, kindness, and social skills with the classic characters.
• PBS Kids - Trusted clips and full episodes from shows like Daniel Tiger, Wild Kratts, and Curious George.

If you want an age-by-age view, see our picks for the best YouTube channels for 6-year-olds.

Best educational channels for elementary kids (ages 6–10)

Elementary kids are ready for real explanations, science, history, and how-things-work content. These channels teach without feeling like homework.

• SciShow Kids - Answers kids' "why" questions with simple experiments and clear explanations. Great for curious 5–9s.
• National Geographic Kids - Wildlife, nature, and real-world facts with stunning footage; perfect for young animal lovers.
• Crash Course Kids - Bite-size science (ecosystems, gravity, engineering) with friendly animation, aimed at upper elementary.
• Mystery Doug / Mystery Science - Short, engaging answers to the science questions kids actually ask. A homeschool favorite.
• Art for Kids Hub - Easy, follow-along drawing tutorials the whole family can do together. All ages.
• Free School - Gentle introductions to art, music, science, and famous stories for early elementary.
• Homeschool Pop - Simple, structured lessons across subjects for early learners.
• Storyline Online - Well-known actors reading beloved children's books aloud, with gentle animation. Wonderful for reading and listening skills.

Many of these overlap with our best science YouTube channels for kids guide if your child leans toward experiments and nature.

Best educational channels for tweens (ages 10–13)

Tweens can handle deeper, faster content and channels that overlap with what older students watch. These build real knowledge and critical thinking.

• TED-Ed - Short animated lessons on history, science, literature, and logic puzzles that spark critical thinking.
• Khan Academy - Free, thorough lessons in math, science, and economics from elementary through high school. The go-to for homework help.
• CrashCourse (the main channel) - Deeper dives into biology, history, and more; best for confident tween readers and up.
• National Geographic (main channel) - Documentaries and explainers for older kids ready for more mature nature and world content.

For more picks in this range, see the best YouTube channels for tweens.

A quick age guide

How to get the most out of educational YouTube

Educational videos work best when they're a springboard, not a babysitter. A few habits make a big difference:

1. Turn off autoplay so one lesson doesn't roll straight into unrelated recommendations. This is the single biggest safety win on regular YouTube.
2. Use YouTube Kids for younger children (it's built for kids 12 and under) and save the main app for tweens who need channels like Khan Academy.
3. Subscribe to the channels you like so they show up in the feed, giving your child good defaults to choose from.
4. Watch together when you can, and ask a question afterward. Even one "what surprised you?" turns passive watching into real learning.
5. Skim the watch history weekly to see whether the educational picks are actually getting watched.

For a full walkthrough of settings, see how to make YouTube safer for kids.

No channel is 100% safe: check what your kid actually watches

Even the best educational channel can't control what YouTube recommends next. A child who starts on SciShow Kids can, via autoplay and the sidebar, drift toward content that has nothing to do with learning. The channels above are worth subscribing to, but the recommendation engine still runs in the background.

That's why it helps to see the whole picture. KidWatch analyzes your child's real YouTube watch history and shows every channel and video they've actually watched, each with a kid-safety grade, so you can tell whether that educational library you set up is really what they're spending time on. You can also browse graded channels in KidWatch's rated channel catalog, and if something you don't approve of keeps showing up, KidWatch can unsubscribe your child and steer recommendations away from it (a best-effort nudge, not a hard block). New to this? Start with how to see what your child is watching on YouTube.