We are living in a digital age. As much as we try to maintain traditional skills – our children learn to read and write cursive – we find ways to utilize and enjoy modern conveniences. This means we often turn to the internet for education and entertainment, yes, even edutainment (such a cringey but accurate word). But, we need to be careful and teach our children to be aware of what to avoid and what is safe. After resisting for the longest time, each of the children has their own devices – iPods, Kindles, non-activated smartphones, etc. The younger ones are limited in what they can access. When they are very young, having a few trusted websites or apps that they can use without direct supervision is important. Smart Kidz Media is a source we trust for fun, educational media. We’ve been using Smart Kidz Radio for the past few weeks.
It’s very easy to create a free account on the website. Simply click the play button to start the streaming music. There are apps soon to be released (if they aren’t already). Smart Kidz Radio has continual programming of character-building songs. They are the sweet catchy tunes my children enjoyed as preschoolers. They aren’t our cup of tea now, but that does not mean we didn’t find something to listen to. Look for the menu in the lower left corner – that’s where we found our favorite thing, so far (more on that below), on Smart Kidz Radio.
The menu opens further content options. The one we utilize is the one on the far right. Under Streams, you will find Podcasts. Most of these are classic fairytales. We used to find an old-time radio station that played these. We love these! Some of the more recent ones added are newer, original longer songs that support the character-building theme in the style of the main stream.
There are other useful things to be found in this menu window. The weather and traffic apps connect to your location – and are surprisingly accurate. The next two shown here are for requesting songs and help with streaming issues. To the right are other streaming options. You can send this to your compatible smartphone (via QR code). The next button leads to a list of recently played. This has not shown anything when we click it. Some of these features support my thought that this is some sort of radio station software that Smart Kidz Media is using.
What we haven’t tried out yet are any of the On Demand options. There is a growing library of content that can be accessed with a monthly subscription. When you first get to the website, scroll down to see these selections. You can play samples to see if this is something you want to add-on for your children.
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