There’s no doubt that kids love watching television, and because the kids comprise a large viewer base, they’re more likely to stick with familiar things (services) that they have been exposed to at an early age.
That is why video streaming companies have been trying to sort out their family-friendly and kids-centric content.
Sling TV
Sling TV has decided to add more kids programming (to the Kids Extra bundle) and you will now find over 200 on-demand TV shows and movies from Kabillion, Kaboom and Splash, in addition to the content available from Disney Junior, TeenNick, NickToons and other similar channels. Sling TV will also introduce another feature that will make it easier to find age-appropriate categories, like 5-7 or 8-11 years old.
Not a Sling TV subscriber? You can try out other services that also offer great kids programming for streaming, including on-demand shows and movies.
Here are a few worth looking at.
Netflix
Netflix has lots of good kids content. The service has been working to flesh out its original kids content, and it has a massive library of licensed children’s shows.
Select the ‘Kids’ profile and you’ll be given kid-friendly content exclusively, making it a good option for parents who want to let their young children browse for their own shows.
Disney+
Disney+ library includes classic Disney movies as well as new releases. The streaming service offers films by Pixar as well as Marvel and Star Wars movies, all of which your kids can enjoy safely.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video offers original content and has lot of content for kids – SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, and several children’s books turned into series, plus educational TV shows and movies.
PBS Kids
PBS Kids offers a bunch of its children’s programming online to stream for free, including things like Curious George, The Cat in the Hat and more. Though some of the videos are short, others are full-length and in all give kids hours of free vide content to stream. The website itself is optimized for young children, meaning you can pull it up and let them have at it without constant supervision.
Nick.com
Nickelodeon’s website, as with PBS and some other network websites, offers free episodes of kids shows available for streaming, no account or subscription necessary. Includes popular kids shows.
Hulu
Hulu also offers a bunch of on-demand kids content (its not free). As with Netflix, Hulu puts the kids content in its own category (though it is easier for kids to navigate away from it and into the adult programming.)
Nickelodeon Entertainment Lab to do R&D of new technologies and platforms
Nickelodeon, known for creating content for kids, recently launched the Nickelodeon Entertainment Lab, which will do research and development of new technologies and platforms.
Some of the technologies that the lab will be working on include real-time rendering, virtual cinema, virtual reality, augmented and mixed reality, and artificial intelligence.
The resulting innovations will eventually have an effect on the content that the studio’s artists create and how children experience Nick content. It will also extend beyond broadcast, and could be applied to Nickelodeon’s businesses in live-action films, gaming, and theme parks.
“Our Entertainment Lab is a way to give our artists and creators access to innovative tools to inspire new ways to tell stories for the next generation of kids. We are working with technology partners, gaming and visual effects companies and our own creators to bring our IP to new platforms, in new formats, and faster,” said Nickelodeon Group president Cyma Zarghami.
In the past, for one of its tech demos, Nick created a real-time virtual puppet version of Lincoln Loud using Adobe’s Character Animator software – to see if The Loud House star could be used as a real-time animated host for one of its shows.
In another Nick tech demo – the VR experience Slime Zone – several players use avatars of Nick characters to engage in virtual space activities.
Funtoyworld is a family-managed website with me (Ben), and my wife doing most of the work. We are proud parents of two wonderful kids and love reviewing toys. We have a firm but friendly “democratic parenting” style and offer several practical suggestions backed by extensive research. Our own experience with raising two children prompted us to share our knowledge. Read more.
Leave a Reply