At two weeks, the Easter holidays are not only relatively long – they can also be quite boring for children in view of the Corona restrictions. On the other hand, listening to podcasts helps, says Hendrik Schröder.
Estimates say that there are now over 50,000 German-language podcasts. The 14 to 29 year olds are particularly active listeners. But now there are also great formats for children and teens. Funny, instructive, but also heartwarming.
For example, the podcast “Falling asleep for Children” by Minh Ly Forster is super cute. Minh Ly is only eight years old and simply talks about her life. With this she would like to help other children fall asleep. She had the idea, she says in the first episode, because she too always enjoyed listening to stories from other children about how to fall asleep.
And so Minh Ly reports on her weekend, on her dance lessons, on inline skating, on shopping with her parents. Normal things from the normal life of an eight-year-old. Like a good friend who the listening children get to know one after another and at some point come to really love them.
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Questions that bother teenagers
Why does it hurt when the bosom grows? Do boys fall in love faster than girls? And what to do if others gossip about me? The is dedicated to such questions from teenagers WDR Podcast “Kiraka Herzfunk” [ardaudiothek.de]. He does it loosely, close and serious at the same time. Children ask questions, talk about their experiences, experts sort things out and give tips. A nice format as a daily companion for teens who may not want to discuss each of these big questions with their parents right away.
There are also funny podcasts for children and teenagers: In “5 Minutes Harry Podcast” [ardaudiothek.de] Moderator Cold Mirror takes five minutes from the film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” in each episode and analyzes the scenes down to the smallest detail. Speaking quickly and in a funny way, she talks about settings, light, pronunciation and locations. With seemingly infinite background knowledge. Almost cinematic, but funny. The format is also available for viewing on Youtube [youtube.com], then still images from the film are faded in. But if you know Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, it works wonderfully for you even without a picture.
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Giraffe-sized double bass
The podcast is a great idea to get younger children interested in classical music “Classic for children” [ardaudiothek.de] from Bavarian radio. Studio sheep Elvis constantly experiences new everyday situations in which classical instruments suddenly play a role. Be it cleaning up or taking a walk in the forest. Children have their say, musicians, speaking instruments and giraffe-sized double basses. It is elaborately made and well thought out. Not too didactic, quickly produced and anything but boring.
Not to forget: The “Ear bear” from the rbb [ardaudiothek.de]. Every day there are new, short audio stories for children between the ages of four and eight. Written especially for the format, sometimes close to everyday life, when it comes to experiences at school or at the doctor’s. Or rather fantastic and magical, for example when little stories are hidden in a bag of bread rolls.
With all of this in the podcast library, you should be able to get through the Easter break in lockdown. The podcasts can be found in the ARD media library [ardaudiothek.de] or on Spotify [spotify.com].
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