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Listen Up

FROM LEFT: COURTESY VPR; NASA; CURT COURTENAY—CADENCE 13/PINEAPPLE STREET STUDIOS

Podcasts are a great way to stay connected to the world, and they’re excellent for kids who learn best by listening to information. Here are three of our favorite podcasts right now.

Do It Yourself

CURT COURTENAY—CADENCE 13/PINEAPPLE STREET STUDIOS

Want to stay busy while you’re socially distancing? The Kids Are All . . . Home is a new podcast from Pineapple Street Studios created by kids stuck at home because of COVID-19.

Here’s how it works: Come up with an idea for a podcast. (So far, episodes have included everything from cooking demonstrations to jokes to musical numbers.) Record your podcast on a smartphone, and send it to the team. Producers might include it in an episode.

Producer Eric Mennel says podcasting is the perfect boredom buster. “It’s an easy way to be super creative and weird,” he says, “and to talk to people all over the world.”

A New Way to Get TFK

NASA

There’s a new way to connect with TIME for Kids: a podcast! The first episode is called “TIME for Kids Explains: Pandemics.” In it, listeners learn about the new coronavirus and pandemics of the past.

To create the series, TFK teamed up with the podcast pros at Pinna. The premiere features TFK Kid Reporters Eshaan Mani and Alexis Bumah. “After listening to this episode, I hope kids will have a better understanding of the who, what, when, where, why, and how behind the current coronavirus pandemic,” Eshaan says. The first episode is out now. Look for more TFK and Pinna podcasts this fall.

Ask Away!

COURTESY VPR

But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids answers real kids’ questions. These range from “Are jellyfish made of jelly?” to “Who makes the laws?”

Jane Lindholm hosts the show for Vermont Public Radio. She says the podcast has received questions from kids in all 50 states and more than 50 countries.

Lindholm also says it’s important for kids to always stay curious. “Sometimes, as you get older, you start to think that your questions are going to seem silly,” she told TFK. “But some of the most interesting discoveries have been made by people who never stop asking questions.”