This is a partnered post, though all opinions are my own.
One of the more difficult parts of being a parent is teaching your kids about emotions and how to handle them. Today I’m featuring a podcast series to help you work on social emotional learning with kids.
You may already have some podcasts that you enjoy and your kids may their favorites, but what about enjoying podcasts that can help you be a better parent and help your kids get prepared for kindergarten?
Importance of Social Emotional Learning with Kids
Social emotional learning is all about learning self-control and self-awareness, two necessary skills for kids to develop before heading into kindergarten. If you think about it, every one of us has to work on these skills throughout various stages of life. As our world changes, so does our ability to become more aware and in control of our thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Each of the podcasts featuring The Imagine Neighborhood will help your kids with social emotional development. These podcasts feature fantastical stories based on real-life situations that require the characters in the podcast story to use their social emotional skills.
These podcasts are series that you can play in the car, or at home to help introduce your preschooler to social emotional skills in a fun way. Your preschooler will enjoy sitting with you while listening to their new favorite characters race to cross the lava filled street or enjoy a birthday party as Princess Donnasaurus celebrates her birthday.
Each of the 15-minute podcasts will feature a situation where the character must address a specific emotion such as anger or other emotions that kids can relate to. While you start to listen to each series in The Imagine Neighborhood social emotional learning podcasts, you’ll be able to discuss feelings with your preschooler and help them to learn that kindness is contagious, and that feelings happen to the best of us.
While this series is designed for ages 4-6, children as old as 8 or 9 are engaging with the show and loving the characters as well. Each of the free series will release at different dates on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher so that everyone can have a chance to enjoy social emotional development together.
The Imagine Neighborhood Series Schedule
- March 16 Introducing Count Vacula
- March 16 The Clouds Are Made of Cake
- March 23 Lava Avenue
- March 30 Macho Supreme Has An Accident
- April 13 Phone Gremlin
- April 20 Princess Donnasaurus’ birthday
- April 27 Macho Needs an Oven
- May 11 Macho’s New Spaceship
- May 18 Attack of the Angry Ogre
- May 25 Saying Goodbye Can Be Hard
My Thoughts About Count Vacula Feels Afraid
I was able to listen to Count Vacula Feels Afraid. What a great podcast that introduces you to a robot vampire that’s about as small as the narrator’s hand. This is such a great story for what’s going on in the world today, because of the Coronavirus. Children, and parents alike are fearful of what is to come, so listening to this podcast is something that can help you to discuss those emotions, on a level that kids can relate to.
The narrator introduces Count Vacula and discusses why the count is feeling scared. This podcast discusses the feelings that your kid may experience when a babysitter arrives and their parents leave the home. Count Vacula loves the babysitter but still has feelings of being scared when he sees the narrator leave and worries that perhaps he may not return.
The story goes on to discuss emotions and how to work through these feelings of this situation. Through the fun-filled story, kids will start to understand how they can also work to handle these feelings whenever they’re faced with a similar situation.
I feel like this podcast is such a great introduction to feelings and is fast-paced enough to hold your preschooler’s attention. About three-quarters of the way through the podcast story, music starts, and the narrator goes on to discuss how certain music tones can relate to how Count Vacula feels when the babysitter arrives and the narrator leaves the house.
I love how the narrator works to relate music tones to how a kid may feel during this type of situation and I think it will be really beneficial to help your child with social emotional learning better than reading the text on children’s books. The narrator leads you forward as a parent to discuss the emotions and work with your kids even after the podcast ends.
If you’re looking for stories that help your kids develop the social emotional skills necessary for kindergarten, I highly suggest you subscribe to The Imagine Neighborhood podcasts.
