Today’s kids aren’t old enough to remember the excitement of seeing the TV/VCR cart parked in their classroom for the day, but they still love watching videos in class! We’ve rounded up the best educational YouTube channels for students from preschool through high school, covering just about every topic you can imagine.
Note: As with all media, we recommend screening videos in advance to be sure they’re appropriate for your audience.
Pre-K and Elementary School Educational YouTube Channels
Teaching toddlers their shapes and colors? Helping elementary kids understand math and science concepts? Looking for fun ways to explore social studies? These YouTube channels have the content you need.
You’ll find videos for kids here on all sorts of topics, including reading, math, history, and science.
Stories for kids—read by a kid! This channel features tons of favorite books, read beautifully by a child who knows how to make the story engaging and fun.
This popular series has been around for awhile, and it’s perfect for little ones just learning about the world.
Learn about safety, feelings and emotions, and more with these sweet videos.
The folks that brought you Baby Shark have a whole channel! Learn and sing along with one of the most beloved characters out there.
Looking for read-alouds with some personality? Check out Ryan and Craig! They’re comedians who read children’s books and comment (in kid-appropriate ways) as they go. They’re fun and entertaining, and the reading is good-quality and so are the book choices.
Ready for some titles you haven’t seen before? The StoryTime Family has a big virtual bookshelf with playlists for animals, social-emotional learning, and more. No commercial characters here, just good-quality selections kids haven’t already heard dozens of times.
All the songs and nursery rhymes little ones love! This channel is available in multiple languages too.
Head behind the scenes with staff from Chicago’s Field Museum and learn all about natural history topics.
Animal lovers, take note! The Houston Zoo shares information about all their animals and their keepers too.
Amy’s channel is geared toward girls, but all kids will enjoy the stories and inspiring videos posted here.
KLT stands for “Kids Learning Tube.” Their videos focus on geography and astronomy.
This one’s for the art lovers—even kids who think they can’t draw! This channel will show you how to create pretty much anything you can think of, step by step.
Join these friendly puppets as they learn to read, count, and even dance!
Songs are a great way to help kids learn, and this channel is full of them! Find reading, writing, math, and languages for kids of all ages.
Speaking of songs, Jack Hartmann’s channel has so many to choose from!
Doug tackles the most important questions, like “why don’t people fall out of roller coasters?” or “is it possible to become invisible?”
Circle Time from educational resource powerhouse Khan Academy is full of stories and activities the younger crowd will love.
The Alphablocks are 26 living letters who discover that whenever they hold hands and make a word, something magical happens. This hit show combines phonics with fun to help little ones learn the skills they need to become readers. If your kids enjoy it, be sure to check out Numberblocks too.
This kid-friendly series from the creators of the popular Crash Course (see below) covers science for elementary kids. The channel includes topics like earth science, biology, astronomy, and more.
Everything you love about National Geographic, but geared toward kids’ interests—and attention spans. Travel and explore the world with short videos featuring animals, science, and much more.
Top-notch actors reading fantastic children’s books? Sign us up! Each video includes imaginative animation based on the illustrations. Plus, teachers can find supplemental curriculum on Storyline’s website.
The best YouTube channels for kids are those that feature other kids! Finding Stuff Out explores everything from hair to sports to robots, with young hosts that speak to students on their level.
It’s no surprise that PBS has some terrific educational YouTube channels, including PBS Kids. Get full-length episodes of shows kids love, like Daniel Tiger and Wild Kratts, plus read-alongs, Sesame Street, and a lot more.
If you’re looking for age-appropriate videos on history, science, or language arts, look no further. Free School covers these topics and more in a way that’s perfect for younger learners.
Explore all the best science topics, with videos that aim to answer the eternal kid question “Why?” You’ll also find experiments and our favorite series: playground science.
This is another one of those YouTube channels for kids that covers a bit of just about everything. You’ll even find chess lessons for kids!
ABCMouse is well-known as a terrific program for early learners. Their channel includes educational songs, crafts and activities, and more.
For kids learning English as a second language, try this channel. Cute songs and engaging videos will have them fluent in no time!
ESL students will find so much to learn on this channel, with new content and even livestreams added regularly.
Middle and High School Educational YouTube Channels
Videos are a terrific way to engage older students on topics from science to literature to current events and beyond. These educational YouTube channels cover it all.
There are math topics on this channel for all ages, from simple arithmetic to algebra.
Learn more about how and why we do the things we do, and ways to make your daily life a little bit better.
If you love crazy trivia and origin stories, check out Mental Floss! These videos are fun for bell ringers or to fill in a few minutes at the end of class.
Dianna Cowern is a big name in science videos. Check out her channel to show students a strong female STEM role model.
If you believe there’s something new to learn all the time, check out these quick videos that share cool stories and fascinating facts you won’t find elsewhere.
Big thoughts on big topics from big leaders in their fields. Introduce students to experts in a wide array of subjects.
Most of us will never travel to space, so enjoy these videos instead! The livestream of footage from the ISS is terrific to have on in the background as kids work independently.
The History Channel started on cable TV, and their YouTube channel has lots of fascinating topics, from short clips to full episodes.
NASA has multiple educational YouTube channels, but we like this one best for students and teachers. The videos are geared toward learning about space in ways that kids can understand.
You might not be able (or willing!) to pour molten aluminum into a watermelon to find out what happens, but the Backyard Scientist is! These videos are engaging and so fun to watch.
Khan Academy provides an enormous amount of free educational resources, including their educational YouTube channels. Pretty much any teacher will find something useful here.
Just what it sounds like: very quick videos on a range of physics topics. Perfect for introducing new topics to your students!
According to this channel, Veritasium is the “element of truth.” Lots of science videos, but also a wide variety of other topics.
This channel sets out to make sense of science, and they do just that! Note that some videos are better for older viewers, so review your choices in advance.
Challenge students to think more deeply about, well, just about everything. These fascinating videos are brain-bending and lots of fun.
This channel was created by Joe Hanson, Ph.D., who describes himself as “a curious group of atoms in a very curious universe.” His videos cover everything from “Does My Dog Know What I’m Thinking?” to “My Date With a Giant Pacific Octopus.”
This channel aims to take facts of all kinds and turn them into engaging and intriguing videos. Watch stories of incredible people, events, and mysteries. There’s a new video nearly every day, so the variety is practically endless.
Simple History visualizes the past, bringing history to life through animation. The videos cover ancient Egypt to the Cold War and everything in between.
Covering everything from an interview with a former Obama staffer to what it’s like to fly in a supersonic jet, these videos get millions of views, and for good reason.
Crash Course has 30+ in-depth courses on a wide variety of subjects, including chemistry, literature, philosophy, and more. They’ve recently teamed up with Arizona State University to produce study courses specifically aimed at high schoolers.
Everything you love about TED Talks, with subjects chosen to interest kids and teens. Topics are wide-ranging, and the videos are just as engaging as you’d expect from TED. We especially love the “There’s a Poem for That” series, which pairs classic poetry with award-winning animation.
The MediaWise project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan program that teaches people how to find reliable, accurate information online. These videos teach students to be thoughtful consumers of online content, rather than just believing everything they see.
SciShow loves to explore what makes everything tick. They upload new videos daily, covering science news, fast facts, and deeper exploration of fascinating topics.
Think of this YouTube channel like a museum field trip with the best tour guide ever. Emily from the Field Museum in Chicago takes you behind the scenes to learn how (and why) natural history museums do what they do.
Biography highlights newsworthy personalities and events with compelling and surprising points of view. From historical figures to current political leaders, authors to artists, you’ll find pretty much anyone you can imagine here.
The concept is simple: videos about numbers. Explore the golden ratio, prime numbers, pi, and so many more. Math teachers will definitely want to bookmark this one.
