For children, watching movies is entertaining and educational, and there are numerous free movies on YouTube. However, when it comes to picking out the best free movies on YouTube for kids, it is more than just fun and games, it is about targeting content that is suitable for developing their thought process by the way of lessons.
Animated films for toddlers, educational documentaries for teenagers along with a whole bunch of other movies for every age group, YouTube has it all there. By picking the right movies, you will make sure that the movie is safe, enriching as well as suitable in all ways for your child’s growth. In this guide, we’ll all talk about how you can choose the right movie according to your kid’s age. So, be with us!
Benefits of watching age-appropriate movies for kids
When selecting movies for your children, ensure that they are age appropriate as there are great benefits for your children. For example, age appropriate movies include stories and lessons that are designed specifically for your child’s interests. Let’s focus on why it is important to select the best movie on YouTube for your kids.
Promoting good moral standards:
Age appropriate movies include morals that children should emulate such as teamwork and love. By watching such movies, your child gets to understand that compassion and helping people around you is encouraged and brings about positive change.
Helps to boost creativity:
By watching age-appropriate movies your children might seek new adventures. Children may get excited and start telling their own stories, or they would want to recreate their favorite scenes of the movies. This kind of play encourages creativity, which will allow your child to seek the best solutions when faced with challenges in the future.
Developing strong language skills:
If your kids watch age-appropriate movies, then they can easily pick up the new words. The child in this case is learning how to speak correctly by observing how the characters communicate together.
Guide to choosing the best free movies on YouTube suitable for kids of all ages
Selection of free YouTube movies for your children can be a pleasant activity, but it is important that the best movie is selected to guarantee maximum protection, enjoyment, and utility. In this section, I will give you some tips on how to choose the best free movies on YouTube based on the age of your kids and their needs.
The Kid’s movie needs different ages.
Every age group has different requirements when it comes to the movies they want to watch. For instance,
Young children are more intrigued with movies that are bright and have simple storylines with a lot of characters for fun.
Similarly, primary school children appreciate the adventurous or humorous plot. Robots for instance teach them to share and have a group of friends to help solve problems.
For early teenagers, those with complex plots and easy-to-relate characters will do them good. Some stories they enjoy include; friendships, personal growth or stories that give them a sense of achievement. But care must be taken that the themes should still be positive and appropriate for their age.
Check for Age-Appropriate ratings.
Perhaps the easiest way of selecting an appropriate film for your child is by looking at its stated classification – for example, movies classified as G or PG may be good for younger viewers.
The rating is usually in the synopsis or movie poster of the video clip on the YouTube platform. So, you need to confirm twice, that some clips would have a child’s thumb picture but rather contain adult material which is not appropriate for children. If you’re worried, watch the film yourself beforehand, so you know what is appropriate for your child.
Consider the content of the movie.
You need to try to consider some things in mind while watching a film. For instance;
Themes:
Let the children watch films with beautiful and encouraging stories. Stories with love, helping others, or fixing problems are good for kids. Do not show them films that have dark themes or very complex stories.
Language:
You have to pay attention to inappropriate language. The reason is that some films may have harsh language or improper words which are not good for young kids.
Violence & Scary Content:
Do not even allow them to watch a cartoon or video clip that has violence or creepy things in it. In case the children experience even mild fear they could cry and throw tantrums which are hectic for the parents or the caregivers. Sad and entertaining videos should do good in this case.
Educational Value:
Do you want to get a glimpse into movies with a touch of history, science or moral lessons, then go for such movies. Educational films will definitely broaden your child’s interest and entertaining them becomes all the more easier.
Look for reviews & recommendations
You can easily find reviews and recommendations for different movies. Most parenting blogs and YouTubers give lengthy and informative reviews of movies made for children. These reviews help you understand what a film is about, what it conveys, and whether it is worth your time.
You may also turn to other parents or teachers for help. They might be aware of some great YouTube free movies for your kids. Doing that and looking at the viewer ratings and comments provided on a movie can help you tell whether viewing a movie is worthwhile.
Best free movies on YouTube for your kids of all ages
Choosing appropriate films for your kids can make sure that movie time is not only enjoyable for them but also a learning experience. Here’s a list of free movies found on YouTube according to their age category, with a summary of every movie’s kind, plot, themes, and significance to education.
For toddlers (Ages 2-5)
1. The Gruffalo
It’s an animated short film. In the forest, a small mouse creating a grouch called the Gruffalo battles predators in an attempt to claim the title ‘the best inventor.’ The mouse is clever and it is courageous as it survives through all the challenges.
Theme: Imagination, wit, and conquering your fear.
Educational Significance: The film is beneficial for toddlers as it teaches them about how the world can be perceived through productive imagination and how smartness can be helpful.
2. Puffin Rock
Puffin Rock is an animated series compilation. You’ll join Oona the puffin and her younger brother Baba as they explore the various animals along the shoreline of their island and learn the importance of being able to work together.
Theme: Friendship, curiosity, and respect for nature.
Educational Significance: Such a movie will introduce a young one to some animals along with their habitats thus helping to foster love for nature and society.
3. Barney’s Great Adventure
It’s a type of live Action Musical. You will see music and fun with some surprises viewing the egg which Barney and his companions discover and set forth in a magical enjoyable adventure.
Theme: Friendship, alliance, curiosity.
Educational Significance: Along with the catchy songs, toddlers will understand the need to work together in order to try and solve problems as well as the thrill of finding new things.
For elementary kids (Ages 6-10)
1. The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden is a type of drama/fantasy. In this film, you will see a lonely girl named Mary who is looking for ecstatic glory. She will turn a forgotten and patched-up garden into one of the beauty spaces with the help of her friends. Also, she uplifts her cousin and the whole family in the process.
Theme: Transformation, inspiration, and natural healing.
Educational Significance: The movie depicts the aspect of empathy and how it is beneficial working together towards a common goal, even when it involves nurturing the environment.
2. The Adventures of Milo and Otis
The Adventure of Milo and Otis is a Live-Action Animal adventure movie. With a separation between Milo the cat and Otis the pug, a mission begins of reuniting and exciting the saga of their combined challenges and achievements in reunion makes a wonderful task to follow.
Theme: Friendship, persistence, and going around and finding places.
Educational significance: It will emphasize a commitment to assist others despite adversity. Thus, children will have the opportunity to learn the moral values.
3. Charlotte’s web
It’s a classic animated movie. You will come to know Wilbur the pig who lives a juicy life at the onset. However, he gets taken away by the humans, and rescued by the wise spider called Charlotte.
Theme: Love, sacrifice, and kindness.
Educational Significance: A film like this helps the kids comprehend the relevance of words but also the much-needed quality of selflessness, especially that of friendship.
For preteens (age 11-13)
1. Akeelah And The Bee
It’s a dramatic type of movie. You will see an 11-year-old girl named Akeelah in this movie. Her journey towards winning the spelling bee starts off in a low-income area. However, unshaken support from her mentor and family provided all that she needed.
Theme: Motivation, confidence and mentorship.
Educational Significance: This should inspire your child on the value of education and hard work along with the valued support from the people within your community.
2. The Never-Ending Story
The never-Ending story is a fantasy movie. You will see a character who for the first time in his life discovers the potential to rescue the planet filled with nightmarish creations. He does so after finding a mysterious book narrated by a young boy Bastian.
Theme: Bravery, imagination, and growth.
Educational Significance: This should motivate children to be creative and have the courage to believe in themselves, even during the darkest of days.
3. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
It’s a true story-based drama. William Kamkwamba’s tale about how he makes a windmill with the hope of relieving the drought that has crippled his village is very inspiring. Kamkwamba who hails from Malawi is a young boy whose weather-agricultural struggles are life-changing experiences that one will have a great motivation to solve as one comes across the film.
Theme: In this film, one learns about many things including but not limited to Innovation, being resourceful, sense of togetherness.
Educational Significance: This movie is great for children as it teaches them how to think outside the box and how educational skills and hard work always pay off.
For Teens (Ages 14+)
1. The Pursuit of Happyness
It’s a biographical Drama. Chris Gardner is a single father this man fights to provide a good life for his son even if it means working with persistence and a will to survive.
Theme: Familial bonds, resilience and hope are learned in this wonderful story.
Educational Significance: This film is a very motivational piece for teenagers as it teaches about hard work and understanding the value of determination.
2. October Sky
October Sky is also a wonderful inspirational drama. “I am going to build rockets,” says Homer Hickam a boy from a mining town who comes from a low rich background. However, in the end, he fulfils his dream of building rockets.
Theme: This theme focuses more on considering ambitions with a sense of curiosity, breaking the cause and looking beyond the possibilities.
Educational Significance: In this way, this narrative transfers a message to the adolescents encouraging creative willpower regardless of which angle it’s being placed and how reaching the goal is being perceived.
3. Soul Surfer
Soul Surfer is also another biographical sports drama. The plot is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a young surfer who is forced to quit surfing after a shark attack. But, she fascinates the audience with her determination to come back.
Theme: Resilience, faith, dreams
Educational Significance: This film demonstrates how much maintaining a positive attitude can help your teenager in overcoming life’s adversities.
How to safely navigate free YouTube movies for Kids?
In this digital era, although different platforms are stiffed with free movies to watch at home. However, I understand that this is quite a challenge to search for safe and age-appropriate movies for your kids. but it can also be done with the help of tools and strategies. So, let’s discuss a few strategies!
Use YouTube Kids
YouTube Kids is an app designed specifically for children where only appropriate content can be found. Hence, switching to this app would allow your kids to be exposed only to safe content as it excludes any inappropriate material. In addition, you can create child-specific profiles under which kids will only see content appropriate for their age.
Add restrictions on the use of standard YouTube
Most of your kids might utilise standard YouTube for watching free YouTube movies. In order to filter out the inappropriate content, you can enable Restricted mode within the setting which could assist in the process of exposing only age-appropriate content. Try to set boundaries by letting your child create a watchlist of goodies so they only view actively safe films.
Use FlashGet Kids
Everybody knows that YouTube is not as safe as we would like it to be for kids. With the sheer amount of adult content out there, it becomes extremely pivotal to supervise their YouTube time. FlashGet Kids comes in handy by beautifying kids’ experiences on YouTube owing to its features. For instance;
Screen time: As your kids might spend a lot of time watching YouTube movies, which badly impacts their health and studies. So, by using FlashGet Kids, you can restrict your kids from using excessive screen media by setting time limits on device usage. If your kids try to exceed the time limit, you will instantly be notified.
Screen mirroring: FlashGet Kids also enables you to watch in real time what type of movies your kids are watching on YouTube.
Usage report: You will also get a detailed report about your kid’s daily device usage. For instance, you will get to know how much time your kids have spent on a specific app.
Keyword detection and content filtering: FlashGet Kids also enables you to set keywords related to inappropriate content. Thus if your kids try to browse such type of content, no results will appear, thus ensuring a safe browsing experience on YouTube.
You will also find parental guides and reviews about different movies on FlashGet Kids.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, YouTube is filled with a lot of free movies to watch. However, when it comes to kids, you have to be more cautious, as there are chances of getting exposed to mature content that will exploit the younger minds.
So, to protect your kids from internet toxicity, you have to do your homework like searching for age-appropriate movies, and checking reviews and recommendations from others before allowing your kids to watch such movies. As age-appropriate movies would help your kids to develop essential skills like communication, creativity and also moral values. Moreover, you can also go for FlashGet Kids parental control as an ultimate solution for ensuring your kids digital safety.
