This post is sponsored by Lucky Charms Magical Mission, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
When we think of podcasts, we generally think that they’re more geared towards adults. While you may be right for the majority of podcasts, I recently found out about Lucky Charms Magical Mission which is the perfect podcast for kids as well as families as a whole. My children are young preschoolers so it took a few tries to get them to focus on the story without having a visual companion, but repetition was the key in helping them understand the story and before long they were actually excited to listen along. I made it my mission to constantly have Lucky Charms Magical Mission playing on our Amazon Alexa at breakfast so that it became a part of our daily routine. Kids thrive when they have a routine, so why not include healthy habits and mind stimulating activities like an interactive podcast into their daily lives. Breakfast time at our house is much more lively now between the constant laughing and singing with Lucky the Leprechaun. There are so many reasons to advocate for morning podcasts with your children, but today I’m going to focus on four reasons your family podcast choice should be Lucky Charms Magical Mission.
Breakfast time is more fun with Lucky Charms Magical Mission on our Amazon Alexa
Helps practice listening skills
One of the major benefits of encouraging your children to listen to podcasts is that it will really help them to practice their listening skills. As a parent, I know that kids are almost always engaging with visual stimulation. Toys, books, and TV are all very visual so while they may be listening to words or music, there is always a visual element taking attention away from the listening element.
When your child listens to podcasts, there is no visual element. And while you might think that listening is not engaging enough, it really is. Listening to podcasts will help your child practice listening and hone in on their listening skills. Since there is no visual element to it, they will really have to tune in and listen in order to enjoy. This allows them to really practice listening and absorbing information audibly. In the episodes of Lucky Charms Magical Missions there is always some instructions given to the kids, be it repeat after Lucky, sing along, or clap your hands, and the kids have to be listening in order to stay on track. Each episode also has an important life lesson that could be applied to real life, like never giving up.
Prepares them for the classroom
As mentioned above, podcasts help your child practice listening. One of the most important elements for learning in school is listening. When children are young, it can be very difficult to really focus on listening. By incorporating podcasts into your child’s regular activities, you’re helping them learn one of the most important skills for being a good student in the future. At the end of each episode while we are eating breakfast, the educator in me jumps out and I use that as an opportunity to go over the main idea of the episode and ask my kids what they think will happen next. It’s a way that I sneak in a little extra learning and stretch the episodes further after they end, because they are only a few minutes long.
Enhances the use of imagination
With Lucky Charms Magical Mission there are no visual elements. In this case, we could call them visual distractions. This is because often having something to watch will distract your imagination. With this podcast, your child can listen and use their imaginations to come up with the visuals on their own. They can play and interact with the podcast while letting their imaginations run wild with all of the possibilities of what could be happening as they listen along as Lucky travels through the 8 worlds to restore magic. I have seen my children’s imagination grow leaps and bounds since listening to Lucky Charms Magical Mission. It is so precious watching them act out the stories and pretend that they have the power to restore magic too. As a parent seeing the world through their eyes restores a little of that magic for me as well!
Gives parents an additional tool
Most of us have done it. We need a few moments to get something done or we just need something to keep our kid’s minds occupied so we turn on the TV. Instead of turning on the morning cartoons, what if you turned on a podcast for them to listen to while they ate breakfast? An interactive podcast will allow them to engage in imaginative play as well as get their bodies moving. Since most of us have our phones on us at all times, this can also be a great alternative to turning on a movie in the morning.
After each episode we curl up together and talk about Lucky’s adventures
Introducing your children to podcasts has so many benefits! Sometimes it’s okay to focus on putting the toys down and opening your ears to the magic of podcasts for the whole family. Lucky Charms Magical Mission is available for you and your family to listen along too on Apple Podcast and Spotify and can be accessed via your Google Home or our personal favorite, an Alexa. Have you listened to Lucky Charms Magical Mission yet?
