The Children's Hour
By Molly Jackel,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Radio variety show is educational, musical, inclusive.
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What’s It About?
In this weekly, one-hour public radio variety show out of New Mexico, each short segment focusing on topics like civics, STEM, culture, performance, and others, is punctuated by a full-length song. The songs introduce listeners to a wide variety of "kindie" music -- clean, with positive messages, good vibes, all-ages appropriate, and often from young artists. THE CHILDREN'S HOUR is music-heavy, with songs making up at least half of the content. Prior to 2020, the shows were recorded live; since then, the shows have been done over Zoom, so it's easy to hear lots of kid thoughts, questions, and jokes. Veteran host Katie Stone has a welcoming, assured, informed voice and chats easily and confidently with all sorts of people, like Divinity Roxx (who was Beyonce's bass player and now makes funky music for kids), Native American author Sherman Alexie, and New Mexico U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich.
Is It Any Good?
This long-running variety show does a great job exposing kids to many sorts of topics and especially to a diverse array of music. The tone of The Children's Hour is friendly, curious, and educational. Host/creator Stone wants the show to fill educational gaps, and it does that well -- bringing in a lot of the arts through performance, diverse guests and topics, and representation (for local Indigenous people of New Mexico, the nearby Mexican culture, women performers, the neuro-diverse, and more).
The format is relaxed, partly because each episode is an hour long and also because it's a show that began -- and still airs -- on the radio, many years before podcasts gained popularity and became so slick. So it's got a nice old-fashioned radio show feel to it, with high quality sound because it's mostly done in studio and by audio professionals. It's a bit of an odd duck, though, because it's so music heavy (typically more than half of the content of each episode). Many folks choose to listen to either music or words. But for Prairie Home Companion lovers, this might be a perfect family-friendly option.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how The Children's Hour incorporates music. Does your family listen to music together? If so, what kind of music do you like? Or does everyone like something different? What was your favorite music in the show you listened to, and why?
When you listen to music, do you pay more attention to the words or the music? Or are you able to concentrate on both at the same time?
Kids volunteer to help make this podcast: They write and read the scripts, help choose jokes, show themes, music and guests, and assist in the live broadcast. What part of the production would you like to do on a podcast? Why?
Podcast Details
- Release date: November 6, 2015
- Genre: Kids & Family
- Average Run Time: 60 minutes
- Website: https://www.childrenshour.org/about/
- Host: Katie Stone
- Production Company and Network: KUNM
- Pricing structure: Free
- Topics: STEM , Arts and Dance , History , Music and Sing-Along
- Last updated: May 13, 2022
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
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