Have you ever heard of Sparkle Stories? We love them. They have a ton of audio stories for kids. Their website also has a bunch of Pinterest worthy kids’ crafts, recipes and educational activities. There is a podcast with a FREE new story a couple times a week and you can pay a membership to have access to thousands of audio stories for kids and more at your finger tips.
They are a great alternative to screen time. My kids definitely have some screen time, but I’m also always looking to diversify the kids’ entertainment and make it as enriching as possible. Just like a TV show I can turn on a story for Lulu to listen to while I need to nurse baby or make dinner. She usually colours while listening. Unlike TV shows, listening to audio stories is good for kids brains and imagination. Listening to stories also helps expand your kids’ vocabularies. The stories we listen to from Sparkle Stories are really great, with wonderful lessons and themes kids can identify with. The stories are filled with kindness and self reflection to encourage emotional intelligence.
I discovered them last spring from a fellow mom and we’ve been listening to them ever since. Lulu asks for them in the car all the time. It never occurred to me to look for podcasts for kids out there (even though I have been listening to podcasts and audiobooks for myself for years). I love them because they have audio stories for kids about different topics geared for different ages. Many times they have stories that introduce topics I’ve struggled to explain or topics that I myself don’t know much about. We’ve heard stories about moving away, starting school, stories about fairies and stories of animals in a junk yard. Unicorn stories and dragon stories. Stories of Labour day, horse farms, 4th of July and much more.
We’ve also heard stories about different cultures and seasonal stories during holidays. Like Day of the Dead, Festivals of Lights, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. I’m excited to find out what Hanukkah stories they will have this month as part of their holiday season.
I myself really like the stories too and probably get as invested in them as Lulu does. They are well written and well told. David, the storyteller, does such a great job conveying feelings and switching between the voices of different characters.
Our favourite series is the Martin and Sylvia collection about a brother and sister. Lulu loves hearing about Martin and Sylvia’s adventures. I like learning from their parents. These imaginary parents have the patience and understanding that I aspire to.
I am not affiliated with Sparkle Stories in any way. The reason for this post is because I really want to spread the word about them. Starting today, they are doing a story advent calendar where they will have a new FREE holiday story on the podcast every day until Xmas (that’s more stories than they usually have available on the podcast). We heard the first one today, about Martin and Sylvia’s advent calendar.
They also have a free 20 day membership trial with the code JINGLE on their website and app where you can check out all their stories and collections. The holidays and time off school and classes is a great time to give Sparkle Stories a try. They’re also great for road trips and long car rides. I initially did our free trial with them this summer when we were going on our California adventure involving a LOT of driving.
Enjoy and spread the word!
Are there any free podcasts your kids listen to? Please share in the comments!
And check out this post I wrote about making up songs together at home!
These sound awesome! We’re always looking for alternatives to screen time, but I can’t always get my boys to sit down with a book.
that’s why I like these! We listen to them in the car or at home and I can go do stuff, I don’t have to be actively involved in reading the stories myself (though I end up listening to them because they’re good!)
These sound very nice