“You gotta read with expression!!”
Wait a second…did my three-year-old just sing about reading with expressiveness? Sure enough, occupied as he was in navigating Matchbox cars around the floor, the lyric – solidly stuck in his mind – was on repeat: “You gotta read with expression!!”
This is what convinced me I needed to get my arms around what was happening at GoNoodle. My school-aged kids had mentioned the website to me previously and it sounded like some repository of video content they used occasionally at school, but listening to my youngest sing “You gotta read with expression” was the tipping point. What exactly is going on at GoNoodle?
In short, a lot. It’s an updated School House Rock. It’s easy to follow choreographed dancing. It’s workout videos for kids. If you’ve got cabin-fevered kids who have energy to burn, it’s a lifesaver. And, to be honest, it’s fairly entertaining (or tiring, in the case of the 20-minute workout) for adults as well. Not gonna lie, I’ve been singing “2×4, now nail it to the floor!” a fair amount recently. Of course, there’s some “out there” stuff on this site as well, but we’ve found most of it to be helpful and fun.
Access to the GoNoodle content is simple…you’ll have to create an account on their site, but there’s no cost and videos are ad-free. As your kids view content, they’ll unlock some accessories for the “My Champ” character that’s created when you sign-up for the site. This isn’t a terribly compelling feature, I’ve found, but that’s probably because I’m too busy dancing along to Cat Party and Banana Banana Meatball.
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They get you and your kids moving in different ways than GoNoodle, but Fold’NFly and Art for Kids Hub are a couple of our other favorite sites. And if you just need some fun YouTube videos (especially for younger kids), check out this list.