What do you listen to when you are driving with kids in the car? Is it the radio, Spotify, or the non-stop chatter from the back seat? For Figure8 carpooler Stephanie Kelmar, the answer is easy: KidNuz. We interviewed Stephanie this week to learn more about why she founded KidNuz, and why it should be your go-to podcast when commuting with your kids!
Stephanie’s 11-year-old son has always been interested in the news. But whenever he watched or listened to mainstream news outlets with his friends, he was exposed to disturbing images and stories that were not age-appropriate. To tackle this issue, Stephanie teamed up with three other parent-producers– Ro, Tori, and Kim. Together, they created a news podcast that would help children understand what is going on in the world around them in a kid-friendly manner.
The KidNuz team curates 30 to 50 stories each week for the podcast, from politics to science, sports, entertainment, and more. KidNuz also includes news stories that include a life lesson. Their August 3rd podcast covered Walter Carr, a college student from Alabama whose car broke down before his first day of work at a moving company. Instead of skipping his shift, he walked all night–over 20 miles–to arrive on time to work the next morning and to get the job done.
Stephanie described the podcast as an important tool for parents and kids to engage on issues that are relevant to them and that teach them about the world. She plays the podcast while carpooling her kids and their friends to dance and baseball, and she enjoys the conversations generated by the questions posed at the end.
“KidNuz is great to play for everyone in the carpool. There’s nothing in it to alarm kids; it’s designed for them,” Stephanie told us.
KidNuz is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and at www.kidnuz.com, where parents can sign up for a daily reminder by text or email. Give it a listen during your Figure8 carpool and start the day informed! If you haven’t downloaded the free Figure8 app to organize your kids’ rides and invite other parents to carpool, download it here.
By Care.com