Tired of the endless streaming services and their rising costs? Me too. Our family has ditched most of the streaming services we used to pay for and now watch free shows and movies on YouTube. Here are some of our favorites!
How to save money and still watch quality shows and movies
It wasn’t just groceries and housing that got hit hard by inflation over the past couple of years. We’ve always been a budget conscious family and only had a few subscription services at a time. We would often rotate between a handful of streaming services only paying for one or two at a time. As 2022 plugged along, we started rethinking which streaming services we wanted to pay for.
Multiple streaming services continued to make decisions about their programming that didn’t reflect our family’s values. We also found that their prices continued to rise steadily. Both factors contributed to us not watching as much TV as we used to and deciding to cut them loose.
We also found ourselves watching YouTube whenever we did want to watch something. There are so many creators there that produce the type of content we want to watch. The one problem was that our children were missing a few of their favorite shows they used to watch. This pushed us to search around and find shows and movies they would enjoy and that we as parents approve of.
The one streaming service we did keep
Over the past eight years of marriage we have paid for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, BritBox, PBS Masterpiece Theater, and Disney Plus. As I said above, we rarely paid for all of those streaming services at one time. Even so, that’s quite a bit of money each year going to less than stellar content (except I will say that I truly enjoyed BritBox and PBS Masterpiece theater as a through and through anglophile). As we slowly decided on what we actually wanted to watch, we found ourselves hanging on to Hulu. I think part of it has been that Hulu is still one of the least expensive streaming services around. Although they have raised their prices a couple of times for the ad supported tier over the past year.
As I said above, our children also enjoyed certain shows and we felt bad about taking them away. We limit our kids’ consumption of TV to only a couple of hours per week but do allow them to watch a few shows here and there. When I went to cancel our Hulu subscription they offered us a six month deal of only $2.99 a month instead of the usual $7.99 we had been paying. I decided to try it and see if we would use it enough to justify keeping it.
That was a month ago, and to be honest, we really haven’t used it much. My husband and I have watched one movie on Hulu since then and our kids haven’t watched anything on Hulu. They haven’t asked to watch any of the old shows they used to enjoy. Something else I noticed is that many of the movies Hulu offers are also available on YouTube for free with ads.
Don’t underestimate what YouTube offers!
Free family friendly content abounds on YouTube! It’s not just content creators that reign there, although there are a many that our family enjoys watching. YouTube also provides free ad supported movies. It isn’t much different than the ads that pop up in the middle of your favorite YouTuber’s videos. There is now also the option to buy or rent movies and shows directly from YouTube. I’ve found that I can rent or buy some of my favorite shows and movies inexpensively compared to what Amazon Prime charges for the same content. I’ve also been able to rent or buy shows and movies that we haven’t found on other streaming services.
Many production companies have dedicated channels where they upload full length episodes of beloved children’s shows. Although they aren’t new or currently on TV elsewhere, they’re still as fun and exciting to my kids as they were to my husband and I growing up.
The Downside of YouTube
Obviously, the down side to not paying for a streaming platform is that some content can only be found on that specific platform alone. There’s also the frustration of not being able to control what ads may pop up on YouTube while your kids are watching. Unless you pay for YouTube Premium that’s something we all must contend with. Although YouTube does offer a kid friendly version of their app, I haven’t used it and probably won’t as even the YouTube Kids shows ads.
How our family goes about contending with the ads is simply not to leave our children completely alone while they are watching something on YouTube. Not only can we skip the ads when possible, but also take quick action when a show ends to either shut it off or select a new video. Sometimes other content will be suggested to our kids that we aren’t sure of or know we don’t want our kids to watch.
Although this can be a bit frustrating at times, it’s worth knowing exactly what my children are consuming. The luxury of being able to turn on a “trusted” show and walk away has lulled us into apathy about what is being shown and taught to our kids. It’s also easy to let the TV drone on for hours without being aware of how much screen time our kids are getting.
Having to be within earshot of whatever my children are watching has made me more aware of what they are consuming and also how long they have been watching. It’s also made me more creative in finding ways to get tasks done without relying on TV to babysit my kids. That’s a whole other conversation though! Maybe a future blog post?
Free family friendly shows on YouTube
I’ll do my best to add and subtract from this list as things change. Of course this isn’t exhaustive and is based on my personal family’s interests and values. Always moniter what your children are watching (don’t take a stranger from the internet’s word for it). Be proactive in discussing with your kids what the rules are in your household concerning what they watch and what they are allowed to do on the internet. I’ve purposely only included channels in this list that aren’t from random uploaders, but from the actual production companies. No repeats of scary Peppa Pig here!
Christian Shows on YouTube
- VeggieTales -Although you won’t find the latest movies on this channel, they are adding new content regularly. They do have full length content of some of the classics I grew up with such as “Esther: the girl who became queen”, “Josh and the Big Wall”, and “Sumo of The Opera”.
- Superbook – This channel features old episodes of the classic version as well as the rebooted version in the 2010s. We enjoy watching episodes that correlate to passages of the Bible that we have been reading.
Classic Kids Shows For Free on YouTube
- Curious George – always a classic. Sweet, entertaining, no “morality” lessons that might conflict with your beliefs, and actually sometimes pretty funny!
- Little Bear – This show brings back so much nostalgia for me! My children have enjoyed this show and also the original book series!
- Madeline – My daughter recently fell in love with the Madeline book and has it memorized. This animated series is sweet, funny, and adventurous.
- The Big Comfy Couch – I’m not sure how wide spread this show was in the ’90s, but I remember watching it when I was little. I even had my own Molly just like Lunette. My kids love the silliness and erupt in giggles during nearly every episode.
- Tractor Ted – A British television show about farm life. My kids enjoy the songs and learning what farm equipment is called in the UK. Of course I may be sneakily trying to make my children fellow anglophiles by watching this!
- Busy World of Richard Scarry – Many of us grew up with Busy Town books, but I never knew about the show until now.
- Hurray for Huckle (Busytown Mysteries) – Another version of the show that focuses on Huckle cat and mysteries around Busytown that must be solved!
- The Adventures of Paddington Bear – Another British show that my kids enjoy watching. I want to get some of the books too!
- Original Little Rascals (1927) – I have so many memories surrounding the box set of VHS tapes we had of this show growing up. Definitely one that I want my children to watch and appreciate as they grow up! Children being children, using their imaginations, and showing what life was like before electronics were the main source of entertainment for children.
Historical and Educational Shows for Free on YouTube
- Tuttle Twins – Although my children are still too young to understand economics, this show based on the book series by the same name is fun and educational. Join the Tuttle Twins as they travel around the world back in time to learn about people and ideas that have shaped the economies of the world.
- Liberty’s Kids – A show that aired on PBS kids in the early 2000s. I LOVED this show and woke up early just to watch it. I can probably attribute both my love of history and of being an early riser to this show alone.
Free Movies on YouTube
YouTube now also offers free ad supported movies. I don’t have a list of the movies available because they change somewhat frequently, but they can be found here. Some of the movies aren’t well known or may be on the raunchy side, but I have found some movies that were worth watching on there before!
If you see something you want to watch, plan on watching it as soon as you can. I absolutely love the movie ‘Miss Potter’ about Beatrix Potter. It was available to watch for free on YouTube for several weeks, but by the time I was ready to watch it, it had been taken off of the list.
Not Free, but Still Budget Friendly
As I also mentioned above, YouTube now also offers movie rentals. Although it wouldn’t make sense to rent a movie every single day, we do rent something from YouTube occasionally. It’s a great way to watch a favorite show or movie for less money than a streaming platform (most of the time) and you can also find content for rent on YouTube that isn’t currently being streamed elsewhere. One example is the movie ‘Epic!’ we wanted to show it to our kids, but had never been able to find it on any of the streaming platforms we had used. Most of the rentals we have seen or purchased have ranged between $2.99 – $3.99 for a 48 hour rental. I also purchased my favorite version of ‘Sense & Sensibility’ (the 2008 mini series if you’re wondering) for $3.99. That’s cheaper than a subscription and I have lifetime access!
Beyond Kid’s Shows
Our children also enjoy listening to music and audiobooks on YouTube. One of our favorites is watching ‘The Nutcracker‘ being performed by The New York City Ballet. The orchestra and conductor and not just the ballerinas are delightful to watch. We try to give our children access to content that will develop a desire to learn and engage, not just inform or entertain. If your child has an interest chances are there’s an age appropriate YouTube channel dedicated it!
Let’s challenge ourselves to show our children quality content and allow them to be kids!
Shalom,
Olivia
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