YouTube Channels for Middle School

While your young student may not always have time to binge an entire TV series or a full documentary, you may still want to expose them to different kinds of educational video content. YouTube is a great options for finding shorter, educational videos for your middle schooler. 

Recommended YouTube Channels for Middle Schoolers: 

• Ted Ed — With topics ranging from the color of dinosaurs to investigating the asymmetrical human body, these quick educational talks are full of information that’s bound to answer questions your middle schooler never even knew they wanted to ask! Take a look!
• Smithsonian Museum Channel—Run by the world-class Smithsonian Institution, this channel has plenty of supplemental information on topics ranging from the history of aircrafts to the adaptations of polar bears. Find out more here!
• Talks at Google—In 2015, Google host a series of talks held by various industry professionals. If your middle schooler would be interested in topics such as “Searching for the Oldest Stars,”  then this channel is a great place for them to explore! 
• NASA Johnson—If your child is a budding astronaut, then the NASA Johnson channel is the place to be! Featuring everything from a day in the life of an astronaut to views from space, there is plenty here to keep your middle schooler entertained!
• BrightStorm—Featuring mini-lessons in everything from algebra to how to write an essay by qualified teachers, this is a great resource for academically advanced middle-schoolers to get a taste of what sort of knowledge they’ll be expected to learn in high school. A strongly recommended resource for getting ahead of one’s peers academically! Take a look here.
• Minute Physics — With over 3 million subscribers, this is one of the most popular channels on all of YouTube! Featuring cool, colorful graphics and a fresh take on scientific knowledge, this is a great resource for students to learn more about physics! Check it out!
• Big Think—This channel is full of fun, abstract lessons that expand curiosity beyond the average school curriculum. From an explanation of the psychology behind selfies to debates about the Big Bang theory, a visit to this channel is guaranteed to teach your middle schooler something  new and interesting. Take a look!
• Vancouver Poetry Slam—Featuring writers of all ages from Vancouver, Canada, this channel brings viewers tons of poetry and performance—wonderful for students interested in writing and/or the arts, or for helping young students experiencing a creative rut. Check it out here!
• NatGeo Wild—For your budding Steve Irwins, this channel features loads of playlist with information about all sorts of animals. This is a great resource for students who care about the ecosystem, want to explore careers related to animals, or just have curiosity about the creatures of the wild, from zebras to reptiles and river monsters!
• Computer History—Managed by the Computer History Museum, this channel is fabulous for your STEM inclined middle schooler to examine the dawn of technology, its evolution, and see just how many ways it is being used today!
• Book TV—Has your middle-schooler ever read a book they’d like to know more about? If so, this is the perfect YouTube channel for them. Book TV features authors discussing their books, from the writer’s process to how it was received by the public. It’s a great resource for those who are curious about the world of writing and the publishing industry.
• Words of the World—A wonderful resource for Crimson Rise’s vocabulary diary, this channel explores the origins of words, their popularity, and the true meaning behind them. Get a head start on your middle schooler’s TOEFL and SAT vocabulary studying by having them engage with this channel!
• The Culinary Institute of America—Featuring cooking guides, a discussion of foods ranging from protein to New York apples, and interviews with famous chefs, this is a must for the middle schoolers who like to spend their free time in the kitchen. Check it out here.

At Crimson Rise we believe that students should have a set of hobbies to help them spend their free time productively and discover their passion in a healthy way. Sometimes, this process starts by researching hobbies, in which case, yes, YouTube is not a bad choice if the tool is used correctly. 

Feel free to reach out to us anytime should you wish to discuss your child’s hobbies and how their passions can help them get accepted into their dream university! 

Your friendly neighbourhood Rise blogger, Gala