September marks back-to-school season in many districts across the country, and that makes the ninth month of the year the perfect time for YouTube to roll out an educational content initiative. On the video site’s YouTube Kids app, September is ‘#TodayILearned’ month, and in order to support that theme, creators and media companies will come together to share videos about science, sports, singing, and other topics, all with an informative bent.
While the #TIL hashtag can refer to any sort of odd factoid, the videos included in the YouTube Kids initiative thus far mostly seem to focus on scientific topics. DreamWorksTV is solving the mysteries of the natural world, Genius Brands is inviting viewers into Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, Rovio is using its Angry Birds franchise to talk about Mars, and Hot Wheels is explaining how its cars can fly through the air by talking about gravity. In addition, several YouTubers known for their science videos, specifically Simone Giertz and Maddie Moate, will curate playlists of their favorite videos.
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All of these videos can be available ad-free thanks to a recent update to the YouTube Kids app. In August, the video site announced that YouTube Red accounts, which include ad-free browsing among their perks, can be linked to specific YouTube Kids users.
#TIL continues a recent trend on YouTube Kids, which has recently dedicated entire months to specific subjects. In June, the app promoted childhood literacy with a Reading Month. Then, in August, YouTube offered up an Olympic-sized celebration with a Sports Month. If this pattern keeps up, we can only expect October — the month featuring Halloween — to be Candy Month. The kids would love it.
