If Minecraft has taken over your kids and you hardly know who they are or what they’re talking about anymore, you’re in good company. But, although you may love that the game helps build 21st-century skills such as creativity, innovation, and collaboration, your kids’ obsession can be overwhelming. Perhaps most puzzling is that every waking moment they’re not playing Minecraft, they’re in front of YouTube watching Minecraft.
For fans — and they are legion — Minecraft YouTube videos are a huge part of their enjoyment of the game. There are tutorials (for ideas on new things to create), “Let’s Play” videos (footage of people playing the game), challenges (new gameplay ideas to try), mod showcases (which show off cool thing kids can download to modify their Minecraft worlds), and more.
But the unique things about the game, including the ability for any player to create anything they want, can result in wide variations in quality, age-appropriateness, and relevancy to your kid’s specific interests and gaming ability. There are hundreds of channels devoted to Minecraft, including popular but edgy ones such as Yogscast and SkyDoesMinecraft, and it’s hard to know which ones are good for kids. Although you could download an app such as KicVidz, which curates only kid-friendly Minecraft videos, you know your little fanatic will be begging — and searching YouTube — for more.
Even kid-friendly videos come with a few caveats. First, with many clocking in at 20 or 30 minutes, they can be a major time suck. Second, many have commercials that advertise products from cars to cookies to vodka. But there’s plenty to explore to help fan the flames of this mostly worthwhile pursuit. Here are the top 10 best-for-kids YouTube Minecraft channels.
Stampy (aka Mr. Stampy Cat, aka stampylonghead). A British cartoon cat (voiced by Joseph Garrett from Portsmouth, England) hosts the lively videos on this lighthearted channel. Stampy offers Let’s Plays and tutorials on a range of Minecraft topics (and other games, all family-friendly), and his game worlds are distinctly colorful.
Best for: Younger fans. Stampy feels like a cross between Pee-wee Herman and Mr. Rogers.
Check out: His How To Minecraft series is excellent for noobs.
iBallisticSquid. Stampy’s best friend is a squid — remember, anything is possible in Minecraft! — voiced by Garrett’s real-life pal David Spencer. Squiddy (or Squid Nugget) exchanges mild, kid-friendly, English-accented banter with Stampy and uploads Let’s Plays, mods, and challenges (which are usually set for him by Stampy).
Best for: Younger fans. Squiddy’s squeaky-clean.
Check out: His Pixelmon Learning the Basics is a great introduction to a cool mod.
Paul Soares Jr. This self-described husband, father, entrepreneur, and gamer offers family-friendly Let’s Plays and tutorials in a kindly, straightforward style.
Best for: Younger kids, new players, and families. Soares mixes in a lot of how-to information while he’s playing.
Check out: Soares’ How to Survive and Thrive tutorials are newbie nirvana. Also, note the ratings on his videos; he’s the rare YouTuber who has bothered to have his content rated for families so you know it doesn’t contain mature content.
TheAtlanticCraft. Hard-core gamers Cody (theCodyMaverick) and Joe (JoeBuzz) manage to make their Let’s Plays, mods, mini-games, and more both kid-friendly and technically advanced. The two have a fun rapport as they battle and explore very sophisticated worlds.
Best for: All ages and abilities. The guys also host servers and offer downloads on their website.
Check out: “Let It Glow,” a Minecraft parody of Disney’s “Let It Go” from Frozen.
Popular MMOs. Although it’s known for epic battles and massive explosions, Popular MMOs’ host is a friendly, folksy guy named Pat, whose knowledge of and enthusiasm for the game plus killer mods draw big audiences. He also frequently plays against his fiancée, Jen (who hosts her own Minecraft channel, GamingwithJen).
Best for: Older kids with a taste for excitement.
Check out: The Minecraft Kitty Cat Challenge, where Pat and Jen honor the passing of their cat by duking it out on Minecraft, shows the human side of the game.
Minecraft Universe. Charming TrueMU (real name: Jason Probst) hosts this popular channel that’s jam-packed with adventure maps, parkour maps, mini-games, and even original electronic songs available for download. He often plays spirited games against other advanced Minecraft players in a group called Team Crafted.
Best for: All ages. There’s a wide range of content.
Check out: The “Hottest Girls Ever” Let’s Play, wherein Jason and an opponent play as female avatars, can spark a conversation about gender roles in games.
The Bajan Canadian. Twenty-year-old Canadian video game commenter Mitchell Hughes offers a wide range of technically adept Minecraft videos, mostly played with a gentle, nerdy patter against his mild-mannered gamer pals.
Best for: Older players who really want to geek out on Minecraft.
Check out: His parkour videos and downloadable “wacky parkour maps” are some of the best.
Maricraft. Hosted by female gamer Mari Takahashi on the ultra-popular gaming channel Smosh Games, Maricraft features mostly Let’s Plays of spirited battles with her pals in wacky Minecraft worlds.
Best for: Older fans. Players swear, but the words are bleeped out and there’s some juvenile humor.
Check out: In Splegg in Your Face!, Mari and friends pummel each other with spleggs (Minecraft eggs).
TheDiamondMinecart. Hosted by twentysomething Dan Middleton of Northamptonshire, England, TheDiamondMinecart is popular for its wide variety of entertaining, creative videos. The videos’ quality across all genres (Let’s Play, mod reviews, characters, and so on) has made it one of the most highly subscribed-to and most highly viewed channels on YouTube.
Best for: More experienced players; the offerings are pretty advanced, but they’re mostly clean.
Check out: The Hunger Games video wherein DiamondMinecart takes on Stampy has a fun twist at the end.
CaptainSparklez. With one of the biggest audiences on YouTube, CaptainSparklez dazzles with his technically advanced worlds and warm, entertaining commentary. Recently purchased by Disney-owned Maker Studios, CaptainSparklez is beloved as much for his intricate, atmospheric, and complex worlds as for his parody videos.
Best for: Experienced players who can grasp the technical jargon. He can get a little edgy, too.
Check out: His Super Modded Survival Series takes fans on an epic adventure full of dungeons, new dimensions, and mighty foes.
[This post by Caroline Knorr originally ran on Common Sense Media. As Common Sense Media’s parenting editor, Caroline helps parents make sense of what’s going on in their kids’ media lives.]
My kids love The Minecraft Crew! My seven year old daughter’s favorite series on his channel is Minecraft Sisters. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHillsoftware
HE DOES NOT USE THAT LANGUAGE IN HIS RECENT VIDEOS
Actually PopularMMOs is NOT appropriate for the younger ones. When we heard the things they were saying about eating beast meat, I literally had to sit down. Now my 4 year old says things like his food tastes like Elephant Poop! Guess where he got that? Pat & Jen are definitely for the older kids!
Thanks for the annotated list! Very helpful. I haven’t checked out all of them, yet, but I have overheard a LOT of “Popular MMOs” (Pat w/ Jen), and I’ve had to ban it for language. Copious craps, damns, omgs, and the occasional sh– were annoying enough, but then I heard Pat drop the F bomb (mother-f). Yikes.
Ah, this was my fear, Joanna. This one (Popular MMOs) in particular I felt was too lax in the language department to be on the queue for younger kids, and it seems you have found it as well. Even without the explicit language, the tone and banter seems a bit too snarky. I guess the caveat with all of these is that you should check them out in advance.
Well they don’t ever do that anymore they are more friendly now and happy.
EXCUSE ME! he used to use bad language but not anymore what I would recommend is setting up a playlist for your kids to watch only the videos you watch and approve of pat no longer says damn he is very friendly in fact my 9-year old says worse things
Thank you for this one. My son seems as obsessed with the videos as he does with the game, and I have a hard time figuring out which ones are appropriate. Stampy, iBallisticSquid and PopularMMOs are his favs, and it seems from the assessment above that they pass the endorsement test. Great list!
The first Minecraft channel my kids found was Poet Plays (https://www.youtube.com/user/PoetPlays) not every video is kid-safe, but he realizes that kids are a big part of his audience so he makes sure to put warnings on if a video isn’t for kids. and when he plays Minecraft with a group, he asks them not to use bad language because of his audience, and if they do accidentally cuss, he will take the time to edit out the bad words in post-production.
My son is a HUGE Stampy fan. He has a Stampy backpack and he’s going to be Stampy for Halloween. 🙂
My son loves the Stampy Infinity videos. But we watched one of his videos when there was some swearing (the f-bomb and s#$@.) So we don’t allow the kids to watch his Minecraft videos anymore.
His older stuff (read: much older) did have some cursing since he came from making videos for much more mature games. His newer stuff is squeaky clean and can be watched by kids of all ages.
Thanks. We will have to try some of his newer ones. My husband & son both love Stampy. So it is worth seeing about the newer ones.
My son (8) recommends Thinknoodles (https://www.youtube.com/user/InsidersNetwork). He loves Think’s minions and the “boy” humor.
Generikb is also another great YouTuber. Minecraft lp is kid friendly!
Try out Ethoslab!
Ethos fantastic and you learn a lot from him too. He does most lets plays and moded let’s plays and he epic
yes etho is great!
I recently downloaded the YouTube app on the PS4, and subscribed to Stampy’s channel because of your recommendation. I don’t generally pay much attention to the videos because I find them dreadfully boring, but last night I was semi-paying attention when during Stampy’s second Minecraft video, he said the f-word around a dozen times in a row after being startled by something in the game. I don’t recall what episode it was, but in a different one where he had a female guest, she also cursed a few times. May want to re-evaluate who that channel is appropriate for.
Just saw the posts above that mentioned this, although I guess the same warning stands.
Another great channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmARZEVeVt3g8c_i0J6Hceg
Pracy- Although he has a few other games on his channel, he also has creatively made several movies in the game of minecraft. He is most famous for a series he did last year, called Indev, a minecraft gameshow where people compete to be the best builder/designers. You may want to kids to steer clear of his non-minecraft videos though, because they can get a little violent.
Great for: Older kids who want to geek out about minecraft and enjoy cool stories
Check out: Indev
http://www.olxdirectory.com
Nice
As a parent, I enjoy Thinknoodles the best. I have never heard any bad language or questionable humour. My kids love him too!
I have to say that I have heard a lot about those mine craft yyoutubers. But the thing is that a lot of those people curse. i would like it if you could make another think about how to turn off bad words in kinecraft. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME IF YOU COULE!!!
akash I half to say that The reason I think stumpy is cusing is because those were his first vids. i think he may have cused like some times. I DONT remember. But he does not cus much in his new vids.
My 7yo loves LittleLizardGaming. Their ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Minecraft series is great for kids and none of their videos have questionable language.
Jally i am your bigist fan i like your gameing channel- Nolan 7yrs old
Good Times With Scar is a very kid friendly Minecraft YouTube channel. No swearing, and he sprinkles his commentary with positive, uplifting, and encouraging messages. His builds tend to be complex.