Kids in the Hive: A YouTube channel in Humboldt County for children’s engagement

Kids in the Hive YouTube channel based in Humboldt County has over 200 subscribers, the videos on the channel include teachers, artists and other local community members sharing interactive content about animals.

“The videos on Kids in the Hive are really interactive and I feel like that’s really different from a lot of the other videos on YouTube where it’s just kind of like you’re a passive watcher,” said MaryAnn Clark the founder of Kids in the Hive. “This is asking you to, move your body and this is asking you to do sound effects and I’m really hopeful that parents and kids, especially younger kids, can do it together.”

People can expect to watch different characters in Kids in the Hive from Ranger Robin who is in the Arcata Community Forest and is teaching kids about hibernating animals to Ms. Lilah who does animal movements with yoga and Captain Al who teaches children how to do different types of animal sounds.

“Kids in the Hive is a YouTube channel that is for three to seven-year-olds and it is using animals to teach self-regulation,” Clark said. “So animal movement, animal sounds, and they’re just really fun interactive videos.”

Kids in the Hive is a DreamMaker Project with Ink People Center for the Arts. The YouTube channel project, Kids in the Hive, can also be found in person. Clark mentioned that at the end of 2022, she decided to become a part of the Arcata Plaza Farmers Market due to a gap she saw. She noticed that there wasn’t a space for children to play and created just that. Through the Department of Human Health Services, Clark was able to receive a grant to help provide her set-up and to support the general idea of Kids in the Hive. Kids in the Hive can be found at the farmers market every Saturday until June 2024 unless it’s raining. 

Clark hopes to collaborate with local non-profits and brainstorm new ideas for more videos on the Kids in the Hive YouTube channel. Kids in the Hive also has a newsletter to keep people updated about the project, people can subscribe by emailing kidsinthehive@inkpeople.org.