Family Friendly Podcast Listening With The Adventures of Cairo
As parents, we can all relate to the struggle of screen time for our kids. Determining how long I allow Chiefton to use his devices, in addition to what content and platforms are appropriate for his young impressionable mind, are always huge concerns for me. When I came across the podcast, The Adventures of Cairo, I listened to a few episodes by myself and was excited to share the podcast with Chief.
I was immediately drawn in by the cover art, which shows 7-year-old Cairo front and center with his family behind him. This proves to be the actual premise of the podcast. A young man facing experiences in life, backed by the love and support of his parents and older brother. A beautiful family unit. I loved that Cairo looked like Chief. I am a firm believer that representation matters, especially for African American children but more specifically African American boys. There are quite a few diverse female characters that little girls can look up to or relate to but that seems to be few and far between for male characters. As a mother, I found The Adventures of Cairo to be both informative and refreshing, offering an easy understandability of life lessons as seen through the eyes of what essentially is Chief’s peer.
While I thought the content was great, the true test would be if Chief liked it and if it would keep his attention without visuals. After listening to the first episode though, he was instantly drawn in, wanting to listen to more episodes right away. We have ultimately finished all of the available episodes and it really proves to be easy listening with episodes being 16 minutes or less. The best thing about this podcast is that the scenarios are pertinent to the life and experiences of my 8-year-old child. Things like difficulty with math and learning how to manage money are real-life issues that we are currently dealing with in my household. We also thought it was funny that Cairo’s mom’s name is Ebony (my name), his brother’s name is Omari (Chief’s best friend’s name is Amari) and his dad works at the airport (I’m a flight attendant). These small caveats drew Chief in even more.
When I asked Chief what he liked most about the podcast, he said, “I think Cairo is kind but does his best to try not to make the wrong choices. That’s what I do. That’s what “he does.” Positive influences in kids’ lives, whether real or fictional, are super important. Particularly when they can learn from material geared to their age group. The Adventures of Cairo shows young boys how to make better decisions while still understanding that it is ok to make mistakes. It also shows how constructive criticism for children can help them to understand what they did wrong and how they can correct those things to be better in the future.
We couldn’t love this podcast more and will be recommending it to our friends. While geared more towards boys and their experiences, I think many little girls would enjoy listening as well. You can listen to The Adventures of Cairo on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, the Wondery App, or wherever you get your podcasts!
This post is sponsored by Wondery Kids but the opinions are my own.
