Jim Gaffigan, Ryan’s World and YouTubers Gently Explain Coronavirus To Kids

Explaining the Coronavirus pandemic to children is not easy. For kids, all that’s going on can be scary, stressful, overwhelming, and confusing, especially for younger kids who can’t understand why they aren’t allowed to see their friends anymore. Luckily, YouTube has stepped in and wrangled together Coronavirus video explainers for kids to help calm them down and explain to them what’s really going on out there.

The Housley Life (matriarch: Tamera Mowry), Jim Gaffigan and his gaggle of five children, Ryan’s World, and WhatsUpMoms were all apart of this initiative to help provide helpful and age-appropriate information to kids. Every one of these YouTubers spoke to Andy Slavitt, the former Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under President Obama about why kids can’t play with their friends, see grandma and grandpa, or go to school. Slavitt also explained what the virus is, what we can all do to stop the spread of the virus, what we know about animals and COVID-19, and what our future might look like.

The videos can serve as helpful, and uplifting, information for kids who just want to know what’s going on and who might be a little scared. Much of “The Housley Life’s” questions were fielded by Tamara’s two very young children, and Slavitt answers with patience and clearness for questions like “Why is it called Coronavirus?” and “Why are people wearing masks?”

Jim Gaffigan, who has hilariously been documenting quarantine with his baseball team of a family, and his five kids posted a 15 minute Q+A with Slavitt on their own channel – but because of the sheer volume of children he has, each kid has their own time on the screen to ask the public health expert a handful of questions.

Ryan’s World might be one of the most popular YouTube channels around for kids. Ryan appears with his two parents to ask Andy Slavitt questions on how to prevent the virus from spreading with helpful illustrations, fun music, and informed, age-appropriate answers.

WhatsUpMoms is usually just a regular old parenting YouTube featuring Mom Hacks, recipes for the family, activities, and parenting gear reviews — but they switched gears on Friday for their own Q+A with Slavitt. Presley, one of the daughters featured on the YouTube, asked most of the questions for this quick-hit Q+A.