Little Kids, Big Hearts
Little Kids, Big Hearts helps kids and their grown-ups grow social and emotional skills, a.k.a. Big Hearts, with a little help from the show's host, Todd Loyd, a longtime early childhood educator. It’s a space where kids LEAD the discussion and explore big ideas in social and emotional learning — from feelings to friendship to helping others. If you like using your imagination, going on mindfulness journeys to magical worlds, and eating gummy bears that grow on trees, then you're in the right place! Recommended for big-hearted kids ages 2-10 (and their grown-ups).
- Update frequency
- every 15 days
- Average duration
- 19 minutes
- Episodes
- 83
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Everything PETS! — With Ashlie Atkinson
In this episode, four seven- and eight-year-old kids ( Evelyn, Ella, Chelsea, and Eliot) join Todd to discuss their best fur-riends: their pets! How do we care for our pets? How do pets make us feel?…
Bonus: Interview About the Research & Guide that Inspired the "Celebrating Our Differences" Episode With Dr. Colleen Russo Johnson and Makeda Mays Green
In our episode "Celebrating Our Differences," Todd joined with Makeda Mays Green to chat about identity, belonging, and race with four big-hearted kids. After the episode recording, Makeda and her c…
Celebrating Our Differences with Krys Marshall
In this episode, six- and seven-year-old kids of different races/ethnicities (Elliott, Finley, Landon, and Sky) join Todd and a special friend, Makeda Mays Green, to discuss identity, belonging, race…
Feeling Angry! — With Marjan Neshat
In this episode, three kids (Lauren, Esther, and Sam) join Todd to explore the feeling of anger — what it is, how it makes us feel, and what we can do about it! They share their experiences with ange…
Let's Talk Siblings With Jenn Lyon and Henry Vick
There’s a good chance that a sibling relationship will last longer than most other relationships in life. Many times, siblings can help children to define what they value and look for in other relati…
Bonus: Interview About Transforming Anger Into Advocacy with Marjan Neshat
This weekend, Little Kids, Big Hearts recorded a new episode about one feeling that ALL of us have — anger! The guest Qook-a-leekie in our episode was played by a friend, Marjan Neshat, an amazing ac…
Cultivating Sweet Kindness — With Meredith Holzman, Matt Malloy, Pablo Castelblanco, and Nadiyah Dorsey
In this special fictional episode we learn how one small act of kindness can spread through a whole community. The story is the origin story of gummy bears in the Land of Qook-a-Lackas. But it is als…
Trying New Things With Christine Pedi
When was the last time you tried something new? Was it hard? Was it scary? Was it fun? Trying new things can take us outside of our comfort zones and into places of uncertainty, which can be a bit sc…
Dreams & Nightmares with Christy Pusz Decatur
We all have dreams and nightmares, but they remain mysterious to most of us: Where do they come from? Why do we have them? How do they make us feel? How do we cope with the bad ones? In this episode,…
Seeking Little Kids With Big Hearts
As we put together season two of the Little Kids, Big Hearts podcast, we're looking for kids who have big questions and big ideas about the topics we KNOW are on little kids’ minds. If you have a chi…
Bonus Episode: The Dragon Among Us
The team at Little Kids, Big Hearts wrote this special fictional story, The Dragon Among Us, for our friends at Stories Podcast. They initially published it on their podcast feed, and we're sharing i…
How to Be a Global Citizen, Part II
Each neighborhood, family, and child is unique, but there is so much that we share — and so much that kids across the world can do together to connect across oceans and borders! In Part II of our glo…
How to be a Global Citizen, Part I
Some kids eat quesadillas for breakfast, some eat iddli, and some eat cereal — but there is SO MUCH that kids around the globe share in common! Meet Marcus from Japan, Gaurav from India, Ella from Au…
How to Stand Up
What would YOU do if someone was picking on a friend? Join Todd, Cora, Riya, and Simon to explore what you can do to become an upstander in your school and community. We all have the power to use o…
How to Help
"How to Help" highlights Orion, Zohaib, and Katelynn — three kids who are dong BIG things to help in their communities. Everyone, even little kids, can make a big difference. Listen to get inspired: …
A Back to School Like No Other: Bonus Episode
Kids around the world had a BIG transition back to school this year, filled with big feelings! The last school year was challenging and disrupted due to COVID-19. As we dive into a new school year, T…
Let's Work It Out!
“Let’s Work it Out” is about interpersonal problems — and how to solve them together! Todd and three kids (all big siblings with lots of problem-solving know-how) draw on their experience and problem…
What IS empathy?
Have you ever looked for clues to find out how someone else is feeling? Todd, Roxy, and three empathetic children discuss how they notice and share others' feelings and how they show that they care. …
What Makes a Good Friend?
Have you ever made a new friend on Zoom or tried to stay connected to a friend who moved far away? In this episode, Todd, Ringo, and four insightful children discuss the magic of friendship. They exp…
What Can You Do With Big Feelings?
What do you do when you're feeling angry or sad, or when you're facing something new and scary like COVID-19? In this episode, Todd, Rainbow, and four kids discuss big feelings, where they come from,…