As streaming libraries continue to balloon with endless options, Netflix is leaning into playlists as a way of making kids content easier to find and faster to play. Fine-tuning content delivery for this audience is more important than ever with the recent addition of heavy-hitter IPs such as Sesame Street, Ms. Rachel and Dr. Seuss. Thankfully, kids shows are relatively easy to curate, says Netflix kids product discovery lead Jessica Schein. “With adult TV shows, you have to watch episode one to understand episode two, and so on. But kids shows aren’t like that, [so they can watch them out of order].”
After quietly testing a holiday-themed playlist in December 2023—a trial that took the streamer by surprise with its level of success—Netflix formally rolled out the feature in fall 2024 with preschool episode collections built around specific themes. To step outside the festive period and include more evergreen concepts, Schein and her team are focusing on creating rewatchable playlists based on simple, familiar themes that kids enjoy (think animals, trucks and dinosaurs).
The approach has “exceeded expectations” as a discovery tool, she says, pointing to CG-animated Trash Truck as a standout example. Though this series originally debuted in 2020, it generated more than 18 million views in the second half of 2024 (doubling its first-half views). “The data to define success will always depend upon a specific activation—but members finding new shows to watch is really a key metric for us, and a critical way to think about whether or not we want to continue these playlists in the future.”
Over the past year, Netflix has rolled out seasonal playlists tied to Earth Day, summer break and back to school, and its first-ever Halloween playlist is set to launch this month. The service is also adding non-seasonal categories—such as kindness and big feelings—to the content rows on its kids profile homepage this fall in order to spotlight more episodes from various shows.
The curatorial process involves finding a concept that caters to a specific need, then pulling titles from the catalogue to match. For instance, the “big feelings” category is aimed at parents who are looking to help their kids learn to manage tough emotions (like jealousy or frustration) by watching their favorite characters deal with them. That said, Netflix still relies strongly on personalized recommendations, so even a new show or movie will only receive a push on a profile if it aligns with that member’s tastes.
And search data (such as whether members start looking up Halloween content in September or October) factors into determining the best time to launch seasonal playlists. “Our consumer insights team has done interviews with kids and parents, which really helps us understand the moments and types of content that are resonating with our members,” says Schein.
Looking ahead, Netflix is exploring an aged-up version of its preschool content hub that launched in April, Schein teases. Designed as a go-to for busy parents and caregivers, the hub organizes content around specific needs—whether that’s time constraints (like finding a 30-minute movie) or travel (pulling up the fastest downloadable content if you’re moments away from getting on a plane without Wi-Fi). “We’re going to [potentially build this same model] for an elementary school audience going forward, since these kids have different needs than three- to five-year-olds.”
This story originally appeared in Kidscreen’s Q4 2025 magazine issue.
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