Chances are if you spent any time on YouTube this year, you were looking at videos inspired by kids content. 

The platform released stats yesterday about some of the year’s standout search topics in the US. Some of them will come as no surprise, but there were a handful of less obvious entries.

What was trending in the US? (And what the heck is Cookie Run: Kingdom???) 

• Roblox experiences were a hot topic, especially Grow a Garden (the number-one favorite title among seven to 12s) and Steal A Brainrot, a breakout hit in Q3. With so much interest in its games on YouTube, it’s no wonder Roblox is pilot-testing a platform feature that will let users create, share and discover short-form vids. 

• KPop Demon Hunters (pictured). Obviously. Music videos from the hit animated film have hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, and fan-made content on the platform ranges from cosplays to edits of a Sesame Street crossover in which Cookie Monster learns about Korean food. Could Netflix benefit from this popularity by bringing some user-generated content onto its own platform, like Disney+ did? 

• Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo leans heavily on family-friendly IPs like Mario, Donkey Kong, Pokémon and EA Sports. And its new console, released this year, is a big deal for kid-focused game developers, since the portable platform is geared more towards younger gamers than its competitors. 

• Cookie Run: Kingdom. Rated E10+, this is a kid-friendly mobile and PC adventure game from South Korea’s Devsisters in which players build their own base and battle enemies. November’s collab for Wicked: For Good saw characters from the movie incorporated into the game. 

• Labubu. Pop Mart’s very trendy ugly-cute plush was a hot topic in 2025. These little furballs are big with kids, but there’s also a ravenous kidult/collector market for them—and as we’ve seen in the last month, both Disney and MGA are among a growing group of players putting their own spin on the concept.

• KATSEYE. This girl group with K-pop styling has pretty tween-friendly tunes, and it partnered with Spin Master’s Toca Boca in June to add branded avatars and music into the Swedish developer’s roleplaying game. 

• And Brainrot—a class of low-quality vids that don’t take much effort to make or watch—is really being embraced by tweens and teens. 

MrBeast keeps his crown 

For the sixth year in a row, MrBeast was YouTube’s number-one creator. The world’s most renonwned kid-friendly YouTuber is building his own media empire through boxed lunches (Lunchly), family-friendly Prime Video competition series Beast Games and even a collection of animated shorts based on his toy line from Moose Toys. 

The rest of the top creators list doesn’t have any obviously kid-focused names (sorry Ms. Rachel and Mark Rober). They’re mostly streamers, comedy creators and educational channels aimed at older audiences. 

KPop Demon Hunters rules the top songs list 

Four of YouTube’s top 10 songs for 2025 came from KPop Demon Hunters: “Golden,” “Soda Pop,” “Your Idol” and “How It’s Done” were ranked third, fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively. Another feather in the cap of a brand that has spent the year slaying records.