Above: My Family’s Radio/record player/ tape player. It has blessed us so much through the years!
An audio drama has been described by those of Lamplighter Theater as “A movie for your ears.” Amongst others, their dramas have greatly blessed and continue to bless my entire family. We have immensely enjoyed listening to audio dramas in the car, on road trips, while weeding, during chores, while doing a quiet activity, when eating lunch, or just for fun! I have compiled a list here of all our favorite audio dramas that I recommend. When assigning ages, I based them on what my own siblings have enjoyed and their intensity levels, so age levels may very by a few years. Let me know in the comments if you have had the chance to enjoy any of these audio dramas and where!
Radio Drama: Form of art radio broadcasting, the radio transmission of a recording of a play or dramatization of a literary work.
Radio drama is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story: "It is auditory in the physical dimension but equally powerful as a visual force in the psychological dimension." - Wikipedia
| Drama: | Producer: | Recommended Ages: | Where To Listen: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamplighter Kids Stories (podcast) | Lamplighter | Up to 7 | Find the podcast or listen on Spotify | Animal stories narrated by Rebecca and Momo, the squirrel. Sweet adventures teaching truths and virtues. |
| Psalty The Singing Songbook | https://www.psalty.com/home–3 | Up to 7 | Listen on Spotify Find the old videos on YouTube Or find old tapes or records 🙂 | Praise music and fun simple adventures with a talking singing songbook and friends. |
| Patch The Pirate | Up to 8 | Listen on Spotify, or to get the CDs go to: https://www.majestymusic.com/patch-the-pirate.html?p=2 | As much music as adventure. (We also have Harmony At Home, music from the regular CDs with a theme of family, helpfulness, and positive attitudes.***) Sometimes we do have to skip a few songs, however, most of them are very sweet and fun. | |
| Paws And Tails | Insight For Living | Up to 10 | Listen for free at: https://pawsandtales.org/listen https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/paws-and-tales/listen/ keysforkids.org or listen on Spotify | The first four children in my family listened to every episode when we were younger, and now, the next three children are starting to enjoy them! Some episodes do have a character with negative attitude***. The most intense episodes are Goliath and all of the Shadow Valley episodes. |
| Your Story Hour | Your Story Hour | Most ages; Differing intensities* | Listen for free at: https://www.yourstoryhour.org/listen-for-free https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/your-story-hour/listen/ To get the CDs: https://www.yourstoryhour.org/shop/stories ** | So many great, true life stories about missionaries, historical figures, Bible figures, and people like you and me with amazing stories! |
| Brinkman Adventures | Most ages; Differing intensities* | Listen for free at: https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/brinkman-adventures/listen/ To get the CDs: https://brinkmanadventures.com/ | Mainly, missionary stories. So inspiring! | |
| Lamplighter Theater | Lamplighter | Most ages; Differing intensities* | Listen for free at: https://lamplighter.net/shop-theatre/#audio-listen or buy the CDs/MP3s at: https://lamplighter.net/shop/ ** | Such beautiful and inspiring stories with themes like redemption, forgiveness, humility, character, and more. (The only one we have heard that is moving but sad is Titus Comrad Of The Cross; it is about the man who died next to Jesus.) |
| Focus On The Family Radio Theater | Focus On The Family | Usually 10+ Differing intensities* | Listen for free at: https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/focus-on-the-familys-radio-theatre/listen/ Or get the CDs: https://www.focusonthefamily.com/radio-theatre/ ** | We appreciated some more than others, however, some we particularly liked were The Hiding Place, Les Miserables, Narnia, Benhur, Anne Of Green Gables, and Little Women. |
Johnathan Park | 10+ somewhat differing intensity* | Find the CDs at: https://www.jonathanpark.com/pages/entire-collection ** | Fictional characters going on adventures and sharing real life evidence for creation. The original adventures have more creation evidence. My favorite album is the Journey Never Takenseries. They are best listened to in order. | |
| G. A. Henty | Heirloom Audio | 10+ Some details are quite intense* | Find the CDs on: https://heirloomaudio.com/audio-adventures/ | Lots of excitement, daring, battles, and noble heroes from history (and a little bit of romance, but my brothers still love Henty’s stories!) Great Role Models. |
*Differing intensities; some are episodes are more intense than others.
**Check your local library too.
Parents: please use your own discretion when referring to this list.
***Some of my siblings particularly, (and maybe me) were extremely susceptible to sass and bad attitudes growing up so I want to mention it for families with the same struggle.
Also, somethings we never get too old to enjoy! Parents, grandparents, and older siblings may truly enjoy listening with the younger children in their life. There should be no age limit of when you can’t enjoy listening to these dramas. I may never stop re-listening to my favorites!
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. -Phillipians 4:8
Joyful Living With Kalli 