How to Make a YouTube Playlist

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Recently on the Blog, She Wrote Facebook page, I asked readers if they used a YouTube playlist and if so, to share some of their favorite YouTube channels. We gathered some great information on some fun channels, but I also learned that not everyone knows what a YouTube playlist is. Today I hope to help readers out by explaining How to Make a YouTube playlist.

What is a YouTube Playlist?

Here are a few things to know about YouTube playlists:

• It’s a customized list of videos to watch.
• You can choose the categories for your videos.
• Choose as many categories as you’d like.
• Anyone can view your playlists unless the videos are marked as private.
• You don’t need a Google account to view the playlists, but you do need to have one to make playlists
• Share playlists with friends.
• They are super easy to make and save for later!

Benefits of a YouTube Playlist

So, what are the advantages of setting up playlists? There are many:

• Set up categories for school videos and save them for later as you are planning.
• Save a list of your child’s favorite shows without having to hunt for them each time he wants to watch.
• Customize your lists for your homeschool and child.
• Make a list for each child.
• Make lists of assigned videos for the week.
• Helps to make YouTube a “safer” place for your child because a “yes” list has been created for them by you- that does not take the place of being around! (Managing the Internet in Your Home might give you more ideas)
• Make a playlist of your favorite YouTube videos related to a topic or a YouTuber. You can start by checking out my playlists on YouTube. I’m just getting started, but it’s good stuff!

How to Make a YouTube Playlist

So, how do you make a playlist? Here you go:

• Go to your YouTube page and click on “My Channel”.
• Next find “playlists” in the center of the page and click.
• To create categories, choose “+Add playlist” and type a category name.
• When you find a video you’d like to save to a playlist, click on “+Add to” and select the category. It will automatically save to that list.
• You can also click “+Add to” and create a new category. This way if you find something that doesn’t fit and you want to add a category, you can make it right from there. Also, you can just start searching videos and create categories as you go.
• When you want to watch a playlist, you simply go to your channel and click playlists to see them all.
• By default you already have a “liked videos” category.

How to Use a YouTube Playlist

Once you have some playlists saved, what’s next? How will your students watch the videos?

• On the TV through the Wii (or a laptop) – great option for those without tablets and excellent for lots of kids to see it at once.
• Computers– Both laptops and desktops
• Tablets– iPads & Kindle Fires are great options (check out how we use our Kindle Fires)
• Small Devices– Like iPod Touches and Android devices
• Many mobile devices have YouTube apps which help with viewing- I just tried one out on my Android smartphone and it’s perfect! You can add videos to playlists and create them there too which means you can make your lists on the go as well.

Once you have your YouTube preferred medium worked out, you can use and share Playlists any time. I like to share a video while we wait at the doctor’s office or any other time we are on the go. Usually we find videos which are relevant to a topic of study and I can save it to a playlist and let the kids know.

Now it’s time for a YouTube content post, right? We know how to create and save to playlists, let’s find some good stuff to fill them up!