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zappelin.nl
Although the shift from cable television to TV streaming sites has been, on the whole, a very positive thing, there is one demographic that has been left behind. I'm talking about course, our children! Sure, many of the best streaming sites have made an effort to provide a children's section or at least some form of kids content, but these categories on the top streamers pale in comparison to both the quantity and quality of entertainment for adults. No matter which streaming services you have a subscription to, there is a good chance that your kids have exhausted all available children's programming available by now - plus, we all know how picky kids can be!
Are there some premium cartoon streaming sites that are worth their subscription fees? Yes, but convenience still remains an issue with many of them. Take Disney Plus for instance. Disney Plus is one of the best streaming sites in the world, but they are a little thin, believe it or not, when it comes to the number of children's programming offered. Disney Plus does offer all of its iconic movies, but when it comes to streaming cartoons, I'm afraid Disney Plus just doesn't cut it. Plus, not everybody has the wiggle room in their monthly entertainment budgets to take on yet another premium streaming subscription right now.
Disney has another streaming service, too, Disney Now. This one is made just for kids, and it combines all of its children's programming from its 3 famed channels - Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior - to offer what might just be the best cartoon streaming site for all ages. One problem here is that you can only access all of Disney Now?s content if you already have a traditional cable plan. You can stream some cartoons here for free, but the majority of Disney Now?s content is blocked, reserved for cable customers ? not to mention the fact that, gradually, Disney is moving the bulk of its Disney Now content over to Disney Plus to - you guessed it - persuade people to become Disney Plus members.
There are several good free cartoon streaming sites that don't cost you anything each month. Some of them offer a premium experience, even, without a price tag. If you live in the Netherlands, you and your family automatically have access to one of the best free cartoon streaming sites in the world. I am talking, of course, about Zappelin.
Zappelin is the free cartoon streaming site brought to you by the popular children's network, NPO Zappelin. This network of cartoon and children's entertainment channels has long been known for providing high-quality, substantive, often educational kids content, and their free cartoon streaming site is no different. With dozens of regularly updated cartoon and live-action series to choose from and a fun and interactive site design, your kids will be sure to love Zappelin, perhaps the best free cartoon streaming site in The Netherlands.
Naturally, as a parent, you will want to vet every site before letting your kids use it. I totally understand? I am the same way with my young ones. Any use of the internet must be monitored, I must approve every site before I allow my kids to visit. And we all have different expectations and definitions of what makes for an acceptable streaming service for our kids, right? So, before we jump to any conclusions about this one, let's take a closer look at Zappelin and see if it is, in fact, the best free cartoon streaming site for you.
History
As I already mentioned, Zappelin.nl comes from a company with a long history of producing high-quality children's content. In fact, if you are raising children in the Netherlands, I would be surprised if this is the first time that you are hearing about Zappelin or NPO. Perhaps, though, you remember it best by its original stylization of its name, Z@ppelin. This is the name that was used when the program block first launched in September of 2000.
Before Zappelin, the channels Nederland 1, Nederland 2, and Nederland 3 had programs that were all split across them. In September 2005, though, Zappelin became its own channel specifically for children aged 2 to 6 years old. It wasn't until 2012 that the ampersand was dropped from the name, and the much more simply titled Zappelin came into existence.
In March of 2013, a new rebranding occurred. Viewers likely weren't affected by this one too much, all that happened was that Zapp and Zappelin had NPO added to them, becoming NPO Zappelin, which is the official name of the channel and the streaming service today. The idea behind this, from what I have read, was to make the channels and its shows more readily recognizable. Alongside NPO Zapp, the channel airs NPO 3 during the day. If your kids just can't get enough, though, there is always NPO Zappelin Xtra, which is a 24-hour children's channel.
Zappelin.nl integrates all Zappelin content (including the 24-hour live stream) into a single convenient and easy to use streaming site.
Design
I think the design of Zappelin is incredible. It is brightly covered, engaging, interactive, fun, and very user friendly. Not only is the site's intuitive design a perk for you as a parent to navigate in a rush or while juggling a million tasks at once (as parents so often do), but it is so easy to use that I wouldn't be surprised to see a child navigating it themselves.
I absolutely love the design of Zappelin because it is interactive in a way that reinforces learning and literacy. When you hover your cursor over an image, for example, the title of that show is read aloud. This helps with reading, speech, and memory. In my opinion, every cartoon streaming site or website made for children should be built with reinforcing education in mind as Zappelin is. This is just one of the many factors that make this one of the best free cartoon streaming sites ever made.
The site is designed with an infinity scroll, meaning that there is no need to click around. This makes the site perfect for kids who are allowed and able to browse the content on their own. If your child is allowed and capable of browsing the content on this site by themselves, all they have to do is keep scrolling and loading more videos until they find the one that catches their eye, click on it, and enjoy. I haven't seen a streaming website with a more simplistic design than this one.
Content and Features
Zappelin offers a wealth of great content for kids, but it also has special features specifically designed for parents. In the top right-hand corner of the website, you will see a button labeled "parents." Click on this, and a site menu bar appears at the top of the page. Here you'll find several options: Guide, Programs, DIY, Birthday, Actions, News, Podcasts, and Alarm Clock. These features make Zappelin one of the best free cartoon streaming sites available.
I think the Guide is pretty self-explanatory. Programs lets you view a list of Zappelin programs. The DIY section, though, is where things get interesting. In addition to providing tons of free cartoons for your kids to enjoy, Zappelin goes the extra mile by letting you download and print coloring book pages, drawing exercises, games, and fun recipes to make together.
Zappelin has prepared a special message for you to play from a favorite Zappelin show presenter. This is why Zappelin is the best free cartoon streaming site of all time, as you will also find interesting news stories, ideas for activities and crafts projects, and even podcasts for the little ones to enjoy!
Mobile and Desktop Experience
Zappelin offers mobile apps for both Android and iOS devices, which are every bit as well-designed and easy to use as the desktop site. However, it does appear as if the Zappelin mobile apps are a little buggy (no sound being a common complaint). Hopefully they fix this problem soon!
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