Netflix wants to win over families with Netflix Playground, a brand new standalone gaming app built specifically for kids 8 and under. There are no ads, no in-app purchases, and no extra fees on top of your existing Netflix membership. It is currently live in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, the Philippines, and New Zealand, with a worldwide rollout set for April 28.
What can kids actually do on Netflix Playground?
You download the app on a phone or tablet, sign in with your Netflix account, and kids get instant access to a growing library of games featuring characters they already love. Peppa Pig, Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Storybots, Horton, and more appear across various activities.
Kids can care for guinea pigs and make smoothies in the Peppa Pig game, practice memory matching and connect-the-dots with Sesame Street characters, explore cause-and-effect play with Horton, or make a “fart-filled song” using a turntable in the Bad Dinosaurs game.
Every game is instantly playable and works offline too, which makes it genuinely useful for long trips without a strong internet connection.
What else is Netflix bringing for kids?
Beyond the app, Netflix also announced a new preschool animated series called Young MacDonald, created by Gabrielle Meyer of Ada Twist, Scientist fame. The show follows Mac, Old MacDonald’s grandson, as he tends to his farm with a pig named Dumpling.
Trash Truck and The Creature Cases also got renewed for additional seasons, and a packed slate of returning favorites, including CoComelon Lane, Ms. Rachel, Mark Rober’s CrunchLabs, Sesame Street, and Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, is coming through summer 2026.
Netflix’s gaming efforts haven’t taken off the way the company hoped, partly because it has fewer iconic franchises than rivals like Disney+. Focusing on kids’ content helps close that gap, and families with young children are simply less likely to cancel their subscriptions.
