Educational Movies on Netflix: Learning Through Entertainment

Have you ever considered turning your Netflix binge into a learning marathon? Your favorite streaming service isn't just for entertainment; it can also be a fantastic place for learning. Some of the best educational movies on Netflix perfectly complement various curricula, offering new perspectives and insights into diverse subjects.

Netflix as a Learning Resource

Netflix is more than just a source of entertainment; it is also a tool for education. It’s pretty awesome to think about how Netflix, usually our go-to spot for chilling out, can also be a fantastic place for learning. With its lineup of best educational movies on Netflix, you’re not just unwinding - you’re getting a dose of knowledge, too! Each movie is like a mini classroom session but way more fun.

Worldwide, Netflix users spend 140 MILLION hours a day watching content. Chances are, students contribute to those 140 million hours. Long gone are the days of rolling the TV cart into the classroom and popping in a VHS. Students engage with YouTube videos to learn new skills, gobble up series and movies on Netflix and communicate with their friends via video with apps like Snapchat or Instagram.

Navigating Copyright and Educational Screenings

When using videos in the classroom, it's crucial to follow copyright laws. You can visit Netflix’s Media Center, navigate to “Only on Netflix” and click on “ALL ALPHABETICAL”. Select the movie you’d like to show, and check if it says “GRANT OF PERMISSION FOR EDUCATIONAL SCREENINGS.” If not, you can have your students watch at home or just show clips or trailers in class. Copyright rules on Netflix are subject to change, so feel free to take the titles on our list as simply recommendations. And if you have any questions about permissions, you can always call Netflix (scroll to the bottom of the page) to double-check.

Educational Movies and Shows on Netflix

Netflix offers a wealth of educational content spanning various subjects. Here's a look at some of the best options, categorized for different age groups and interests.

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For Language Arts Classes

Whether you’re going off of a reading list, or you’re letting your students choose their own books, you’ve got tons of options! For younger students, there are more TV shows which are great for shorter attention spans, while older students like high schoolers can enjoy full feature-length films.

• Llama Llama: Great for young elementary kids, the adorable animals in this show teach values like conflict resolution.
• The Magic School Bus and The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Learn about science with the classic books and TV series plus the new reboot! It’s perfect for kindergarteners and 1st graders.
• The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! Another great sciencey option for young students is this new series set in the Dr.
• The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants: Do your students need a good laugh?
• A Series of Unfortunate Events: Based on the Lemony Snicket book series, this new Netflix series is great for 3rd-5th graders.
• Geronimo Stilton: This series about an adventurous mouse are great first chapter books for young readers, especially when you can accompany them with this series!
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Who didn’t grow up reading Roald Dahl’s children’s novels?
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Inspirational and a true story, this film makes for an incredible watch for STEAM learning.
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Set during the Holocaust, this story seen through the eyes of children is an age-appropriate introduction for your students, even though it’s a very emotional watch.
• Emma: One of Jane Austen’s masterpieces is also a great movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Toni Collete.
• Mudbound: Dealing with the United States’ complex relationship with racism is an important theme for discussion with high-schoolers. This film set in the 1940’s follows a black family as well as a white family.

Documentaries

The documentary genre has come a long way in the past couple of decades. There’s nothing boring or dry about these documentaries, and it’s one of the most exciting ways to introduce your students to the world around them! Whether you teach history or science, art or P.E., you can find some fantastic educational content on Netflix!

• Blackfish: This critically acclaimed documentary explores the polemic issue of animals in captivity.
• The Nova Series: There are tons of options to choose from for every subject area.

Learning Foreign Languages

Teaching a foreign language is an uphill battle. Your students most likely only get to speak and hear the language they’re learning while they’re in your class, which is far from total immersion! Take your class one step further by exposing your students to TV shows and movies in the language you teach. The fabulous thing about Netflix is that you can add subtitles in the same language so your students can follow along with the words as they listen and watch - it’s the best way to learn!

For young students, you can choose from among Netflix’s many animated series and then set the audio to the language of your choice. Some favorites include Masha and the Bear, Octonauts and Llama Llama.

• 100 Meters: This movie will inspire your students as they watch the main character, a man diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, train for an Ironman marathon.
• April and the Extraordinary World: This gorgeous animated film follows April as she searches for her scientist parents throughout Paris.
• Rock My Heart: Great for middle schoolers, this is the story of a girl with a heart condition as she trains for a major horserace.
• Berlin, I Love You: Made up of a series of vignettes with A-list actors, you can pick and choose the stories to show your class.

Other Notable Educational Movies and Series

• "Expedition Happiness": This movie is more than just a travel story; it’s an engaging lesson in geography and culture. The story is perfect for students who love to learn in an adventurous way.
• "Our Planet": This series captures the essence of our world’s natural beauty and vulnerability. Each episode transports you to various corners of the globe, from the depths of the oceans to the heights of the rainforests. You’ll learn about diverse ecosystems, the species that inhabit them, and the critical balance that sustains life on Earth.
• "Roma": This movie tells a very personal story set in 1970s Mexico City. Students studying film and the arts will find a lot to learn from it. It shows what life and challenges were like during that time and gives a great look into Mexican culture and history.
• "Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates": It’s an insightful watch for students curious about business, technology, and making a positive impact in the world. You’ll see how Gates tackles complex problems and his approach to philanthropy.
• "A Beautiful Mind": This movie tells the story of John Nash, a smart mathematician who also struggles with schizophrenia. “A Beautiful Mind” is especially good for students studying psychology or math because it provides a real-life example of how someone can overcome difficulties.
• "Just Mercy": This movie tells the true story of a young lawyer’s fight for justice within a challenging legal system.
• "The Lost City of Z": This movie takes you on a big adventure into the Amazon rainforest. The film is about the search for a hidden ancient city. If you’re someone who loves stories about exploring unknown places and learning about ancient times, you’ll really enjoy this movie.
• "Explained": In 20 minutes or less, the show tackles various topics, from the water crisis to the racial wealth gap, in an accessible way. Be sure to preview episodes, as some are not suitable for young kids. There are a few different Explained series including Explained (has 21 episodes), The Mind Explained (has 5 episodes) and Sex Explained which has 5 episodes)
• "The Who Was? Show": There are 13 episodes, each covering 2 important Historical people. This series is based off the Who Was Books, so if you are wanting to keep the kids learning you can find the books on Amazon. If you are wanting worksheets to go with episodes I found the following Who Was Printable WorkSheets Series. Just print them and have the kids fill them out as they learn about each person.
• "Living on One Dollar": This film documents the journey of four friends as they live on one dollar a day for two months in the Guatemalan countryside. This challenge forces young audiences to understand the hardship of poverty and the importance of crossing boundaries to help others.
• "He Named Me Malala": After the Taliban tries to kill her for speaking out on behalf of girls’ education, Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai emerges as a leading advocate for children’s rights and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
• "Forks Over Knives": Researchers explore the possibility that people changing their diets from animal-based to plant-based can help eliminate or control diseases like cancer and diabetes.
• "Amend: The Fight for America": Synopsis: This famous comedian will talk about the fascinating contributions of black history’s unsung heroes.
• "Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates": Synopsis: Have you ever wondered how Bill Gates became the richest person in the world for the 16th times?
• "The White Helmets": Synopsis: This series shows how a group of people risked their life to rescue victims during the daily war that is happening in Syria. This show is a must to watch because it brings a whole new perspective on your daily life.
• "Period. End of Sentence.": Synopsis: A group of women come together to fight the misconception that menstrual cycle is taboo. These women are building a machine that makes a low-cost and affordable menstrual pads for the young women in rural India. This documentary is nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 91st Academy Awards.
• "Abstract: The Art of Design": Synopsis: It shows how artists see the worlds and how their designs impact the world. This documentary tells how the artists get their inspiration from before creating a masterpiece and you will watch artists such as Ilse Crawford, Tinker Hatfield, Christoph Niemann and Ruth Carter.
• "Babies": Synopsis: This documentary series explores and reveals babies life during the crucial first year. Babies are very mysterious, this series will unfold the meaning of their cry, are they hungry, sad or sleepy? They will also show babies first words, walk, crawl. Don’t you want to know how you were before you grew up?
• "Night on Earth": Synopsis: This series tells the habitat and characteristics of wildlife animals such as cheetah, penguins and sea animals.
• "Dream Big: Engineering Our World": Synopsis: This documentary shows how engineers change the world, fight the current problems and solve tomorrow’s challenges. This will show how they ensure buildings or creations such as the skyscraper, dam and even hot air balloons are safe and do not danger the human beings.
• "Zion": Synopsis: Zion was born without legs and raised in foster care. But that did not prevent him from achieving his dream in wrestling sport. With only 11 minutes, you can learn so much from Zion and can encourage you to go deeper and fight for your dreams.
• "Coronavirus, Explained": Synopsis: This series will unfold what is the virus about, symptoms of disease and ways to combat it and how to manage mental issues during quarantine.
• "Street Food": Synopsis: This mouth-watering documentary series celebrates the street food around Asia such as Thailand, India, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam.
• "WWII in Color": Synopsis: This docu series will unfold the events that were happening during World War 2. Events such as the bombing at Pearl Harbour, Nazis that were led by Adolf Hitler and bombs hit Great Britain.
• "Headspace Guide to Meditation": Synopsis: This series will dive deeper on what is going on inside our head.
• "The Mind, Explained": Synopsis: This docu series digs into and explains many topics such as K-pop industry, cryptocurrency, diamond, beauty industry, music, world’s water crisis, reasons why women paid less, tattoo, existence of aliens and marijuana.
• "The World's Most Extraordinary Homes": Synopsis: This reality shows the outstanding and beautiful houses around the world such as Israel, Norway, Spain, India, Japan, Switzerland, Portugal and the USA.
• The Magic School Bus: Make science fun with the one who knows it best, Ms.
• The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Ms.
• Penguin Town: Even endangered species of penguin-like city life. This educational Netflix show is about penguins that migrate to a South African town.
• Pick of the Litter: Consider yourself warned, this will catch you in the feels. This is a heartwarming story about how people and animals can work together to live a full life.
• Brainchild: This educational Netflix show explains things like germs, emotions, and social media in a way that kids understand and even might relate to.
• Hachi: Another warning about heartfelt dog stuff, because this one will definitely catch us in our feels.
• The BFG: An inspirational story about friendship and loyalty.
• You vs. Wild: Man vs.
• Weird but True: A mix of science, arts and crafts, and series of facts.
• Adoption Day: A series about the day animals get adopted to their forever homes from shelters.
• JFK: The Making of a President: Explore how John F. Kennedy’s worldview was influenced by his younger years, when he endured poor health, family tragedy and a demanding father.
• The Wheelchair President: This documentary sheds light on Franklin D. Roosevelt and how his failing health and marriage affected his presidency during WWII. Shake up your homeschool curriculum with a new vantage on our 32nd president.
• The Civil War a Film By Ken Burns: Originally aired on PBS in 1990, this landmark mini-series unfolds infamous battles of the Civil War with unprecedented emotion and relevancy making it arguably the most successful program of the network’s history. Letters, interviews and music from this period depict the personal stories of soldiers and officers inside the larger context of war.
• The Pixar Story: The story of the pioneering computer animation studio Pixar, featuring contributions from the studio’s bosses and a host of actors who have lent their voices to their creations, including Tom Hanks. Films such as Toy Story’ andA Bug’s Life’ have led to the studio becoming one of the most consistently successful, both critically and financially, of recent years.

Overcoming Access Barriers

While Netflix offers incredible educational resources, access can sometimes be an issue. Some places, like schools and office buildings, block sites like Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu, and some areas don’t have a strong enough wifi signal or bandwidth speed to stream files as large as shows, movies, and documentaries.

Read also: Learning Resources Near You

If Netflix is blocked at school due to security filters, there are still some great options you can use to harness the power of videos in your class. The first is to download the movie or show you want to screen at home in advance and then watch that way. You can project the video using a Chromecast or Apple TV if you have either of those options.

Another idea for those who might not be able to access Netflix in the classroom or are worried about taking up too much class time is showing shorter clips and trailers. If you can’t stream Netflix, use Edpuzzle to find the trailer, clip or full film you want to show. If you show just a part in class, you can assign watching the whole movie or show for extra credit.

Bonus Tip: When you are done watching whatever you downloaded (show, movie, or documentary), delete it from your downloads.

Read also: Learning Civil Procedure

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