Scratch Garden on YouTube: Phonics Songs for Letter Sounds (and How to Watch Safely)
FamilyTube channel guide #6
If you want phonics songs on YouTube that help kids hear letter sounds — especially vowel sounds — without turning screen time into random nursery-rhyme scrolling, Scratch Garden is a channel parents often bookmark next to story-style phonics shows.
Scratch Garden makes short, catchy English learning songs: vowels, punctuation, prepositions, and more. This guide focuses on phonics songs (sounds, not just letter names) — a different lane from calm nursery sing-alongs like Super Simple Songs.
For story-style phonics with living letter characters, many families also use Alphablocks. Scratch Garden does not replace Alphablocks — it is a song-first way to rehear short and long vowels.
- Official channel: youtube.com/@ScratchGarden (~2.3M subscribers; 630 videos as of Oct 2026)
- Reference playlist — English Learning Videos! (34 videos): English Learning Videos!
What is Scratch Garden?
Scratch Garden is an independent YouTube channel of fun, educational videos for kids — bright cartoons, simple animation, and songs that teach English ideas in small bites.
Unlike a single TV phonics series, the channel mixes topics: grammar songs, counting, science sketches, and English learning songs. That is useful once you know what you want — but it also means not every playlist is a pure phonics path.
For letter sounds, we treat Scratch Garden as a phonics song supplement: one clear single-letter vowel starter, then two-letter vowel team songs when your child is ready — not nursery rhymes, not the digraph playlist (sh, th, ch) as day one.
With 630 videos on the channel, newcomers should not add the whole library at once. FamilyTube keeps only the songs a parent approves.
Why parents like it for vowel sounds
1. Songs stick in little ears
Short vowel vs long vowel is abstract on paper. A two-frog, SHORT vs LONG song gives kids a hook they can hum while you point at words in a book.
2. One focused starter for single-letter vowels
Scratch Garden's only single-letter sound song in this lane is The Vowel Song: Long and Short Vowel Sounds — A, E, I, O, U with clear short/long contrast. That is the whole first-week starter here (not a trio of playlist entries).
3. Vowel team songs for the next step
When short vowels feel solid, two-letter vowel team songs (for example ay and ee) extend long-vowel patterns without jumping to every digraph on the channel.
4. Different slot than Alphablocks or nursery rhymes
Alphablocks is episodic story phonics with blending practice. Super Simple Songs is calm sing-alongs and routines — wonderful, but not a vowel-sounds curriculum. Scratch Garden fits "let's sing the sounds again" between reading time and Numberblocks maths clips.
My take as a twin dad
I use Scratch Garden when we need sounds in music form — especially vowels — and I do not want the YouTube homepage picking the next video.
We start with one approved song: The Vowel Song. If both twins are humming "short" and "long," I might add a vowel team song later — only after short vowels feel comfortable.
The catch is still YouTube: 630 uploads, mixed topics, and recommendations. That is why our Scratch Garden picks live in a short FamilyTube list — not the open app feed.
The catch: great songs ≠ safe YouTube feed
Even wholesome learning songs sit inside YouTube's recommendation and autoplay system. Comments, suggested videos, and "one more" can pull kids into videos you did not preview — including non-phonics topics or long compilations.
That is the gap FamilyTube is built for:
Kids only watch parent-approved YouTube videos.
No recommendation feed. No endless scrolling. No surprise next video.
You keep the phonics songs you chose. You drop the algorithm.
FamilyTube only keeps the videos you approve — not every upload the channel has ever posted.
Where to start: one vowel song (not the whole playlist order)
The English Learning Videos! playlist is a handy bookmark — but it is mixed English learning, not a pure phonics playlist. The top entry is The Sentence Song; the vowel song comes next; later entries cover punctuation and prepositions. Do not assume the first three playlist videos are three phonics starters.
For letter sounds, start with this single song:
- The Vowel Song: Long and Short Vowel Sounds — watch on YouTube
On screen, two frogs sit on lily pads — one labeled SHORT, one LONG — while the song works through short and long sounds of A, E, I, O, U. This is Scratch Garden's only single-letter vowel sound song in this guide.
- Playlist (reference): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_ym6QHjS1sznCEmTtHOXNi9s9naNWXX5
- Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ScratchGarden
Next step: two-letter vowel teams (not week one)
These are two-letter vowel team songs — not single-letter songs, not first-week starters. If short vowel sounds are not solid yet, skip them for now and keep repeating The Vowel Song.
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The Vowel Teams Song | The Long A Sound (~4:14) — watch on YouTube — on screen: ay, with day, play, say; chapter title The AY vowel team.
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The Vowel Teams Song | The Long E Sound (~3:47) — watch on YouTube — on screen: ee and bee; chapter The EE vowel team.
The Vowel Teams Song | The Long A Sound — on screen: ay, day, play, say; two-letter AY vowel team (next step, not a first-week starter). 
The Vowel Teams Song | The Long E Sound — on screen: ee and bee; two-letter EE vowel team (next step, not a first-week starter).
What we are not using as starters here
- The Sentence Song, punctuation songs, or preposition songs — useful English learning, but not your first letter-sound pick.
- The channel's digraph playlist (sh, th, ch, and similar) — save for later, not day one.
- Whole-channel import — with 630 videos, pick songs one by one in FamilyTube.
How to watch Scratch Garden safely in FamilyTube
- Open FamilyTube (parent mode).
- Search for Scratch Garden, paste a YouTube link, or share from the YouTube app.
- Add The Vowel Song first — then vowel team songs only when you approve them.
- Turn on Child Mode.
- Hand over the iPad knowing the next video cannot wander into mystery recommendations.
Result: your child can enjoy phonics songs — and only what you approved.
Quick FAQ
Is Scratch Garden phonics or nursery rhymes?
This guide uses it for phonics songs (vowel sounds and vowel teams). For classic nursery sing-alongs, see Super Simple Songs.
Which video should we start with?
Only The Vowel Song: Long and Short Vowel Sounds as the single-letter starter. Do not treat the first three entries of English Learning Videos! as three phonics songs.
When should we add the Long A and Long E team songs?
After short vowel sounds feel comfortable. They teach two-letter vowel teams (ay, ee) — not single-letter songs.
How does this compare to Alphablocks?
Alphablocks is story-style systematic phonics with blending episodes. Scratch Garden is song-based rehearsal for sounds — use both if you like; one does not replace the other.
Can I add the whole channel at once?
With 630 videos, that is usually too much. FamilyTube lets you import channels or pick videos one by one; a short song list is calmer.
Does FamilyTube replace YouTube?
No. FamilyTube uses YouTube's player for videos you choose. It removes the open recommendation rabbit hole for your child.
Bottom line
Scratch Garden is a strong pick for phonics songs on YouTube: a clear vowel sound starter, optional two-letter vowel team songs when ready, and catchy music that keeps letter sounds in rotation — distinct from nursery-rhyme channels.
Start with one vowel song. Keep the whitelist short. Pair with Alphablocks for story phonics if you want both. Watch inside FamilyTube so good songs do not get undone by a bad recommendation.
Pair with Numberblocks for early maths, Cosmic Kids Yoga for movement, Art for Kids Hub for drawing, or Super Simple Songs for calm sing-alongs — or browse all channel guides for more parent-trusted picks.
Free trial on FamilyTube · Scratch Garden on YouTube · Alphablocks guide · All channel guides