TV Programs for Kids

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Posted December 10, 2008

Dear Kitty,

I read your article on rating programs but a lot of these don't seem to be on TV anymore. I've tried to completely avoid letting my son (23 months) watch cartoons but now he seems to be quite interested. So the odd time I do allow him to watch something I'd like it to be "good". I've recorded a few Max & Rubys & Little Bears. Would if be possible for you to please pass along some good shows? And ones to avoid that are out there now but aren't on your list? As always, thanks so much!

To give you the best answer regarding recommended children's television programs, I asked other parents to write in to provide a list of programs they particularly like their child to watch.

Notice I didn't ask for the shows your child "loves". We are a better judge of which shows are beneficial from the following standpoints:

It peaks your child's curiosity
It is not over-stimulating with constant flashing, high chirpy, unreal voices, etc.
People or animals are nice to each other and model behaviors you want your child to see

In addition, I asked readers to tell us which shows do they do not want their child to watch and why?

Here are the comments I received:

"Our son’s (3 years, 10 months) favorite show of the moment are “Super Why” and “Wilbur”. Both promote reading and use familiar stories to explain a moral, or story. Both “look in a book” for an answer. He can’t read yet, but has always cherished his books, so both these shows play on that interest. Characters are kind and gentle, and motion is not too fast paced. Backyardigans have been a constant. They’re quite kind to one another (though Tasha is a bossy one), they go on some exciting adventures and the music doesn’t grate on parents like some of the others. Diego and Dora are popular with him, but nothing like his preference for Super Why. Usually, one of Super Why (or Wilbur) a day is enough to satiate his tv craving.

When he was younger (2 – 2.5), he enjoyed “Franklin” and “Little Bear”, but they seem young for him now, or maybe he’s more into the novelty of “super Why” and “Wilbur”. Elmo’s world was also a good one for him too.

We are not fans of Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch – the big white spider scares our son. He does watch Nemo, but we skip chapters through some parts. Most Disney films have too many villains and other than “edited” Nemo, we have yet to find something appropriate.

Hope that helps and I am looking forward to hearing others top picks!"

"My son is almost 4 and mostly watches the Backyardigans. He likes to re-enact the adventures they have by himself or with his friends who also watch the show. The voices are calm and animation is easy on the eyes and the characters are kind to each other. It has also sparked his interest in pretending. The basis of the show is the friends get together in their backyards and pretend they are somewhere else and have adventures together. When he was 2, we enjoyed watching Poko and Little Bear.

We have a pvr and only record the backyardigans, so I am not sure which other shows are on right now and can’t comment about which shows I don’t like. Actually I know I don’t like Dora and Diego because the voices are loud and annoying.
We are really enjoying the weekly newsletter!!"

"My daughter will be 3 in May and highly verbal. She gets about 30 – 45 minutes of TV about 4 times a week and we’ve recently started “movie night” with her on the weekend.

Shows I like for her:

Toopie and Binou – Toopie does have high chirpy unreal voice, but the show is very funny and I think the things they do – have a parade of toys, puppet shows, tell various bedtime stories, etc. – spark the imagination. It started off I think as a French program and little Toopie and Binow books are available in French at Librairie Monette, so it is a nice way to introduce a second language too.

Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go – very commercial, but they are adventurers, out in the world doing interesting things. Kids learn about animals, etc. And the books actually are good for developing language, counting, ABC’s, and a tidbit of Spanish. Despite being so commercial, I don’t mind these shows at all.

Franklin – There is always some moral to the story. Hope this helps!"

"My picks for t.v. shows are: Curious George (my favourite for a long, long time) and Caillou.

I prefer my child not watch Dora the Explorer because it is annoying and you really don't learn anything - I also do not like Sesame Street - the creatures are too hard to understand. I hope this helps!"

"My son is 5 and we love Curious George (CBC and PBS), Franklin (treehouse), Handy Manny (Disney – channel 39), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (channel 39) and Pinky Dinky Doo (CBC) at our house. We took Kitty’s advice a few years ago and taped some Mr. Rogers off the tv and he quite likes that too. My one year old daughter seems to enjoy Barney, but basically gets stuck watching whatever my son puts on – she doesn’t really seem to care. I am still pretty particular with what they watch, but as my son has gotten older, I have loosened the boundaries a bit. I think he is still the only 5 year old that has only ever seen one movie in his lifetime and that was part of his birthday present when he turned 5."

"My son will be three in June and started watching television when he was two years old. We experimented with quite a few different programs both on television and on DVD and found a few which we don’t mind him watching and which he also seems to enjoy.

On television: (mainly treehouse, some CBC or PBS) Max and Ruby, Babar, Mighty Machines

DVDs include: Raffi, Little Einstein

As an adult, I enjoy the Backyardigans but he doesn’t seem to be able to follow the story line yet so he gets bored quickly. On occasion, we watch Curious George or Franklin. I try to stay away from Thomas because I find the story lines a little negative. No Disney yet as they all seem to have “scary monkeys” (a dark character of some type)"

Raymond Parenting

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