We are right on the cusp of sometimes watching the shows geared for toddlers/preschoolers and watching the older kid shows, and wow what a difference between them. All of a sudden the wonderful educational moments are replaced with potty humor, okay this is not always the case, but generally it is. Since most of the shows that are on rotation for us, have some behavior we don’t actually allow in our home, we use those watching moments as a learning experience and talk about why “that” wasn’t a good thing to do or say (and what not). So to make everything better and easier (for us and them) we try our best to stick to shows that have only a few (or none) of these “learning moments”.
Here are my 5 favorite kid shows (their favorites are probably different), for the after toddler and preschooler age group/almost big kids.
Gravity Falls [image]
In no particular order, except that this is my new favorite. I casually suggest, “hey, let’s watch the show with the twin brother and sister” every morning (well, almost). I like this show a lot, it’s weird, cute and funny. And it’s made by Disney so no hidden, ‘teething clenching/maybe this isn’t that appropriate for kids’ moments. Also some voices you might recognize, like Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Concords fans?).
Phineas and Ferb [image]
At first this show was just annoying, but you know after having to watch each season about 5 times (kids) I’ve changed my tune. It’s clever, entertaining and no questionable behavior you need to worry about.
The Amazing World of Gumball [image]
I’m not gonna lie, it’s weird, but funny. It’s totally different then all other kids shows, real world backgrounds mixed with cartoons, talking animals and all other objects. But hey don’t the weird shows always make the best kid shows? Some teething clenching situations or conversations, depending on the age of your kiddos — but hey those are, “learning moments” right? Also it’s clearly not real life so that helps.
Peg and Cat [image]
One of the few educational shows that are not just geared towards the little kiddos. Since all the good educational shows are stuck in the toddler age group. This one is cute and clever and not annoying at all, I might like it more than Harlow.
The Regular Show [image]
I haven’t watched it enough, wait I mean WE haven’t — since these are kids shows and all. But so far, it’s pretty good. But as all the shows for the older kiddos go, there are some teething clenching we have to talk about why that was bad scenes.
It’s hard to find shows that aren’t annoying to watch and that aren’t a bad influence on the kids. It’s a shame that shows like Daniel Tiger (I like that show) don’t have an older kiddo version, why do the good educational parts to shows need to disappear as the shows get geared to older kids? My Little Pony and Adventure Time could also be on this list, but Adventure Time is a bit too adult geared for my kiddos age and MLP as been a bit over played over the years – so I cut them from the list. Do you have a favorite show that you like to watch with the kids?
Adding these to my list of shows to check out. I have similarly-aged kids (6 and almost 4) and we are in the same tv-watching transition. I LOVE Wild Kratts, as do they, Octonauts (geared to a pre-k crowd, but my oldest tolerates), and WordGirl. If you have Amazon Prime and Netflix, you can stream most of the seasons for those shows.
Oh all great picks! We love Wild Kratts and Dinosaur Train (sorta the same good learning type of show), but with no new seasons they are a bit bored with them. Or maybe I’m a bit bored after watching them so much, probably me.
Peg + Cat is our super fav here! I found myself watching it after flipping through channels the other morning and there were to children in my house…HAHA! I am actually horrible at math so maybe I should watch it more. LOL. I still really like Little Einsteins, it’s probably a bit young but I just like that if addy’s watching it while I’m doing something else the soundtrack is actually very nice and not obnoxious, like so many other shows! haha!
me too, mee too! I/we have never seen Little Einsteins, I’m gonna hunt it down!
My toddler ONLY likes Yo Gabba Gabba, which thankfully I love too!