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A surpising request - Need TV show recommendations for a toddler


aggieamy
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Based on my past history of being a bit over the top with my no-TV household it is with much humility that I come to ask for TV show recommendations for DS.  We are going overseas this summer and we'll be traveling by plane, trains, and boats.  I think DS and DD will do fine but for those times when we desperately need a kid to sit down and be entertained I want to put a few shows on the iPad.

 

For DD I was going to put a new Doctor Who episode or two on there and a few Horrible Histories. No problem there.

 

For DS I just don't know.  Shaun the Sheep?  That's all I know for gentle kids cartoons that DD would also somewhat enjoy. Please give me suggestions!  If it's available on Amazon Prime then double bonus awesome points!

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I have no idea about whats on Amazon Prime, but I'd go with a variety of educational shows or movies.

 

Signing Time

Leap Frog Phonics and Reading videos

Rock 'N Learn series has videos on Reading, Math, Geography, Spanish/French/German/Italian and Science

School House Rock

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Sid the Science Kid

 

I typically hate edutainment shows geared at PreK-K I just can't abide by the ridiculousness of the shows or the character voices or something.

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Amazon Prime has Mister Rodgers which some of mine were fascinated by and others couldn't stand. They also have lots of Sesame Street if that is your cup of tea. We watched some of the very first episodes when Oscar was orange. Signing Time is nice. 

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Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Curious George are both big hits around here. Some seasons of CG are on Amazon Prime. I don't recall if Daniel Tiger is or not.

 

Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, and Go Diego Go at least used to be on Prime. (We mostly use Netflix, so I'm not sure what's still on Prime.)

 

If any of the Leapfrog videos are on Prime, those also would be great choices.

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Leapfrog videos and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood are favorites here.  Peppa Pig is pretty cute, too, and the episodes are only 5 minutes long, so they're perfect when you just need a short distraction.

 

Not quite what you asked, but I also really like the Sago Mini apps for the iPad.  There's a road trip one where you pack bags, pick what car to drive (including a bathtub), and then drive to a friend's house.

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We are a no TV household and when I tried to use TV to my advantage he had no interest. He literally needed to be trained to enjoy television. It only took a month or two, but I just wanted to let you know.

 

Mickey Mouse Club House is our favorite here. 

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caillou

kipper

veggie tales

yes to Thomas the tank engine.

 

I also did youtube videos of trains & crossings, boats (Miami has a great fireboat), garbage trucks (in japan, they play a tune like an ice cream truck.)

 

eta: we noticed curious George had a terrible influence on ds (and he *never* gets in trouble!) so it was banned.

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Curious George, Daniel Tiger, and Backyardigans are all on Amazon Prime and, I think, are all appropriate for gentle little eyes and ears. Especially Daniel Tiger. The most recent season isn't on Prime, but there are way more than you could watch travelling, especially if your little one would prefer to watch the same thing over and over at that age.

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I don't have amazon prime so I don't know what's free or not but I just scanned their kids offerings and these are the ones that we enjoyed.

 

Oswald

Fireman Sam

Backyardigans

Little Bear

Fetch with Ruff Ruffman

Peep and the big wide world

Electric company (classics)

 

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Another vote for Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. It's a spin-off of sorts from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. An animated show based on the puppets. No monsters or bad guys. Just little friends learning things like how to share and be patient. It's very sweet. :)

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caillou

kipper

veggie tales

yes to Thomas the tank engine.

 

I also did youtube videos of trains & crossings, boats (Miami has a great fireboat), garbage trucks (in japan, they play a tune like an ice cream truck.)

 

eta: we noticed curious George had a terrible influence on ds (and he *never* gets in trouble!) so it was banned.

Please not Caillou! He is the whiniest child on tv.

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Aw hun, don't beat yourself up over it.

 

My now-adult kids were 100% TV free except at their dad's. My little.....erm......isn't......

 

I think you might feel better about it if you introduced him to classic shows like the original Mr. Rogers, Reading Rainbow, etc.

 

There's no way I could have handled Caillou or Dora without turning into a sobbing puddle of Mommy Guilt, but favourites from my own childhood, like Bewitched, Family Affair, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, felt more like a history lesson and shared family culture.

 

See what you can find from your own childhood on YouTube and Amazon Prime, but if you don't find anything you can feel okay about and if finances allow, they make things like this that would probably work for viewing DVD rips on iPads now.

 

Don't ask why a free software advocate who runs Trisquel knows about such things. Just please don't ask.

 

 

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FWIW, I had a toddler who hadn't watched much TV and I expected watching some shows on the airplane would be great - child didn't care at all about TV!  So you may want to try a few of the shows before you go and see if they work. :)  I was sorely disappointed that my desperation solution was useless.

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FWIW, I had a toddler who hadn't watched much TV and I expected watching some shows on the airplane would be great - child didn't care at all about TV! So you may want to try a few of the shows before you go and see if they work. :) I was sorely disappointed that my desperation solution was useless.

I'll second this. DS2 loves Thomas the Tank Engine, but that really only started after playing with big cousin's Thomas toys, etc. He still only lasts one "episode" which runs about 10 min. Enough time to nurse the baby and put her down or redirect that "I'm tired of traveling" tantrum, but nothing that's going to buy me a lot of time.

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Sparkabilities has an iPad app.  I would do that.  Right brain learning and your kiddo is at the perfect age to learn.  We have had several toddlers leave at 19/20 months old knowing all their shapes, colors, letters, letter sounds, etc.  They LOVE it.  It is also very calming when kiddos are fussy.  

 

Most of the shows listed above are incredibly annoying.  And you may well find that a child not used to watching tv simply will not.  

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Aw hun, don't beat yourself up over it.

 

My now-adult kids were 100% TV free except at their dad's. My little.....erm......isn't......

 

I think you might feel better about it if you introduced him to classic shows like the original Mr. Rogers, Reading Rainbow, etc.

 

There's no way I could have handled Caillou or Dora without turning into a sobbing puddle of Mommy Guilt, but favourites from my own childhood, like Bewitched, Family Affair, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, felt more like a history lesson and shared family culture.

 

See what you can find from your own childhood on YouTube and Amazon Prime, but if you don't find anything you can feel okay about and if finances allow, they make things like this that would probably work for viewing DVD rips on iPads now.

 

Don't ask why a free software advocate who runs Trisquel knows about such things. Just please don't ask.

I've been showing my DS The Muppet Show, and I now have the only 4 year old who asks to watch Leo Sayer, Lou Rawls, and Pearl Bailey. I love it!

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This is what my guy liked (he's 3 now) - at 2 his attention span for TV was about 30 min.  

 

PBS shows in general - Sid, the Science Guy; Curious George; Wild Kratts; Thomas; Daniel Tiger; and Super Why

 

From Netflix - Magic School Bus, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, How Things are Made, Animal or Bug Documentaries

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Octonauts is a current favorite here.

 

This is the one show my 1 year old gets to watch. She watches an episode around every other school day. I don't like TV for little ones but sometimes I desperately need her to be occupied so I can give attention to my 12 year old. This homeschooling with a toddler thing is no joke.

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The recent (5 yrs or so) PBS shows for that age group are all pretty good. 

 

The best for the pre-preschool age have been: 

 

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (great)

Wild Kratts (great for animal lovers but moves quite a bit faster and more grade school content)

Peg + Cat (really amuses my dh for some reason)

Sid the Science Kid (like Wild Kratts a bit above in terms of content)

 

From Amazon Prime: 

 

Pocoyo 

Wonder Pets 

Tumble Leaf

Little Bear (I probably love this one more than ds)

Peep and the Big World (great)

Dinosaur Train (like Wild Kratts usually a bit above the others in content)

 

I have fond memories of the Spot videos. I didn't really do tv when the boys were toddlers but my mother bought them some and Spot was one of the more realistic in terms of what a toddler can take in and be amused.

 

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beautiful, gentle times.

 

my kids liked:

little bear dvds

many of the rabbit ears videos (eg. http://www.amazon.com/Follow-Drinking-Gourd-Underground-Collection/dp/B00943YATQ/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1428420962&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=follow+the+drinkign+gourd+dvd) http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rabbit%20ear%20videos

free to be you and me dvd

mr. rogers

the magic school bus

signing time

 

at this age, they also loved anything david attenborough did.  there is something about the combination of animals/plants and his voice that worked.

and classic kids music cds like mr bach comes to call.

 

there are also dvds about a day in the life of a child in india/japan/france etc etc.  i tried really hard to find them, and couldn't.  but they were wonderful.

 

i also used to get the kids colouring books about the various countries and/or animals.... and placemats from each place with the wildlife. 

and before we left, i would have them fall asleep to the same cd... in the car, at home, etc, etc.  then, i could play it wherever we were, and it would help them sleep.

 

hth,

ann

 

 

 

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I'm a big fan of gentle shows for little kids. At that age, I'd suggest Little Bear (Amazon Prime), Tumble Leaf (Amazon Prime), The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (YouTube), Curious George (Amazon Prime), Blue's Clues (Amazon Prime), Wallace and Gromit (Amazon Prime).

 

Amazon Prime beats Netflix for us for kids shows.

 

Doc McStuffins is now on HuluPlus, which caused my girls to literally cheer this morning.

 

My girls have also enjoyed old musicals well pretty well at young ages. My dd's favorite for a long time was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I think I had "Bless Her Beautiful Hide" stuck in my head for a solid year. She just loved that barn raising scene, I think.

 

You could also go the DVD route and do Disney or other kids movies.

 

You'd think we watch a lot more tv than we actually do...

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