# Movies for sensitive 3 1/2 year old?



## Rox5266 (Nov 26, 2004)

My ds is very sensitive when he sees any show with a stressful situation in it. Even in shows like "Go Diego Go," and "Dora the Explorer" - and even if he has seen them before. Are there any movies out there that are fun and gentle that a 3 1/2 year old might enjoy?


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## mammastar2 (Dec 17, 2004)

You can always give "movies" a miss until he's older, there's no particular reason he needs them or anything, right?

That said, I'd recommend

- Little Bear (including the Little Bear Movie) - this is wonderful, gentle, imaginative: we love it!
- Spot: maybe not quite as interesting, but at least very gentle
- Kipper: sweet and gentle


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## wytchywoman (Nov 14, 2006)

You might want to uke at this suggestion but have you considered Barney? My almost 6 yo DS still loves him and his videos are very mellow and tame, plus they come with a little bit of educational value too.

Namaste,

Michelle


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## pixiexto (Mar 6, 2003)

My eldest DD is quite sensitive. She's a bit older than yours (4 1/2), but she likes the Heffalump movies and has for about 6 months now. They're kind of cute and not too emotionally charged.

With Dora, Swiper used to freak her out ENTIRELY. She didn't like his suspiciousness and his swiping, I guess.







Not that I minded.... *grumble, grumble... Dora...*


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

My DD likes to pretend play Swiper...with herself in the fox's role.

Seriously, though, if your DC is that sensitive, just skip the movies altogether.


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

my neighbor totoro is not too scary. it does have a slightly scary storyline in that the mom is sick (1950s japan, maybe? TB?) and in a hospital, but that is almost incidental. then little one of the two sisters gets lost and the big sister looks for her as well as the whole village. it's more intense for parents, though. there is one part where totoro roars and it's really loud, but he's a kind character (kinda big furry panda bear/bunny cross). my dd1 is really sensitive, too, and would often run from the room when swiper or the grumpy old troll came on dora, but she liked totoro.

hth


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## marnie (Jul 13, 2004)

my daughter likes the pooh movies - there is tension but it is always explained as a misunderstanding - so she experiences the tension but can then laugh about how silly it was, which she really enjoys.


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

I second Little Bear. I also really like old Blue's Clues videos (with Steve).


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## 4Marmalade (May 4, 2004)

Another sensitive 4 year old ds here. The only movie we have tried (a couple of months ago) was Curious George. He watched the whole thing and didn't want to turn it off but he also didn't enjoy it. He watches a few TV shows that are on PBS, CBC Kids, etc... We've also got a few Little Bear shows from the library. We'll be holding off on more movies for a while yet.


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## mammastar2 (Dec 17, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *beanma* 
my neighbor totoro is not too scary. it does have a slightly scary storyline in that the mom is sick (1950s japan, maybe? TB?) and in a hospital, but that is almost incidental. then little one of the two sisters gets lost and the big sister looks for her as well as the whole village. it's more intense for parents, though. there is one part where totoro roars and it's really loud, but he's a kind character (kinda big furry panda bear/bunny cross). my dd1 is really sensitive, too, and would often run from the room when swiper or the grumpy old troll came on dora, but she liked totoro.

hth

We LOVE Totoro! But...at that age my dd was terrified of how loudly he roars...


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## PiePie (Oct 2, 2006)

cars
growing up with winnie the pooh: love and friendship (warning, not all pooh movies)
tigger movie (there is an avalanche -- i don't think it's scary)


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## Periwinkle (Feb 27, 2003)

Little Bear!!!! LOVE that show. It's all goodness.

Haven't found a movie yet that I like and would show them.


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## warriorprincess (Nov 19, 2001)

Wallace and Grommit, the shorts more than the movie. The are funny while the drama comes from things like running out of cheese (OK, that might make me panicky...)


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *warriorprincess* 
Wallace and Grommit, the shorts more than the movie. The are funny while the drama comes from things like running out of cheese (OK, that might make me panicky...)

My ds had a problem with Wallace and Grommit. I think it started with the Wrong Trousers. He was fine with it before age 3 but developed new fears at that age (which is very common). At 5, he watched Chicken Run with me but found it disturbing.

He had me unplug the TV AND cover it with a blanket because of the singing fruit on Sesame St when he was 3.


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## mammastar2 (Dec 17, 2004)

Now that dd is 5, she likes Wallace & Gromit (except the movie is too scary) - but The Wrong Trousers, and also the one with the killer dog after sheep were too much when she was younger.


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## 1growingsprout (Nov 14, 2005)

Little Bear
KIDSONGS
Little People (fisher price dvd's)


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## AKmoose (Jul 25, 2003)

Little Bear!


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## ZanZansMommy (Nov 8, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Periwinkle* 
Little Bear!!!! LOVE that show. It's all goodness.

Haven't found a movie yet that I like and would show them.

yeah. I gotta second that. We have all of the little bear movies on DVD & I just recently started taping the Little Bear shows on Noggin. I have found NOTHING as gentle as Little Bear & my DD LOVES him. So do I for that matter. Now if I could just be a little more like Mother Bear....


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Maisy (although that might be a little young)
Oswald series on DVD.


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## VaDoula (Jan 18, 2007)

Richard Scarry, Wiggles, Cars, Kipper, Sesame Street, VeggieTales, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Bob the Builder, Little People, Thomas, Wacky Babies (It's a nature video by Marty Stouffer, voice overs for the animals, very cute.)


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## OakBerry (May 24, 2005)

My 4 y/o ds is sensitive.
I second Spot and Kipper.
He also likes Barney. I agree with the pp who said he's hard to stomach, but it is very gentle and they promote sharing and caring.
He loved the Curious George movie and Cars too.


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## mint (May 24, 2005)

The Wallace and Gromit movie was too much for my little guy and killed his interest completely in the shorts, though he loves the idea that Gromit knits. He mostly likes The Backyardigans, Wiggles, Little Bear, definitely Totoro (though there is a scary part when her little sister gets lost, as others may have mentioned).

I was hoping we could share some other movies with him. A neighbor wanted to watch Finding Nemo with him, but we decided against it. We also decided to wait on Monsters, Inc. I was upset when someone said they played Babe for him a year ago.

There is a website that may help a little bit, but watching the movie first is a must.:
http://www.kids-in-mind.com/


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## Terabith (Mar 10, 2006)

Little Bear! (huge hit at our house with my pretty sensitive but now starting to LOVE Go Diego Go - better than Dora)

Preschool Power (preschoolers and toddlers doing stuff like sweeping, making pinatas, coffee filter art, etc - kinda Montessori ish)

Signing Time
Maisy
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
Richard Scarry dvds (alphabet and Mother Goose ones are hugely popular here)


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## LeftField (Aug 2, 2002)

My oldest son is just like that. He is highly sensitive. We do love Little Bear but there are episodes that still freak him out. There's one that is coming to mind, but I don't actually watch it so I couldn't say which one it was. It was an autumn scene, one of Little Bear's daydreams, with a dancing scarecrow with a pumpkin head. That bothered him a lot. And there's one episode that does not bother him, but could bother a kid. They believe that Emily's doll "Lucy" is dead.

My son is 5 1/2 and I'll tell you that he still enjoys "Barney". He seriously does. Actually, both my kids will watch Maisy and Blue's Clues. Oswald is exceptionally gentle.

We did take them to see the Curious George movie (their first movie) and while it was greatly enjoyed, there were some scenes that upset my 5 year old. In an early scene, the man with the yellow hat looks at the sun and his eyeballs get really big and cracked. Ds1 hid his face for that one. And there's the scene at the end where the man with the yellow hat calls animal control on George and has him deported (before changing his mind). It depends on the kid, I suppose. I cried during that part. The PBS show, "Curious George" seems pretty gentle.

Anyway, I sympathize with having a visually sensitive kid.


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## 4evermom (Feb 3, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mint* 
There is a website that may help a little bit, but watching the movie first is a must.:
http://www.kids-in-mind.com/

That website looks useful. I've never been able to trust other people's judgement on movies because things that might upset my son don't even make it onto their radar, even on MDC, but that site has a nice run down of every scene that can be construed as sexual, violent, gory, etc. It even included the slop feeding scene in Charlotte's Web under gory.


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## OakBerry (May 24, 2005)

I forgot! I highly recommend the Popular Mechanics for Kids series.
We have Radical Rockets and Slither and Slime. They are informational and hosted by preteens. One of them is now in the show 24!

Anyway, they aren't scary at all. The info may be a bit advanced, but imo a preschooler would still enjoy it as well as a preteen. Ds loves them and I've given them as gifts.


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## EmsMom (Dec 13, 2001)

Both of my kids were (are) soooo sensitive. Mr. Rogers was good (except for the one where he uses a mask --- bad, bad Mr. Rogers). Little Bear the show was good (NOT the movie which has a scary mountain lion in it). Barney was good. The new Curious George seems okay (but I wouldn't go to the movie because movies always seem to be much, much scarier than tv shows). Hey, my 8 year old finds The Waltons too scary... She finds The Magic Tree House too scary. Some Winnie the pooh movies were too scary. No Stuart Little either. Gee, almost any recent movie is way too scary. Have you thought of old movies? Shirley Temple? Mary Poppins was popular! But Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was too scary.


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## LeftField (Aug 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EmsMom* 
Both of my kids were (are) soooo sensitive. Mr. Rogers was good (except for the one where he uses a mask --- bad, bad Mr. Rogers).

There's also an episode where X the owl and Lady Elaine talk about fear of dying. I have never moved so fast to change a channel. It was not developmentally appropriate for my child at the time. I think that the Mr Rogers episodes are aired on a specific yearly schedule, however. That's the only episode that I took objection to, so far.


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## marieangela (Apr 15, 2003)

My 4 yo ds is fairly sensitive, too. He likes Curious George and Cars. He used to watch only Pooh movies because anything else was too stressful. We tried Little Bear and he had us turn it off. He doesn't really like any kind of stressful or scary situations or characters.


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## jaidymama (Jun 18, 2005)

My ds is sensitive as well (thank goodness imho)... and so I have really limited the amount of TV we watch and what it is he sees. For us watching movies becomes a slippery slope--the more we watch, the more ds wants to watch... when we avoid it all together (for a length of time), he doesn't bring it up or rarely asks.... which for us is a good reason to skip it.

Some good ones;
Little bear
Barney
Mighty Machines (a documentary about machines for kid's... shows actual machines)
Caillou (very sweet cartoon)
Bob Builder

Ones that I am holding off on:
Thomas the Train
All Disney Movies (finding nemo, etc)
Arthur
Cars (while some have recommended this, I would caution you against it since you mentioned your dc does not do well with Dora... There are some violent scenes and the characters are not nice and sweet like a Barney or Caillou cartoon. I personally liked the movie, but don't find it appropriate for my ds at this time. I also think the moral to the story is too subtle for little ones to get. If you're curious about it, check it out first.)


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## brookesmommy (May 2, 2006)

Caillou (PBS)
Sesame Street (PBS)
Carebears (DVD's)
Some of the winnie the pooh (shapes and sizes) (DVD's)
Curious George (PBS)
Little Bear


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## brewgirl (Sep 22, 2004)

Sensitive 3.5 year old here. Shows we can watch:

Pingu (though not the episode where Pinga is feeling left out and leaves without telling Pingu)
Blues Clues
Wiggles
Signing Times
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service (there is a scary part at the end of this one, so preview it first before showing it to your little one)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (most of the other Pooh movies have been too scary)
Imax movies
Just about any nature film (Microcosmos, March of the Penguins)
Cars
Old movies, like Singing in the Rain. Pretty much musicals with lots of dancing.
Barney
Mythbusters
Cooking shows (Racheal Ray in particular)

I know that she doesn't NEED movies, but sometimes I'd like to curl up with her to watch one. They're hard to find. Ah well! I'm sure all of these documentaries that she likes are doing me some good as well.


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## LeftField (Aug 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brewgirl* 
Just about any nature film (Microcosmos, March of the Penguins)
Mythbusters
Cooking shows (Racheal Ray in particular)

I don't know about some of these...I'm speaking as the mother of a boy who also would leave the room in the middle of Dora to hide. Many nature films have animal violence in them. I thought I had read that, "March of the Penguins", in particular, made lots of adults cry. I see a big red flag on the nature films and documentaries for the presence of violence.

And I would not let my son watch Mythbusters (even though he loves science) because they do some very disturbing things to Buster the crash-dummy. It sounds silly, but putting myself in a highly sensitive little boy's shoes, it would be nightmare-inducing.

I think that we all have different definitions of what constitutes "sensitive", but I feel like my son is waaaay down on the high end of it. And I get the impression that the OP's son is also.

I quoted the Rachel Ray show in there, because I'm







. My 3 year old LOVES Rachel Ray. He really loves her 30 minute cooking show! But my 5 year old has zero interest in cooking shows.

Whoever recommended Calliou, that is extremely gentle. You have to learn to tune out his annoying whining voice, but if you can do that, it's an excellent show for highly sensitive children.


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## LauraLoo (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LeftField* 
I think that we all have different definitions of what constitutes "sensitive", but I feel like my son is waaaay down on the high end of it. And I get the impression that the OP's son is also.

This is true for us, too. My ds is especially sensitive. I know that a lot of movies are just fine for many children, but I had to really preview anything after we got a Kermit movie "The Swamp Years." It has a scene in it where they were dissecting frogs - scalpels and all. I would have never guessed that a Muppet movie could be so scary!

Someone suggested older movies, like Shirley Temple. IMO, some of those aren't any better than more recent movies. I remember watching many Shirley Temple movies with issues of abandonment and being orphaned such as "The Little Princess" and "Heidi."

I just think it makes good sense to preview as much as you can to determine if the content is suitable for your particular sensitive child.


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

i think i've already posted to this, but thought i would reply again with more detail...

dd1 is 6 now and has a wider range than she did when she was younger, but she's still very sensitive. when she was little she liked:

Maisy
Max and Ruby
Peppa Pig (5 minute shorts on Cartoon Network)
Miss Spider (some had scary moments)
Zoboomafoo
Blues Clues
Dora (ran away from swiper and the grumpy old troll)

now she likes:
Zula Patrol
Reading Rainbow (i screen these for content -- good show, but there are ones about childhoods growing up with war, etc. she especially likes the nature ones of these)
Between the Lions
Big Big World (well, I like it)
Magic Schoolbus (sometimes they're scary)

for movies, i think the first movie we showed her was Totoro and she liked it fine. i think she was about 5 then, though.

we tried to show her Piglet's Big Movie and she asked us to turn it off because it was too scary.

weirdly enough, they think Tom and Jerry is hilarious! it used to sometimes come on after Peppa and got recorded a time or two and they giggle and laugh uproariously while all these horrible (to me) violent cartoon things are going on. i really try to screen those. some of them are just way over the top for my sensibilities in regard to my kids. there's a few Tom and Jerry episodes that i let them watch that don't have as much violence, but more of the slap stick which is what they like i think. there's one called "Zoot Cat" that's _okay_ by me. still has a few "not nice" things, but a lot of dancing and stuff so i'll let them watch that when they need a T&J fix.


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## ZanZansMommy (Nov 8, 2003)

I forgot to add Max & Ruby. They are very gentle IMO.


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## velryba (Jan 16, 2003)

we LOVE my neighbor totoro too! They have a newly dubbed versoin ( I think disney?) and an older version (fox). We prefer the first one (purchased the 2nd version and returned it). The children's voices in the original version is more expressive and sounds more age appropriate. The public libraries and blockbusters usually have the old version too! Hope you will enjoy it as much as we did
Emily


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## honeybee (Mar 12, 2004)

My ds loves The Bellflower Bunnies from Feature Films for Families


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## Rox5266 (Nov 26, 2004)

Wow thanks or all the great ideas! My son Likes Diego and Dora, and is not afraid of Swiper, but when an animal gets in trouble and yells, "Help!" or a big wind comes and blows the magic flute away, sometimes he will scream in fear.







: A lot of what was mentioned he already watches sometimes on Noggin. He recently started to love to watch Oswald, and will sometimes watch Little Bear. I am thinking more along the lines of full length movies you see in movie theatres. Disney and Pixar movies and such. My ds loves music, so anything that has alot of good music would be nice to find. I have Thomas the Tank Engine on videos for him - he loves Thomas! I am thinking about the Cars movie - can anyone tell me if any character gets really upset or hurt or in bad trouble? If so, Cars would not be a good idea for him.







:


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## Thao (Nov 26, 2001)

If it's the tension in the movie that bothers your son, then forget about feature length films. Because they have to have tension to have a plot, you know? My dd is almost seven and still won't watch any feature length film, which we respect. We were at her cousin's house when they were watching Cars, and she chose to go to another room to play. It's not violent, but there is tension and suspense.

She loves Tom and Jerry and anything Looney Tunes. I know they are considered violent because of all the falling anvils and whatnot, but see there is no tension in those films. Because after the anvil falls on the coyote's head, he just pops back up to try again.

I kinda miss watching movies with her too, but fortunately I also love the cartoons so we bond over an hour-long Tom and Jerry DVD rather than a feature film.


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## BrooklynDoula (Oct 23, 2002)

My son is a year older and the same way. Barney was loved by him (although I would have not shown them to him ever except SIL got him hooked!). Kipper, Max & Ruby, Little Bear - those are the most mellow ones I have seen.


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## cooltubnoac (Jul 17, 2005)

My almost 4yo son is sensitive to "bad guys" and tension on television thus we do very little of it. One thing that has worked for us is the scholastic videos which are "movies" made out of books. The "chicka chicka boom boom" movie is much better than the book, IMO. They only use the illustrations in the books and sometimes animate them, sometimes its identical to the book and its like you're turning the pages. This method also avoids all marketing and commercials. Sometimes we have the book s first and sometimes he begs for the books after he's seen the movie.


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## elizawill (Feb 11, 2007)

barney, sesame street, little bear, berenstain bears, ....really any of the sing-a-long videos are not going to be too intense for your little guy...try wiggles ..kidsongs ...elmo, etc.


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## RadiantMama (Sep 9, 2004)

my 3.3 dd is SCARED of swiper
she likes winnie the pooh
the only disney i don't abhor


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## karmaplex (Apr 25, 2007)

Wow, this is amazing! Our 3-year-old DS is VERY sensitive. I didn't realize there are so many others like him (very reassuring!)

I thought for sure Barney would disturb him, but there's something about that dino he really likes - (I just recently discovered this.)

His other favorites are Winnie-the-Pooh (though there are a few scenes that upset him...

Our son also seems to enjoy Sesame Street.


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