# non-violent non-sexist/racist children's TV/movies?



## cww (Jun 1, 2010)

Our daughter is about 22m, and so far she has hardly seen any TV. However, we don't want to make TV a forbidden or illusive thing, since we think it is totally fine in moderation, and so I've started looking for decent children's programming. Since my daughter loves animals, I thought I could try starting with animal documentaries and/or animated movies about animal characters. However, I've been pretty frustrated with what I can find on netflix (we don't have any actual TV, just access to TV/movies through netflix, itunes, and hulu) and so I was looking to purchase some other options, but I hate to do that when I can't see it first to vet it! Here are my main issues with the kid's TV I've seen so far (this also crops up far more than one would imagine in books, but at least those I can read first!):

There is a ton of violence in kid's programming - not just physical violence, but people (or animals!) behaving in particularly nasty ways to one another, putting each other down, etc. This drives me crazy. I really don't want my daughter exposed to that at this age, and I certainly don't want her imitating it.

There is also a ton of both overt and subtle sexism and racism in so many programs that I hadn't totally accounted for. I don't want to expose my daughter to any program where traditional gender roles are repeatedly shown as the main or only model or where the main characters are mostly male, and I'm very uncomfortable with the way that characters from various groups on these programs often seem to reinforce one narrow stereotype of what people from that group are like. I thought I could avoid a lot of this with animal shows, but they still seem to reinforce all the same societal norms as stories that involve people. When she is older, I feel that we can talk about all of these things and teach her to enjoy stories while also being conscious of the presence of these kinds of bias, but right now I don't want any of these messages being instilled in her subconscious, especially since she will see it enough on the playground and out in the world!

I was hoping that some of you might have some suggestions for either TV shows or movies that might be avoid gender/race/ethnic sterotypes and also promote good non-violent healthy ways of relating to one another?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!


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## ThreeTwoFive (May 7, 2011)

Of the ones we watch I would recommend Dora the Explorer and Wonderpets. Try your local library.


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## grethel (Mar 14, 2009)

Our 3 year old likes Kipper and Little Bear. Kipper is on streaming netflix, and Little Bear is free on Amazon if you have Prime (think you can find some episodes on YouTube, too). On Little Bear, the parents do fit into very traditional gender roles, but it has never seemed offensive to me for some reason.


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## sk8boarder15 (Jan 12, 2010)

We do blue's clues, and Yo Gabba Gabba. Blue's clues is about as mild as you can get.


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## Adaline'sMama (Apr 16, 2010)

DD loves YoGabbaGabba.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

DD2 adores Wonderpets. It's had the odd side effect of causing my children to eat a lot of celery.


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## Emaye (May 23, 2008)

Winnie the Pooh (the old ones.)


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## cloudbutterfly (Oct 22, 2008)

Curious George on PBS (the recently-made ones) should fit what you're looking for. It's a wonderful show. You might try Sid the Science Kid in a few months...DS wasn't interested in that one until he was about 2.5.


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## mtiger (Sep 10, 2006)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Emaye*
> 
> Winnie the Pooh (the old ones.)


Both of my kids loved the original Pooh bear videos. They also liked watching Zabu from Animal Planet - you should be able to get those on video or disc.


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## mommariffic (Mar 18, 2009)

Little Bear is a hit here for the younger guy and we have David the Gnome on DVD which both my kids love love love


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

You don't mention any concerns about the role of advertising, marketing, and commercialism revolving around children's programming. Is this a concern for you? Because it you are thinking seriously about the other matters I'd suggest reviewing the literature on this issue too. For me, this is one of the largest and more harmful issues of exposing a young child to most media. Very damaging.


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## Adaline'sMama (Apr 16, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JudiAU*
> 
> You don't mention any concerns about the role of advertising, marketing, and commercialism revolving around children's programming. Is this a concern for you? Because it you are thinking seriously about the other matters I'd suggest reviewing the literature on this issue too. For me, this is one of the largest and more harmful issues of exposing a young child to most media. Very damaging.


I agree. For us, this is the very reason we tend to stay away from Dora, Disney, Spongebob, etc. It's the mass marketing around their shows that I cant stand, not the shows themselves. We dont see a lot of advertisments for things like Yo Gabba Gabba, Fraggle Rock (on netflix now!), and a lot of older shows. Plus, DD is not allowed to watch anything with commercials. I think commercials are way too fast paced and include SO much information in a tiny amount of time, which IMO is not great for little kids.


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## nstewart (Nov 6, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *JudiAU*
> 
> You don't mention any concerns about the role of advertising, marketing, and commercialism revolving around children's programming. Is this a concern for you? Because it you are thinking seriously about the other matters I'd suggest reviewing the literature on this issue too. For me, this is one of the largest and more harmful issues of exposing a young child to most media. Very damaging.


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Adaline'sMama*
> 
> I agree. For us, this is the very reason we tend to stay away from Dora, Disney, Spongebob, etc. It's the mass marketing around their shows that I cant stand, not the shows themselves. We dont see a lot of advertisments for things like Yo Gabba Gabba, Fraggle Rock (on netflix now!), and a lot of older shows. Plus, DD is not allowed to watch anything with commercials. I think commercials are way too fast paced and include SO much information in a tiny amount of time, which IMO is not great for little kids.


 YES to both of these posts! We don't really do TV (exception for long car trips and one or two Sunday evenings per month) but when we do allow TV we stay away from any licensed characters and watch on TIVO or on DVD to avoid advertising. I was sick one day and flipped the TV on for DS so I could get a bit of a break and was apalled at the commercials on Treehouse even!

My DS LOVES "Mghty Machines". Not sure if your DD would be in to that type of thing, but he is facinated by what machines do and how they work. No violence or gender roles there. Maybe you can find something similar that suits your DD's interests (for example, Zoboomafo or another Kratt's brother's show if she is into animals. I actually used to watch Zoboomafo! The show is well done).


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Oh, yeah - Zoboomafo is great. It's geared at little ones, but even dd1 likes it, and she's nine. Wild Kratts might be a little more violent (sort of) than you're looking for, though.

I agree about commercials. We don't watch any tv with commercials. I'm not crazy about all the cross marketing, but it doesnt' seem to have had a huge impact on my kids, despite watching Disney (dh loves Disney) and Dora and such.


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## nilatti (Aug 5, 2010)

DS loves Sesame Street and Shaun the Sheep, both of which are pretty nonviolent and show non-traditional gender roles.

We don't have real TV either, but there's tons of Sesame Street on youtube and Shaun at our local library.


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## sageowl (Nov 16, 2010)

I hear ya. It's not easy to find good stuff...but it's out there.

Things I've enjoyed with my son (whose attention span is too short to recommend any feature length films):

1. How'd the Build That (educational videos about trucks and machinery). I enjoy these myself, they're fascinating and appropriate for a broad range of ages.

2. Scholastic does a bunch of video versions of favorite kids stories/books. They're about 20 minutes long, and aimed at preschool age kids, but my toddler loves them. I usually just check mine out from the library or occasionally find them at yard sales.

3. The Richard Scarry ABC video. I've never met a kid who didn't love this. (features lots of animals). Can't vouch for the newer TV show, I haven't seen it, but it may be good. I wouldn't know.

4. Baby Einstein. Some are better than others. My son likes certain ones a lot, others not so much. My main gripe with these is yeah they're totally free of violence and fairly multicultural, but they feel like a bit like a toy commercial at times. Oh, and the songs get totally stuck in your head.

5. Tec the Tractor. Kinda like Thomas, only live action, not animated (with a big talking red tractor). Less annoying than Thomas, I actually enjoy watching this show. It's Welsh though, and hard to come by.

6. Kids123 (on Youtube). Simple songs/animated videos--one guy with a guitar. I think this guy's Australian. Perfect for toddlers because they're simple, not overly busy, and quite educational. Importantly for adult viewers, the songs are NOT annoying, like most of this kind of stuff. And the characters are usually animals.

These are just a few things to get you started. I recommend browsing the library for kids videos, they usually have the kinds of things that have stood the test of time.


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## Emaye (May 23, 2008)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Adaline'sMama*
> 
> ... Fraggle Rock (on netflix now!), and a lot of older shows...


I love Fraggle Rock too. The show covers a lot of social themes and has really nice music. I highly recommend it. Like others here, we also don't own TV so it has been really easy to choose what our children watch.

I have the scholastic children story videos as well and my children really loved them when they were younger.


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## Ratchet (Mar 24, 2011)

Classic sesame street is on netflix now. Current day sesame street is not really to my liking (I must admit I have always disliked Elmo and can't get over the loss of Jim Henson) but I LOVE the old stuff.


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## rubidoux (Aug 22, 2003)

Charlie and Lola is my current favorite, and there are many free episodes on YouTube. I also think Backyardigans is pretty good for preschool age kids, although the marketing for it is a little pushy. I think its very good w gender, though. And I play some old Sesame Street on YouTube for my little guy.

Also,as previous poster mentioned, those scholastic videos are great. We bought a boxed set of them from Costco at Xmas-time one year and LOVE them.


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## Adaline'sMama (Apr 16, 2010)

Oh, Sharon, Lois, and Bram's Elephant Show is awesome.

It's where the skinna marinky dinky dink song came from, not from Barney like most people assume. (OMG, after years of my little sister being obsessed ith Barney I cannot tolerate that show).


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## P.J. (May 18, 2010)

We tried Yo Gabba Gabba but, although I loved it, it was just too in-your-face flashy for DS (now 2 1/2). I think it's aimed at older kids, not toddlers. I worry about attention span problems when the image is flashing so quickly like it does on that show.

For something totally innocent, slow and sweet check out Bagpuss. It's an old children's program from Britain, made originally in the 60s I think. It is just so sweet! They're all on on You Tube: 




Or, we also love the #1 German cartoon, called simply "The Mouse". Shaun the Sheep (also a show we like) was made as part of this show (in cooperation with BBC). Anyway the mouse cartoon is very simple and revolves around a mouse, a tiny elephant and a duck who are all friends. All are completely un-gendered. It consists of short snippets, about a minute each, and no words so don't worry about the language thing (it's German). It does have great orchestra music though as background sound. The themes are always solving problems creatively, helping your friends, friendship and working together. It's very sweet and incredibly cute. Look up "Die Sendung mit der Maus" on You Tube. Here's one:


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## Asiago (Jul 1, 2009)

We record Curious George from PBS channel. There was one episode though we deleted regarding scarey noises/shadows at night. Apart from that it's quite safe and not at all flashy nor overly stimulating.


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## Tbutton (May 24, 2012)

What about Caillou? We like it because it's completely innocent and is actually meant for toddlers. There is gentle parenting, no propaganda, and nothing violent or alarming to worry about.


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## GrungeBaby (Feb 10, 2010)

Pingu on Netflix is one my daughter really enjoys!


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## Dianamal (Sep 22, 2008)

We do Mr. Rogers Neighborhood on Hulu and DS (2.5 yo) also really likes animal videos (Dogs 101, Cats 101, etc.) on animalplanet.com.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ratchet*
> 
> Classic sesame street is on netflix now. Current day sesame street is not really to my liking (I must admit I have always disliked Elmo and can't get over the loss of Jim Henson) but I LOVE the old stuff.


I don't like current Sesame Street as well as the older stuff, but I can handle it, until Elmo's World comes on. His voice drives me nuts.

My kids all love the Abby's Flying Fairy School segments, though...even dd1, who is nine, finds it funny.


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## tbone_kneegrabber (Oct 16, 2007)

Pingu

Little Bear

Signing Time


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## cynthiamoon (Nov 29, 2009)

I researched how parents can raise progressively minded kids and the article "See Baby Discriminate" in newsweek blew my mind and led me to look into what actually works vs. the "color blind" stereotyping is a social construct mentality. From the literature and research, sheltering doesn't work. Discussion does. Uncomfortable discussion. Like "everybody is equal" is gibberish unless you talk about differences vs. value judgements and equality versus diversity as real complex issues. I made a little video of discussion starters (older audience) that might be useful. It's on www.neoapprentice.com; tittle is "cultural identity".


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## grethel (Mar 14, 2009)

Because a couple of people mentioned Shaun the Sheep, I thought I'd mention that my dh watched it with our 3 year old once and there was a segment that absolutely terrified her. Like, actually crying real tears, unable to speak terrified.

Granted, she seems to be quite sensitive to visual things, and is very impressionable (one reason we limit her tv/movie exposure), but upon seeing the segment myself, I could really understand why a little one would be scared. (The one that made her cry and run out of the room was called Supersize Timmy -- it's on YouTube if anyone's interested in seeing what I mean.)

DH of course felt terrible that it scared her. He watched a few more alone and said that he'd seen more parts that were a little violent/frightening. Just as a heads-up, since most of the show seems pretty innocuous and cute.


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## newmamalizzy (Jul 23, 2010)

Chiming in with Pocoyo. Nice because the episodes are really short.


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## cww (Jun 1, 2010)

Thank you so much to everyone for all of the fantastic suggestions!!! I have a running list of 33 things to check out now, whereas before I didn't really know where to start (apparently I really don't know anything about children's programming outside of what I watched thirty years ago...).  Thanks also for letting me know about stuff that is in netflix, hulu, amazon, etc - I had done some browsing but hadn't found most of what was recommended here!

Feel free to keep suggestions coming, if anyone else has something they'd like to add - I'll definitely keep checking back if there are more posts.

JudiAU, Adaline'sMama and nstewart, I hadn't really thought about these issues specifically since we don't watch any commercials (I think commercials are much worse than regular programming at reinforcing ridiculous sterotypes and unhealthy societal attitudes!). I definitely don't want her watching any programs where consumerism or unhealthy habits (like eating sugary, salty or pre-packaged food) are common. I had forgotten about that, but there have been some books that I have hidden because they have a lot of references to shopping and/or candy... I guess I don't care as much if the show itself is highly marketed just because we don't watch commercials and don't spend time in stores much, so I don't think we would ever actually see that it was being marketed.

cynthiamoon, you make a good point about the importance of significant discussion around these issues. I have read about the studies cited in the Newsweek article also - I agree that it is a very interesting read. My goal isn't to shelter our daughter from the real world, but rather to restrict her exposure to negative stereotypes while she is still pretty pre-verbal and too young to go into these issues in depth. I am also aware of a bunch of psych and education literature that shows that repeated recent exposure to stereotypes and other negative group imagery produces stronger subconscious biases, and so I do feel that limiting the amount of negative stereotype imagery that we are exposed to is good for all of us. I think there is a difference between ignoring race and gender and wanting to limit unnecessary exposure to societal stereotypes that we feel are unreasonable and harmful. For us 22 months is a bit too early for us to get into deeper discussions of race and gender, but we do plan to talk about these issues more in another year or so.

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions! I am so grateful for all of these great ideas!


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## Laura87 (Sep 5, 2011)

i looove netflix!

sid the science kid is great for being educational, gentle, and progressive race and gender roles

shaun the sheep

pingu- good gender roles

GREAT movie is ponyo

wallace and gromit


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## brackin (Sep 19, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Tbutton*
> 
> What about Caillou? We like it because it's completely innocent and is actually meant for toddlers. There is gentle parenting, no propaganda, and nothing violent or alarming to worry about.


This, exactly. All three of mine have loved Caillou, our all-time favorite being Caillou's Holiday Movie. Interestingly, I've noticed that my non-gentle parent friends, as a group, do not like Caillou at all. Those who parent like we do have children who love it, and appreciate it themselves. It's really an odd phenomenon to me.


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## sagelove (May 29, 2004)

Kipper


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## lovepickles (Nov 16, 2010)

I've got to chime in here and say NO WAY to Caillou. For the record we are totally gentle, attached, non-violent communicative types. Just wait until you get to the bed bugs and afraid at night episode. My daughter had issues from that show and although it held her interest since watching it she's been acting weird and being "afraid" of things she loved just because Caillou had some issue with it. It just introduces too much drama in interpersonal relationships and over emphasizes Caillou's feelings to the point of influencing the audience. Good concept for parents but not really helpful for kids unless they have ONE issue/episode they can look up and watch Caillou manage it.

We like:

Microcosmos (awesome documentary on Netflix)

How it's Made

This Old House

Sesame Street (although I can't stand Abby Cadabby after reading Cinderella Ate my Daughter)

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (but we are just getting acquainted)


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## P.J. (May 18, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cynthiamoon*
> 
> I researched how parents can raise progressively minded kids and the article "See Baby Discriminate" in newsweek blew my mind and led me to look into what actually works vs. the "color blind" stereotyping is a social construct mentality. From the literature and research, sheltering doesn't work. Discussion does. Uncomfortable discussion. Like "everybody is equal" is gibberish unless you talk about differences vs. value judgements and equality versus diversity as real complex issues. I made a little video of discussion starters (older audience) that might be useful. It's on www.neoapprentice.com; tittle is "cultural identity".


I agree with everything you say here, but I have to agree with the post below from the OP:

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cww* . For us 22 months is a bit too early for us to get into deeper discussions of race and gender, but we do plan to talk about these issues more in another year or so.


Our boy is 2 1/2, very intelligent and linguistically advanced....and there is no way he's ready (in his brain development) to hold an intelligent conversation (that he would remember no less!) about stereotypes, cultural differences, values and the like. At this point it's about teaching through modelling, hence what the OP was asking with this thread and not wanting to expose our young kids to those ideas just yet. But yes, once they're a bit older and able to comprehend more complex topics and hold discussions about it....absolutely these are important things to discuss.


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## luckiest (Apr 29, 2009)

We exclusively watch Shaun the Sheep at our house, although lately we've been 100% screen-free. I'd agree with you that moderation is fine, but it's way easier for us to do zero, because if we do even a little bit, even one 20 minutes show a day, it means constant whining for more. Even that little bit alters his behavior and he gets clingy and loses all ability to entertain himself with his toys. Most kids probably aren't that sensitive, but it's like for him it immediately up-regulates his sensory input and real life is boring afterwards.

But anyway, my reasons for choosing Shaun the Sheep is that he isn't a mass marketed character, and the show is very quiet and calm (it doesn't even have dialog). Shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and even Sesame Street are way too loud, bright, and fast I think (at least for my little one). I must be a little sensory myself, because "flashy" shows give me immediate anxiety. The mass marketing thing was very, very important to me - I really don't want him to get attached to a character and then want "things" just because they have that character on them. No whining for Elmo fruit snacks, Spongebob sippy cups, etc.

And a big bonus - I like watching Shaun the Sheep myself!


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## ck1 (Mar 21, 2007)

*Harold and the Purple Crayon*

We love it! We read the book to our first son all the time. Then one day I caught an animated show on TV (PBS?) and found out you can buy a series on Amazon - used $8.00 (includes shipping). You can check out a clip on YouTube if you're curious 



. That was our son's first real television experience, he loved the "museum" episode.

The shows are narrated (by Sharon Stone) with no dialog from the characters. I like that the kids get the feeling they're being "read" to.


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## dimitroff03 (Mar 7, 2011)

Top toddler shows in our house (and reasons I like them):

- Little Bear (overall peaceful, promotes creativity)

- Harold and the Purple Crayon (imaginative, simple)

- Zaboomafoo (teaches a lot about animals & exploration)

I'm glad to have found this thread as I've been thinking a lot about what my son (2.5) is watching as well. His absolute favorite tv show is Wild Kratts on PBS. I love the show for many reasons and it is truly amazing how much my son has learned about animals because of it...but I really really wish they would do away with the 'bad guys'! The three 'bad' characters that they have rotate episodes display so much disrespect, rude comments, and unkind acts. Even though, as adults, we can understand their role, I don't think it's so clear to a small child. And in any case, I just don't want those things demonstrated to my very impressionable 2 year old. There are a few episodes that none of the 'bad guys' are a part of and those are my favorites. Agh, it's frusterating. Anyway, just my rant and two-cents. =)

Oh, and I also wanted to mention that while I am a very peaceful, attachment-parenting type mama - I also cannot stand Caillou. He's just way too whiny for me. Definitely don't need my toddler learning how to do that! ;-)


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## maryeliz (Oct 27, 2005)

Another show I haven't seen mentioned is Maisy (the mouse), which I think would fit your criteria. There are some videos available on youtube.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *dimitroff03*
> 
> Oh, and I also wanted to mention that while I am a very peaceful, attachment-parenting type mama - I also cannot stand Caillou. He's just way too whiny for me. Definitely don't need my toddler learning how to do that! ;-)


I hate Caillou, for many reasons. I find him whiny. I also find the "life is perfect and we're always totally happy, no matter what" vibe really irritating.


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## babymommy2 (May 14, 2009)

Quote:


> my reasons for choosing Shaun the Sheep is that he isn't a mass marketed character


I think it is or is starting to be. Someone gave us Shaun the sheep board game. I didn't realize it was a TV show.


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## grethel (Mar 14, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Storm Bride*
> 
> I hate Caillou, for many reasons. I find him whiny. I also find the "life is perfect and we're always totally happy, no matter what" vibe really irritating.


Ditto. The character of Caillou grates on me -- mostly his tone of voice. I actually haven't seen it since my teen was little, but I doubt I'll feel differently now.


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## loveandgarbage (Feb 5, 2008)

Another Caillou hater over here.


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## sk8boarder15 (Jan 12, 2010)

Oh yes! We also love Kipper, Shaun the Sheep, and Pingu!

We haven't been watching much TV lately as our Son is much more into the iPad and is learning to read playing with it. So his screen time has switched to the iPad for the most part except for some Blues Clues and the occasinal family movie.


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## Pr3ttyPrincess (Jul 26, 2012)

caillou and martha speaks, older care bears

my kids love these, i have hulu plus, but i think you can watch it on regular hulu. very little commercials and nothing inappropriate


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## Pr3ttyPrincess (Jul 26, 2012)

dinosaur train

angelina ballerina

barney

arthur

rocky & bullwinkle

super why

word world

bob the builder


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## alaskanmomma (May 25, 2011)

I'm not 100% sure if all these are on Netflix, but we have a lot of these shows on DVD and cost about $10, so fairly inexpensive if they aren't 

Backyardigan's, Dora, Diego, Arthur, Sesame Street, Barney, Doc McStuffin's, Mickey Mouse Club House, Bearenstein Bears...


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## cww (Jun 1, 2010)

Thanks again to everyone for all their suggestions - I keep coming back periodically and updating our list. So far I quite like Little Bear because I find it so calm without being boring. It would be nice if the gender roles of the parents weren't quite so traditional, but I love that it is not at all flashy and that the music is relatively peaceful and nice and not grating. I hadn't really thought about it but two other issues that came up for me as I was looking at more children's programming is 1) so many of them are so loud, fast and flashy! and 2) there is far more mention of cake, cookies, etc on all of these shows than I would prefer (our daughter hasn't really learned about sweets yet and when she does have something, we try to make it not a big deal - but when the characters on TV go on about how great some kind of dessert is, I get a bit uncomfortable about that message...). We haven't looked at very many of these shows yet, since we try not to watch too much TV in general, but so far we like Little Bear and the older Sesame St. episodes. The new ones aren't bad - but I do find them a bit too loud and fast for my tastes, and as I think my DD is somewhat sensitive to noise and overstimulation, I always put on the old ones over the new ones.

I'm trying not to be too uptight, but wow - there are so many things I never paid attention to before I had a kiddo around that I'm suddenly much more aware of...


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cww*
> 
> 2) there is far more mention of cake, cookies, etc on all of these shows than I would prefer (our daughter hasn't really learned about sweets yet and when she does have something, we try to make it not a big deal - but when the characters on TV go on about how great some kind of dessert is, I get a bit uncomfortable about that message...).


Wonderpets is a weird, weird show...but the snack the characters get super excited about is celery. It actually sparked a bit of a celery binge around here, but it didn't last long.


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## cww (Jun 1, 2010)

I have wonderpets in my netflix queue, but haven't had a chance to watch an episode yet... I'll have to take a look at one soon.


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## Ma Cactus (Mar 11, 2011)

We love My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. The main characters are strong females, and it has amazingly beautiful imagery, and also periods of very slow non-action, which I feel are very helpful in not overly stimulating a little kid. I have seen Kiki's Delivery Service but did not like it as much myself (although it is also a strong female lead), and do not remember much about it, so I have not shown it to DS yet. Neither of these are on Netflix but I bought Totoro for myself even before I had a child. I would definately recommend Totoro unreservedly. Many of Miyazaki's movies are definately too violent for small children: Princess Mononoke, and Nausica of the Valley of the Wind especially, and Spirited Away (scary, though DS has seen and loves this one - I was able to prepare him for the scary scenes and assure him tha noone would be ultimately hurt) and Howls Moving Castle (war scenes somewhat disturbing), to a lesser degreee, but all have strong female characters and are among my own favorite movies.

Another favorite is not a kids movie per se, "Microcosmos", but is amazingly beatiful imagery from nature (mostly insects), with almost no speaking (the phenomena seen are not explained in any way, so they can just be enjoyed, although I often wind up looking up diferent events because we become curious about them). It does show a spider capturing a grasshopper, and I think also ants fighting, and a waterbug chasing other bugs, but none of this has proved insurmountable. This is actually my go-to when DS is clamoring to watch something, but I do not want him to be glued to a screen for hours. He finds it amazing and interesting, but since it has no plot and no suspense that lasts more than a few minutes, it is not so engrossing as to completely subsume his other interests. He will watch for 15 minutes and then run off and play. It is available on Netflix.


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## Pr3ttyPrincess (Jul 26, 2012)

Franklin


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## Pr3ttyPrincess (Jul 26, 2012)

Oswald, Wow wow Wubzy, max and ruby, The Backyardigans, Little Bill, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, Maggie and the ferocious Beast, Ni Hao Ki-Lan


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## Pr3ttyPrincess (Jul 26, 2012)

The Jetsens, Powderpuff girls, Arthur, The Wild Thornberries, Pingu,


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## southcarolina (Dec 10, 2012)

I hear you.. been there done this..

Here is a list that comes from the very same experience and needs, at this particular age this is

what we find very calming and non-violent.


Dora the Explorer.
Winnie the Pooh
Baby Einstein she loved it up to some 3
Curious George - 110 thumbs up!!! this is such a calming and non violent movie for kids that you can't really help but smile. Don't do the big movie though because it has some non-typical elements, canning and that that is TOTALLY absent from the serial Curious George.
Baby Genius the same as above
Caillou - canadian serial about a boy, a sister his family, super super calm and family value based, teaches a child a good behavior in a good non violent way

by example of family life with calm parents, grandparents and friends and preschool situations, playgorund etc..


Charile and Lola is nice but too young for that in my opinion as there are some pretty snoty comments and behaviours and something that you don't want to give idea to your young child. I would not start it untill solid 4 years.
not my vote - don't like it - You Gaba Gaba was way to flashy to attention deficit disorderish..
Blues Clues - a puppet and a real boy, boy followes clues and gives clues.. teaches shapes, letters etc.. educational and calm.
Check the Leap Frog series.. just put on Netflix Leap FRog and there is tons educational cartoons for toddlers.. math, reading, spelling yep.. toddlers.
Pingu, amazingly enough there is NO ONE word spoken in any real language but it is spoken in penguineese  soooo hilarious you will never want to stop watching. Funny
Keeper was nice too, don't remember particular plot but it was gentle movie
WordsWorld - totally cool phonics movie with real characters anmials so funny and educational, perfect for her age and you will love it!

this should serve you for good three years  without one single tv channel just Netflix. becuase most of those titels are shows that go on and on and on many seasons and episodes, Dora has some 200 episodes, Caillou some 200, Pingu some 50, Curous George maybe like 500?...

When your child is little naturally don't show any violence but when she will be little she might want to watch something that shows not so much violence

but some conflict solving problems.. for this is good Charlie and Lola, Angelina Ballerina, Diego .. as they show some two sides of conflict

and how the characters manage to solve the problem that is good too as long as it is not too violent for the age and a child can see through the

fiction and understand what is good and what is bad becuase otherwise it would pick the bad attitudes.

Then for older kids Tom and Jerry.. but this is only when a child is really in some 6 or so.. then it is hilarious and safe to watch because

the behaviorus are not going to be copied but only laughed at.


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## grethel (Mar 14, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ma Cactus*
> 
> We love My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki.


Totoro is one of our family's favorite movies too. Our 3 yo loves it. She likes Ponyo too, although I don't think it's quite as perfect for preschoolers as is Totoro.

The rest of us - dh, our teenager, and me - are big fans of all of Miyazaki's movies. My older dd couldn't handle Spirited Away until she was quite a bit older - 8 or 9 at least - due to some of the imagery but they're all just wonderful films.


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## Pr3ttyPrincess (Jul 26, 2012)

My little pony and hello kitty. They are 2 of my girl's favorite too.


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## MsDolphin (Jan 5, 2010)

DS (27m) watches Sesame Street and Team Umizoomi.

I am looking for other shows that might be good, thank you for this thread.


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

For everyone who suggested Dora, is your kid scared of Swiper? My 2 year old alternates between "Swiper scary mommy" and "oh man, no swiping" and laughing hysterically.


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## SunRise (Apr 18, 2005)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Honey693*
> 
> For everyone who suggested Dora, is your kid scared of Swiper? My 2 year old alternates between "Swiper scary mommy" and "oh man, no swiping" and laughing hysterically.


My two year old was watching Diego for a few days; loved him, laughed while she watched, dressed like him and introduced herself as Diego, and then, one episode there was a big rodent with huge fangs and she walked away ... asked me to turn it off and claimed Diego was too scary for her and so ended the love affair.


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## SunRise (Apr 18, 2005)

And to the original poster - we like Curious George, she loves Blues Clues and I used to watch Charolotte's Web with my son (although I am not sure if that meets your requirements).

I do NOT like all those toys that come along with shows; I have been to birthday parties and the child who likes, Dora, for instance, ends up getting DORA everything for gifts. Ugh. This never happened with my son, and hopefully I can avoid it with my daughter (just don't tell anyone what her favourite show of the moment is). Although, from my day, I have a little Gumby & Pokey toy (from 40 years ago), and I kind of like it, Dora toy may become the retro toy in 40 years. ha


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## LilyKay (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm checking out some of those suggestions because right now my DD (26 months) only wants to watch Barney as far as kids shows go. We also don't have a TV so we watch it on Youtube a couple of times a week. Barney creeps me out but hey, I'm not exactly the target audience.

This is not a show, but we watched "March of the Penguins" with her. She got really excited about all the penguins, baby penguins and snow. It has some sad scenes but I personally find it ok and from the looks of it, she didn't even get that it was sad. I've been also trying to show her snippets of animal documentaries on Youtube. Elephants, zebras, lions, all of these are super interesting to her and she starts pointing in excitement at the screen at all the animals and saying their names, what sounds they make...


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

The Big Comfy Couch was a popular one with my 10 yr old when she was little.

Veggie Tales is a Christian based cartoon but a really good one.


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

I see Dora mentioned a few times, but that has violence on it. It has swyper trying to swype things  and sometimes they get in binds and in troubled situations.


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## mkksmom (Mar 24, 2008)

Yeah- Dora was too intense for my oldest. We like Doc McStuffins. There are some full episodes on the website. It is Disney, but I'm OK with that. I do use it as an opportunity to explain marketing to my kids.


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## Pr3ttyPrincess (Jul 26, 2012)

Lambchop


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## lanamommyphd07 (Feb 14, 2007)

The first time I ever heard DD (now 5) laugh at a show (we only do Netflix and occasionally some online networks) was at Pingu.

Some favorites when she was in the 3 y.o. range:

Youtube videos of "I like Elephants"--a song that is silly, and youtube segments of laughing babies, dogs and cats making noises, and the babies who sing about farting in the bathtub. Santa babies was on the playlist too. We had the number songs from vintage Sesame Street in the loop, as well as the baker and the count and the pinball machine, the ladybug picnic and some other counting songs. I found that most of the youtube vids about nursery rhymes and whatnot were lame, as were the kiddie songs on youtube. I really haven't found many that toot my horn. For a while, and I still scratch my head over this one, she really really liked watching a horrifying rhythmic gymnastics training video in which a coach was slamming the girl's legs backward. She got such a huge kick out of this, and trying this coaching on mommy, that I rolled with it. Really, I was showing her rhythmic gymnastics for the RIBBONS. yeah. "I wanna see bajastics again, mommy". We watched ballet and Irish dance videos and some other random stuff. It seemed that if we had an interest in something I could always find an interesting vid there (but caution--sometimes they are not what is expected!) And---she really enjoyed watching home movies of herself and family too.

After we picked up Netflix while she was about 3:

Caillou sucks. During a time that kids are starting to whine anyway, it was double-bad when dd "caught" the whine bug from that kid. The stories are great, but they really did a disservice to a potentially great show by using the whine voice. She loved it, I barely tolerated it, and over time I think DD got tired of me saying "Caillou sure does whine a lot. I wonder what he needs" (She'd say "he needs to start over, Mommy"...LOL)

The Backyardigans sing a lot, and dd likes that part. Same with yo gabba gabba--but dd doesn't reach for that one often. The Wonder Pets are a huge hit too. But they bring on the "me-wantees" regarding pets, for sure. She worked on a lot of "is that real?" with the Wonder Pets. As a parent, I found myself kind of anxious about the show....I mean, here they were singing endlessly while a poor puppy just had to get out to potty, or a kitten was helpless and in trouble! The suspense was terrible! It was cute when she once said to someone who needed a toothpick at a restaurant "you could ask a pulver to help!"

I found Dora and Kailan and Diego to be pretty equal across the board in terms of interest and some of the things the OP is trying to avoid, but there are some pretty typical gender roles running amok there too in the peripheral characters.

Someone gave her an Angelina Ballerina DVD, and while we were watching it, I was pretty disgusted. That said, a few of those shows have introduced some interesting friendship themes, and we've talked about them a lot. She has an Angelina and Alice doll, and they do "interviews" with each other when there are upcoming changes in our lives....but of course they have to have an accent and sigh a lot. So that part is kind of sad...but I think it's a better show for the olders.

Kipper is awesome. dd got inspired to make her own robots and aliens and such with some of those episodes.

To avoid the commercialism--a little experience works wonders. I'm pretty anti-pinkplastictvtoys, but dd has gotten some as gifts over time. She figured out, all by herself, that "junky toys" break. They are frustrating, they break and they don't have good clothes to change to, and her dog eats them, etc. She's spent some allowance on those kinds of things, and has already learned the lesson about sparkly plasticy things and the waste of money...and I see it as quite valuable. She says "I like it better when you make the toy, mom, because then you can fix it". True that, sister.

DD refused to see Disney movies until just this year. She did not like that there was a villian. I was ho-hum about the whole thing, really. I understand that little girls are just about assaulted with those pastel demons, but at the same time if she and her cousin wanted to bond over a movie, I wasn't going to freak out too much. I was pleased that she made up her own mind about the quality of the thing, and when someone gave her the princess barbies, she just named them whatever she wanted and had no real clue about who they were "supposed" to be. Even now they just don't get much action in play and I'm waiting for them to be just cast aside and ignored long enough so they can go in the holding bin for donations.


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## greenacresmama (May 15, 2007)

I honestly just want you to watch every show before your child does.. But these are ones that I know will be okay - some cases borderline - but okay; kipper and curious George, pocoyo, blues clues.. You need to be aware that this culture watches a ton of tv and it is super addicting and easy to fall on you as a help mate... It is super okay to let her watch it again and again.. But! I would seriously think about shows that are not about discover - but about emotions. Emotions from her are okay and even troubles - you can find a library book and read slowly and talk with her in between pages - shows do not work that way and my children can become very emotional and put through a dramatic and stressful roller coaster by a seemingly innocent ride.. Is the ride going up? Or is it only going up because it took them down?

My son is 5 and I have a daughter 3 - my family has been through some hard times so I have seen. Lot of shows- for every 1,000 episodes of children programming - 1 is happy, non violent and fun. It is so much about the antagonist and protagonist. Be careful and honestly - you can read to her and before she hears the words - you can change them and your voice to say what you want. It is a startling and alarming reality that most g and pg is so scary you would wait till they are 8 years old. Also, it is far better to have a show-less life because they do things on their own more creatively. I have been in the knee high deep in shows and the shallow - the shallow or none is where it is at!!! We like dinosaur train, hbo series on art, music, poetry, and the ones listed above. We have watched homeward bound recently and milo and Otis. It is rough in my case because my duo pair. My daughter is 3 and shows signs of stress because of our show viewing for the five year old - not good and I have really halted all of it lately!!


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## graciegal (Jun 2, 2009)

Doc McStuffins, Dora, Little Bear, Team Umizoomi, Kai Lan, Goodnight Show - pretty much anything on Nik Jr I have been impressed with.


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## graciegal (Jun 2, 2009)

My 28 month old learned how to count to ten in spanish when she was 21 months old thanks to Dora - she now says Hola, and all sorts of words even I dont know! I'm SUPER impressed with Dora, TBH.

EDIT: My DD loves swiper because he says "Oh Maaaaannn" - we made it a funny sort of game to say it at times around the house so she isnt scared of him. She was afraid of some robots in an episode once but that was a long time ago.


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## LeeDeeDee (Mar 21, 2012)

Pippi Longstocking movies - the ones with Inger Nilsson. Our son adores Pippi. It's all he's watched, besides TVO in Ontario, Canada (no commercials) when Dinosaur Train, 'Jack' (cartoon alien), or Dino-Dan are on.

Raffi in concert.


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## askins (Jun 26, 2011)

Both DS and I really love Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. It's really the only show we watch with any regularity, other than an occasional Little Einsteins.


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