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Best Shows for 2 & 4 yr old girls?
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Posted by: JohnJr

Hi,

I bought my brother a TiVo for Christmas and he has two young girls. They are not a TV family at all (they don't have time for TV... hehehe) so I will have to help them learn to love TiVo. They do go out to Movies, and buy the VHS/DVD of various Disney movies. The 2 & 4 year old have probably seen Lion King or something 10+ times.

I was thinking of a Auto-Record Wishlist for "Disney", and then some kid-show type stuff. Problem is that I have no idea what sort of programs are on for kids right now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

-John

Edit: Just thought of one. Is Sesame Street still on?

Posted by: bobjohnson

Congrats John... What was once a fairly active family will rapidly become a family of Tivo potatoes, and it's all your fault ;) .

What about that Blue's Clues, and the venerable Sesame Street?

I'll bet if you searched the usual family channels you'd find some good stuff.

Posted by: Tracy

Try Madeline, Little Bear, Gullah Gullah Island, RugRats, Dragon Tales, and yes, Barney!

Posted by: cgregory

Also, Clifford the Big Red Dog

Posted by: Worf

Honestly, I'd suggest some quiet reading/study time for children that age. Add on family game night (TiVo's recording), and you can instill in them the evils of TV first before they start watching.

But that's my opinion. TV just sucks these days...

Posted by: mishagray

Some warnings about recording lots of kids shows:
Kids shows are on ALL THE TIME! Most shows are broadcast everyday and some are broadcast 4-5 times a day on the same channel (this is espcially true of PBSKids, Cartoon Network and Nick).

Use the "Keep at most" feature to limit the kid shows to the last 1-3 broadcasts of a show. This keeps your Tivo from being flooded with kids shows. One of my Tivos is exclusively devoted to kids shows. The shows are so frequent we rarely even get a suggestion on the box. On the rare times that I use it record a grown-up show, the grown-up show must be marked with "keep-until-delete" or else it will be deleted within 2 days due to the constant onslaught of kids shows.

Also if you are using the Tivo to record Mom & Dad's shows that might not be kiddy friendly: use the parental controls. It will prevent the kids from playing back shows that you DON'T want them to watch. I know she's only 4 now, but they learn to use that remote fast! My son was surfing Tivo to find his shows by age 6. Of course he always wants to watch South Park, but the Tivo won't let him!

Posted by: dthmj

I really suggest limiting tv viewing at that age... I have three children - the youngest is 4. I encourage my kids to read, draw, pretend play, and go outside - ride bikes, run around in the neighbor's back yard - play kickball etc.

But, we do let the kids watch some tv, esp at night to unwind and go to sleep (and sometimes on rainy/cold days)- daughter age 4 prefers Blues Clues, Bob the Builder, Clifford, Dragon Tales, Dora the Explorer, Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Calliou (that one is probably her favorite). These are all on either PBSKids or Nick Jr (in the morning). Some scary stuff can be on Nick in the afternoon - stuff I don't let my 9 year old watch.

She hates Sesame Street and Arthur - go figure.

I don't let her watch the classic Disney movies - they have some pretty scary things in them too.

Posted by: JohnJr

Great suggestions folks, thank you very much. I'll print out the thread later today and use your tips to make sure that TiVo has something good on (for either or both) the kids and the parents, if and when they want to watch something.

Thanks again!

-John

Posted by: Agatha Mystery

My son liked watching Blues Clues and Clifford. He also liked watching Salty's lighthouse (on TLC). We'd record those clifford and salty's on a SP as well as the Scooby Doo movies.

Now, though, he's taken to watching Transformers Armada.

Posted by: SquirrelyM

If the girls like animals (and what young girls don't?), you might grab a couple episodes of Zoboomafoo. My three year old loves this show, and it is very well done.

Posted by: HelloNewman

I'll second Zaboomafoo. My daughter loved that show (now 7 and has moved on) I would be driving my daughter somewhere and she would spit out this really obscure fact about some animal, "oh,yea" I'd say, "where did you hear that?"..... "Zaboomafoo, Dad!"

Kindergarten on HBO was another she loved.

Current favorite...Baby Looney Toons. I believe this show has a lesson instead of the violence offered by their grown-up counterparts.

She (again 7 years old) also likes to watch SpongeBob Squarepants. I'll admit, I find that one amusing myself. "Might be" a little old for those girls though.

I'd pass on the Rugrats though. That show might turn their parents off to TV all together.

KS

Posted by: LilMomma

Dora the Explorer is absolutely HUGE with my 3 year old and her cousins (of various ages). It is a great little cartoon that also helps to teach some Spanish. It cracks me up to hear my little one running after her Daddy saying "Wait!!" in Spanish.

My little one also like "Zaboomafoo". Cyber Chase is great! It teaches Math and probelm solving skills. We also watch Little Bear, Franklin and Aurthur. But Dora is the favorite by far. My little one actually went as Dora for Halloween.

Posted by: TreborPugly

Basically, any show that is on PBS or Disney before 10 AM is a good, age appropriate show. We Tivo kid stuff for our daughters, but on weekend mornings, I actually just put the Tivo on standby and let them surf the two PBS channels and Disney for shows. (Those are the only channels the TV recognizes, so they can surf without hitting anything else!)

Treb.

Posted by: grecorj

My kids are 2 & 4. Most people have hit on the shows my kids like to watch, but I'll add The Wiggles and Teletubbies (adults hate it, kids love it).

Arthur is ok, but we find it skewed more for kindergarten aged (or older) kids (more name-calling, etc), as is Franklin, Calliou and Rugrats. Nothing wrong with those shows, but we find the other shows a bit more "mild mannered".

Zoboomofoo is tough to spell but a great show. :D

Posted by: jlb

The SPs we have for my 5 year old include:

Caillou
Sesame Street
Zoom
Dragon Tales
Cyberchase

And we get lots of suggestions for (and which get watched):

Anne of Green Gables (animated)
Liberty's Kids

Posted by: Uther

Between the Lions is great. Probably for older kids, though -- it teaches reading.

Posted by: Catul

Record the following from the Disney channel:

Bear in the Big Blue House
Stanley
The Wiggles (for the younger one)

Try a couple of "House of Mouse", all the favorite Disney characters with various cartoons.

Blue's Clues (on NIK) is also great. And Dragon Tales on PBS (with, of course, Sesame Street).

As previously mentioned, these shows are on ALL THE TIME, so limit the number of episodes.

Hope that helps!