Toddler TV Shows You Can Feel Good About

What is the best education TV show for toddlers? That’s a tough question. What makes it even tougher is that you might not know a damn thing about what toddlers shows are out right now.  

So, turning on the TV for your toddler for the first time can feel like a scary step. There are so many questions (dare I say anxiety?) involved in that scary step as well. Is my child going to ever want to read books again? Are you just going to hear nothing, but the grating music of children's cartoons for the next several years? Or on a deeper level, how will commercials, character’s bratty behaviors, and the lure of candy and toys affect such young, impressionable minds? 

If you’re like me, you’re probably a little skittish about getting your toddler addicted to TV shows or cartoons. I get it! Any parent who has binged the best TV shows knows that good TV can be a double-edged sword. TV can be a slippery slope if you’re not thinking about your choices and balance TV time with other activities. For example, we introduced Baby Woz to Disney Pixar’s Cars a couple of months ago. I cannot tell you how much he loves that movie. He still wants to watch Cars and if I let him, he could watch it all day long. So, we have had to find a good balance between watching TV and playing. Nowadays, we only let him watch TV maybe an hour total a day, so he doesn’t get hooked. Thankfully, he doesn’t get upset when we tell him it’s time to play.

 Since Baby Woz has a speech delay, we try to pick shows that have music (so he can start imitating) and educational content. We wanted to make sure that Baby Woz would be engaged with the show like singing or humming along, dancing, and pointing. The more he hears the songs, the more I catch him trying to sing them throughout the house when he isn’t watching the show. 

 So, when you’re ready to turn that TV on, you can get started with a few of our favorites right here. 

Sesame Street (PBS)

This is like the cornerstone of all childhood programming. I’ll admit, I wasn’t a big fan of Sesame Street when I was growing up. But when I watch it with Baby Woz, I can’t help but sing-a-long to the theme song or laugh when Oscar the Grouch says “scram!” With engaging learning lessons, diverse characters, and catchy music, you really cannot go wrong. 

Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That (NETFLIX, HULU, PBS)

Baby Woz loves Dr. Suess books, so this was a hit from the very beginning when he saw the Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That. The Cat in the Hat teaches kids about many things through song and games, with the help of Thing 1 and Thing 2, of course. 

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (HULU, DISNEY+)

For some reason, Mickey Mouse has a hypnotic effect on kiddos. I get it. I‘ve loved Goofy since I was a kid. And I have still have a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal I got from Disney World a very long time ago. Each episode has little quizzes and asks questions about shapes, numbers, and problem-solving throughout.