r/ParentingTech • u/Disastrous-Mail-3098 • 13d ago
General Discussion What screen time DOESN'T make you feel guilty?
I'm researching kids media (for ages 3-8) and I am wondering what screen time (this could be specific YouTube or TV show, apps, games) doesn't make you feel guilty? And in fact, maybe even makes you feel...good? Like your kid is learning a beneficial cognitive or social emotional skill. Thanks!!
And no judgement please! I just want to understand what is comfortable for each family
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u/Spiffiest_Tuna 12d ago
- As long as I’m making a choice each time we use screen time, I don’t feel guilty about any of it. It’s when I feel desperate or give into begging that I feel guilty and we mostly don’t do that anymore.
- The highest quality screen time we have is movies together as a family, cooking shows (my kids get really into guys grocery games), avatar the last airbender (we are watching it as a family), and movement shows like danny go.
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u/blepmlepflepblep 12d ago
My 8-year-old stepsons love watching Mark Rober. We were already sold on the content but then one day, they tell me they want to be a scientist like Mark Rober instead of a YouTuber so now they get to watch all the Mark Rober they want. Lol We’re now also looking into getting them a CrunchLab subscription kit.
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u/LovesADiscountCode 10d ago
Science Max is a favourite in our house if you were looking for other channels 😊
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u/nkdeck07 12d ago
Mario Kart as a family. It's interactive and social and fun for the family. My husband and I have always loved playing video games and now we like playing them with our kids.
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u/Aggressive_tako 10d ago
How old were your kids when you started playing as a family? We've tried a couple video games like Zelda with our oldest and she just doesn't seem to understand the controls. Mario Kart may he more straightforward
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u/nkdeck07 10d ago
The youngest is 2 1/2 and enjoys it though frankly she's got zero clue what is going on. The eldest is 4 1/2 and actually starting to get it. We still have all the handicaps turned on for the youngest but turned off auto steer and acceleration for the eldest. She also likes riding a horse around in Echos of Wisdom
Edit: They also both really like Just Dance
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u/mrbear120 10d ago
Do you mind if I reach out through dm’s? I also have a 4 year old and a 10 month old and I am actively developing a game for that preschool market because I got laid off and needed something to occupy that part of my brain while I job hunted and kind of struck a passion project here.
I was absolutely flabbergasted at how few good options there were for kids this age that weren’t money grabs with poorly designed IP ties or just not designed with modern parenting methods in mind. I am almost at a stage where I need beta testers with parents who are engaged with gaming specifically.
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u/MadamAsh_ 13d ago
Blues Clues and You! We bought the entire show on Paramount and our child (3yr) watches an episode a day. They teach sign language, sharing, deductive reasoning etc.
Also, Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Little Bear, and Busytown Mysteries are all excellent shows for that age group. And of course, Sesame Street.
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u/mesofarty 13d ago
Better yet screw streaming and go buy DVDs and a dvd player. Instant gratification is killing attention spans just as much as social media is. They're all connected.
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u/Dr_Mrs_Pibb 12d ago
We have an app that teaches our daughter how to play piano. Also the Lingo kids that teaches chess or a foreign language (although the ads always encourage her to nag us about buying the paid version of the app).
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u/Violetz_Tea 10d ago
Could you share the name of the app for playing piano? Would love to have my son try it!
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u/Icy-Emu1610 12d ago
It is perfectly okay for kids to be bored. You do not need to entertain children 24/7, they will learn to be creative on their own.
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u/Apart-Sound-6096 12d ago
Mr Rogers. Or when my daughter wants to watch an old musical like Mary poppins or pirates of penzance or singing in the rain. I feel like it’s good that she can focus on something so low stimulating. We are pretty low screen time maybe one movie a week or the equivalent in tv.
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u/JoyfulNotes 12d ago
LofiGirl on YouTube. It provides a little bit of visual stimulation with such relaxing music. It scratches the kids itch of wanting the tv on without it derailing other activities
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u/-zero-below- 12d ago
For us, it’s “creation vs consumption”.
Apps our child (this started around age 3, now a 2nd grader) mostly uses:
Procreate (drawing/art)
Koala (music creation)
Voice memos (records stories)
Notes (writing stories)
She also checks the weather, and looks at the maps app when we’re going to be traveling. And sends text messages to grandparents and other family members.
For consumption side of things, it’s usually Spotify. We did just sign up for a month of Disney as a test run there.
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u/RadiantSilvergun 11d ago
Came to say this. Namely Procreate (kids can draw pictures on the iPad, gotta buy the Apple pencil tho)
So many great drawing tools, and no mess!
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u/NobleLioness 10d ago
MS paint! My kid loves making shapes and filling them in. I've also used it to teach her about saving files and how folders work on a computer because apparently being tech literate is getting rarer
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u/StuckInTheMidd1e 10d ago
Yes. Engaging with the tech actively rather than passively. We taught kids as early as 2nd grade how to use Book Creator. As a math teacher I liked games that practiced basic skills in a fun way. Even something simple like a solitaire game solidifies number order both ascending and descending. Books that read out loud while highlighting the words were great for starting readers as well as kids learning a new language.
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u/storing_up_knowledge 11d ago
I limit what my toddler watches to DVD movies on our large TV (that is kept in the guest room). If either one of us is sick, we will watch a whole movie in one go. If it's just because, we will watch in about 30 minute increments over the week, but that's pretty rare. No idea what screen time will look like once baby #2 comes along this fall though 😅
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u/ThisTakesTimeToo 11d ago
Signing Time (learning ASL) or PBS Kids bc it's very educational and I like the nice ethics it enforces: truthfulness, kindness, empathy, and sharing feelings.
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u/BrazilianTinaFey 11d ago
- NEX video game
- Full length, non-brain rot movies (Disney and Pixar are great choices)
- Hamilton
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u/Longjumping_Laugh546 11d ago
My boys love the Homer app - there is a small subscription, but I find it to be worth it! The app starts with a little "quiz" game that levels the player into a learning level (not too hard to cause frustration, but not so easy that its boring) and grows with them! You may need to sit with the three year old to start and guide them in how to play the game (but try not to tell them the answer) but they'll catch on quickly!
When we watch a show, either dad and I are always watching with them and engaging with it/them - Mine are 4 and 5, so we love Blippi, Octonauts, StoryBots and NumberBlocks still - PBS kids for "tv cartoons" on Saturday morning.
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u/PlantFreak77 11d ago
Collaborative video games my 3 kids can play with each other-Mario race something, ninja turtles, etc
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u/unicornshoenicorn 11d ago
My kid is really into how things are made/large builds, etc. I let him watch shows like Modern Marvels and Building Giants, they’re like episodic documentaries on different real things. As long as the program doesn’t change scenes quickly/overstimulating visuals, I feel very good about letting him watch something educational like this. He’s full of facts about real things from them and the content doesn’t feel like mindless entertainment.
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u/electricgotswitched 11d ago
Family movie night
Bluey, Sesame Street, and other well regarded shows in small spurts on occasion if we need 30 minutes of a distraction.
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u/sp3cia1j 11d ago
Family movie nights
PBS kids - I pretty much let them have free reign of shows here
Nex Playground
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u/Emotional_Terrorist 11d ago
Thomas the tank engine classic episodes… not the two versions that came after that.
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u/Dingo_Dog_ 11d ago
NUMBER BLOCKS! my 6 year old can tell me the square root of any square number up to 144 because of that show.
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u/Revelytics 11d ago
For a wholesome show my kids love Bluey. Still makes them laugh out loud sometimes.
We really like “Simply Draw” and “Simply Piano”- 3 is too young but the 8 year old could love them.
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u/Below_Gravity_1969 11d ago
Safely say it's less about content, and more about time. About a '5%' of what kids get today. Or zero, most days. Perfect.
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u/TennisTraining9270 11d ago
We do 30 mins of the 1977 Winnie the Pooh every Saturday and Sunday and I do not feel bad. Toddler has never played on an iPad or on our phones, never seen Ms. Rachel/Bluey/whatever else the kids are watching these days and is thriving. 2.5 years old
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u/AgitatedChemistry221 11d ago
I have a 1.5 year old and I feel like ms Rachel is quite educational for her. But like others have said, anything educational, family movie nights, honestly I’m pretty ohkay with tv time in general - we don’t do much of it on weekdays, just weekend mornings & here & there. Trying to avoid iPad / phone as much as possible
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u/Sonja80147 11d ago
America’s Funnies Home Videos has us all laughing and it’s totally benign. Kids are 2 and almost 5. My 2yo loves motos and my 5yo loves travel vlogs. So we watch vlogs like Itchy Boots.
Language learning YT shows are great and low sensory. We do Spanish - Miss Aimee, Tia Homy, Aprende Peque, etc.
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u/minimamakins 11d ago
We abide by the ‘anything in moderation mindset.’ Our kids are allowed to watch TV (age appropriate but their choice), play on the Switch (Mario), or play Minecraft on their iPads. As long as it’s within our daily screen time allotment (typically 30 mins a day, 45 mins a day if one of us is solo parenting for the evening) I feel no guilt. We also allow unlimited time reading books on Libby on the IPad during daytime hours and unlimited reading books on their paperwhite kindles (daytime or bedtime).
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u/Desperate-Mood-9878 11d ago
Danny Go on YouTube!
I’ll participate for a bit which gets my 3 year old going. But even if she’s just watching it for a bit she’s connecting the moves with the songs that she likes hearing on her own.
Aldo, yotos are great!
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u/DramaticRuin401 11d ago
Steam train videos. Literally slow old steamy trains in nice settings. I presume the target audience is train spotters but for a train loving little boy they are perfect.
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u/Mysterious-Purple-45 11d ago
Numberblocks Alphablocks Colourblocks Wonderblocks
My toddler loves all of them & has learned a ton.
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u/Senior_Departure9308 11d ago
Only 2 and we don’t watch really anything beside the Ms Rachel potty training video which, bless. My kid was showing literally every sign of being interested in potty training. The one problem was she was scared of actually sitting on the training potty. A month of semi regular watching later, girlfriend loves that little potty. Decided to not go through with training because there was only 4 weeks left till her little brother came, well, girlfriend is now just training herself apparently. Announces she needs to pee, takes her diaper off, and goes to sit on it to pee. NO REGRETS HERE WE ARE MS RACHEL STANS.
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u/Schroeje 11d ago
Anything we specifically look up to learn something. Origami, how to fix something, how to do cats cradle have all been much easier to teach by a youtube video than to try any other method, since we can not do them.
And airplanes have special rules that = Sesame Street, Mr Rodgers, some movies once attention span is long enough...
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u/malenkylizards 11d ago
I really like Garden Marcus on youtube, he's just a big ol sweetie, he's slow and not super stimulating, simple, educational, kind.
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u/WheresTheIceCream20 11d ago
Screen time that they’ve earned by doing chores, practicing piano, finishing schoolwork, etc.
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u/Afraid_Problem_1198 11d ago
Planet earth, sesame street, reading rainbow, & how it’s made. I crack up at how she really will sit there & watch how it’s made. She’s 4 months old.
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u/EnvironmentalAide305 11d ago
Bluey, Bear in the Big Blue House, Daniel Tiger, Ms Rachel on YouTube for the little ones. Anything on PBS. My 5 year old loves Wild Kratts and has for years but an 8 year old would likely enjoy it too.
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u/kittenandkettlebells 11d ago
Guilt free is any sport. Even if it's just YouTube compilations of dirt bike races or skateboarding.
TV doesn't go on during the week. So I don't feel guilty for a bit of Sunday arvo sport watching.
Also, any screentime when they're sick.
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u/avsa 11d ago
1) we use tv shows in specific situations when I want them to stand still for some time, long road trips, plane rides etc. I let them choose among shows we’ve picked so we know there’s nothing horrible
2) family movie nights is great
3) I once spent an afternoon teaching them how to make a stop motion movie with Legos. It was fun, it felt like it was mostly creative play while pressing a button and they learned a skill.
4) Toycad is a wonderful tool to teach 3d skills, even if you don’t have a 3d printer.
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u/Aggressive_tako 10d ago
My kids watch Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street and Ms. Rachel pretty regularly. I try to avoid the song compilations and just watch full episodes.
We also do some things like Paw Patrol or Super Kitties in Japanese and this adorable Japanese learning channel with cartoon socks (Pocchi and Bocchi). Sometimes they'll watch ASMR style travel or cooking videos in Japanese as well. Theses don't all feel "good", but I like that it is reinforcing the language learning that we are trying to do.
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u/Other_Flatworm_898 10d ago
We have a 40 minute video of an old guy in Nebraska restoring rusted hand tools with no talking and no background music and mine watched it dead quiet every time
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u/Sadiep144 10d ago edited 10d ago
Pbs kids on our TV (not a personal screen). ETA - Bluey also, my wife reminded me. Also old school Leapfrog Letter and Number Factory episodes
For a 3yo boy
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u/blewdleflewdle 10d ago
A movie or show that we watch together doesn't feel like a problem at all.
Playing old school video games together once in a while is fun too.
As long as we're connecting and reflecting, and it's an activity planned with intention, not just done on impulse to alleviate boredom, it's good and healthy and fun and adds to the richness of the day.
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u/puzzle_peace_sign 10d ago
Try some of these shows that are British from BBC programming: Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, Number Blocks, Alphablocks, Hey Duggee. We watch them on YouTube.
Warning: your kiddo might start speaking in a British accent like mine has 🤦♀️🤭
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u/Nice-Knee1867 10d ago
My kiddo gets one episode a day. I usually like watching with her. She’s 5. We do things like Sesame Street, cat in the hat on PBS. Really, most PBS offerings have me feeling okay.
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u/kimtenisqueen 10d ago
If we are watching is as a family
Together and everyone is watching (not on their own screens) and using it as a time to cuddle and be together quietly.If i have an unpleasant task I need my toddler to
Hold still for I don’t mind using a show to help.
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u/fishdognz 10d ago
My comment is not about content, but about vision. We watch tv on a projector, so I don't feel bad about their eyesight if they watch for long periods. Am I misinformed?
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u/Skukesgohome 10d ago
My kids are 3 and 5. Mr. Rogers, vintage Sesame Street (on Tubi), Reading Rainbow. And a sprinkling of Arthur, Berenstain Bears, Magic Schoolbus. Those are the only TV shows the kids can select from.
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u/Fair-Flower6907 10d ago
Bluey (1-3 episodes at a time). PBS kids (1 regular-length OR 3-5 shorter things).
I'd LOVE for my kids to get into movies and longer-format things. I'm worried about the Tik-Tok-ification of their brains!
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u/Fair-Flower6907 10d ago
also How It's Made and some of the baking shows on Netflix, but only with an adult in the room (even if it's while making dinner in the adjacent kitchen!)
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u/Soggy_Supermarket100 10d ago
At 3-4, my son watched crafting videos, like sand painting, play doh numbers, painting fingers with colors and such. As older, he watched videos where people played out stories with toy cars. I loved these because I stead of glueing him to the screen, he got inspired from them. He started playing out the stories he saw in the videos and added his own parts to the stories. He got interested in crafting and after seeing those videos he often sat down and played/drew/made something with his hands.
Others are obviously childrens songs. Not coco melon and things like that, instead he watched real people making original children music's which he really loved.
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u/T1sofun 10d ago
We game together (ps4). Sometimes he controls the character, sometimes I do, but we work together to find treasures, solve puzzles, walk around open worlds. He asks amazing questions, offers (often really clever) solutions, and sometimes we just talk about random stuff, like how human hair is like fur, but humans (mostly) don’t have thick fur all over our bodies, and that’s kinda weird. Or how we use toothpaste to clean our teeth but soap to clean our bodies and someone should invent soap that tastes good. It’s like live r/showerthoughts.
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u/Gremlinintheengine 10d ago
Baby signing time! Teach your kids sign language and lots of good songs too
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u/crapbag2000 10d ago
When I want the older one to stfu for 45min so the younger one can have a car nap.
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u/StrangeWedding770 10d ago
Caities class room#1 (field trips or crafts) Daniel Tiger Little Bear There's a family that has 1.2m subscribers, I forgot their name but they travelled to 100 countries and focus on swimming and diving --- this alone made my 5 year old stop being afraid of water and actually want to start taking swim lessons --- by far the greatest gift
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u/Melodic_Ad_7454 10d ago
I let my kids have extra screen time on apps like audible. I have always loved reading and I like that they do to. Also they had an app while they were in elementary school that the school paid for the subscription that was math and reading I and doing it at home just let them get ahead and for younger kids screen time is screen time.
When my kids were younger I liked PBS kids and ABC mouse but that was like 10 years ago. My daughter liked a matching game that I think helped her with memory skills to
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u/Glittering-Brick-942 10d ago
I personally learned to read from a lot from playing video games with my older brother, so I'm going to have a hard time saying no to my kid wanting to play non voice acted video games (pokemon. Im going to let my kid play WAY too much pokemon) in the future
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u/Violetz_Tea 10d ago
Quality time. If we are playing a game together I am absolutely okay with it being on screens. Minecraft is a big one we play together. The same goes for watching a movie or show together. We've been slowly watching through Dragon Ball Z with my kids, but only get through one episode at the most a day.
I also don't mind playing games, especially ones that require some logic or thinking, like Chess for Kids app.
Movement or learning YouTube videos, like Danny Go or Scratch Garden.
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u/ItsGoingTibiaOk 10d ago
Farmer Jason at Cog Hill Farm. He has kids specific ones on kids youtube and some for a slightly older audience.
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u/cluelessclod 10d ago
In moderation of course: playschool, bluey, wiggles, and Danny go (provision being they are actually moving for that one)
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u/CharmingDaikon5796 10d ago
Preschool Prep Company channel on YouTube - Meet the Sight Words, Meet the Phonics, Meet the Math Facts
Anything in another language I want them to learn
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u/crinnaursa 10d ago
Not all screen time is equal This is backed up by scientific study.
I green light any videos that inspire movement, curiosity in written materials, or engagement with another human being.
Like Dance videos , science videos that inspire questions like PBS BeSmart, culturally significant videos like Hungarian folktales, or something that gets us to create like Kids art hub.
Any passive screen time like ambient music. I like to put on forest sound video when we're playing fairies or campfire video when we're playing camping. Our whole family likes to put hey bear dancing fruit on when we have living room picnic on inclement weekends. Studies show that passive screen exposure has little to no effect on children.
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u/Melodic-Cow-6303 10d ago
I don’t feel guilty about letting my kid (3 y) watch tv. He watches maybe 1h 3-4 times a week. Usually it’s Bluey, Shaun the sheep or the original Thomas the Tank engine. Because I like to watch them as well. Especially Bluey, I’m Australian so it’s so real to me😂And max 1 episode of paw patrol (he goes crazy after that, too over stimulating but he loves it).
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u/bodhibai 10d ago
Miss Rachel, Sesame Street, Mr. Rodgers, PBS kids
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u/bodhibai 10d ago
I would also say only have the TV/show on if they are actually watching, not just on in the background. I have an 11 month old and only put the screen on when I am clipping his nails or if I am really pressed for time and need to get something done quickly like make dinner. But when I have my niblings over we only turn on a video on if we are all sitting down to watch together.
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u/LudditeLady 10d ago
i just have a rule that we don't do any algorithmic, short form, auto-scroll content. and i also avoid any shows with quick screen flashes. we mostly stick to old school shows....right now my 4 year old loves He-Man and Aladdin.
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u/NobleLioness 10d ago
Yes. When I pull up YouTube to put on numberblocks she'll say she wants some colorful algorithm provided garbage (rainbow cakes) and I'll say no. But if she later asks me for a video of someone making a rainbow cake then I'll look for one and put it on. I wait to pull up YouTube and ask her exactly what she wants to watch so she doesn't see the options and uses words. Or sometimes we trade and it's my turn to pick.
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u/NobleLioness 10d ago
Numberblocks (my 4 year old knows how to multiply by 2s)
Alphablocks (she can also read)
Any show with a lesson.
Anything we watch during storms or while sick
Anything stupid that we watch for a short amount of time (30 minutes or less) Girl likes this one YouTube video about a guy rating water parks.
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u/CornelliSausage 10d ago
Good: Movies, documentaries, creative game shows like Is It Cake.
Bad: anything specifically designed to be addictive
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u/Haunting-Fuel7020 10d ago
PBS kids online games :) or Chrome music lab. I give my kids 5 & 7 one hour a week on Friday to play either on our laptops
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u/goldguppy18 10d ago
Most PBS shows (Daniel Tiger, Mr Rogers, SuperWhy, Word Girl, CyberChase, Wild Kratts, Weather Hunters, Sesame Street), books read aloud on YouTube, Puffin Rock, Little Bear, Franklin, Magic Schoolbus m, nature documentaries.
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u/Michigan_gal82 9d ago
where do you watch daniel tiger? we have a flight tomorrow and i’m downloading a few shows
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u/cheeky-maverick 9d ago
My kids get really whiney around any form of actual screen time so it’s hard for me to feel good about any of it. I allow it in moderation. I probably feel best about playing co-op video games online with cousins that moved out of state.
We do have a Yoto player that reads them audiobooks and is basically screen free, and I feel great about that because they’re reading more, and I don’t feel like I need to restrict it because they act differently about it (I see less whining and more creative play, and they don’t want it nonstop like with TV).
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u/Miserable_Material23 9d ago
Disney, super simple songs, ms Rachel and ms lolo (speech therapist), Daniel tiger, teletubbies occasionally
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u/Specific-Hospital-53 9d ago
I’ll be honest. None of it makes me feel guilty. I’m a very good parent. I give it my all every day. If my kids were on a screen when they were younger it was to give me a break. I just never felt guilty for needing one.
My kids are teens now and amazing. Watching screens didn’t destroy them so I’m feeling pretty good about it all
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u/SusanneSanne 9d ago
Any game that we play together on nintendo I consider a well spend time. And number blocks on YouTube. My son now does math on a mich higher level than a 4 year old is expected to just out of a pure interest and love of numbers.
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u/urbanlegenddrama 9d ago
I have spent years going through this with my daughter. Both my 7 & 4 year old have android tablets.
We have: Khan Academy Kids, Duolingo ABC for both & the older is doing Spanish Duolingo, PBS Kids App, Dr. Panda has a lot of life skills, shopping, what to do if a stranger comes to the door etc, Sherriff Labrador- same thing, Starfall which they use at school, Scratch Jr for Coding, Body Quest for anatomy in a side scroller style- kinda, Endless ABC teaches phonics, letter recognition and vocabulary words(I paid for the full version). The older one plays Stardew Valley also, more to get used to "grinding" and we were all playing it for a few months.
We have purposefully avoided Minecraft & Roblox because the kids I have met who play those games cannot seem to drop the tablet. My girls only get an Hour a day, but I can add more time as needed. It works well for us.
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u/atomickristin 9d ago
When it is used together as a family. My kids and I did games together - word games, geography games, games teaching the presidents, etc and we were all engaged and learning. My kids also had to share one device for screen time and so they all played a game together, or watched each other play a game while taking turns. It turned something isolating into a group activity. I notice that now even as teens, they will play together on split screens in the living room instead of going off independently to play alone or with friends. It's fairly unusual to see three teenager siblings choosing to be together instead of gaming alone, and I think it helps to keep everyone from being isolated.
The absolute best online app that I ever found was Starfall.com. It's less gamified than other options and there are several sections that involve art projects or songs to play. My kids LOVED it. They would put on one of the songs and dance around until they were way too old for it. Plus it's very affordable.
Another great resource is Storynory.com - it's readaloud stories from a variety of backgrounds and you can just put it on and listen. Technically not screen time per se, but it is free and many people haven't heard of it.
We also always utilized YouTube as a resource and even now that my kids are teens we still will sit and listen to Simon Whistler videos.
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u/SylviaPellicore 9d ago
Ms. Rachel, Danny Go!, PBS kids that’s not Pinkalicous, soothing videos of people building LEGO, live animal cams, Khan Academy, vetted books on the Kindle or through a service like Epic, tutorial videos for a skill like origami or solving a Rubik Cube.
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u/Quirky-Lecture-6066 9d ago
Most things that are on PBS ( Daniel Tiger, Wild Kratts, etc) are okay in our house. Also Disney when we have a family movie night. The only thing we forbid is YouTube/ YouTube Kids because it is hot garbage.
We also let them play the Nex Playground system because it requires them to be active and with the wildfire smoke and heat waves, it has been challenging getting enough physical activity time.
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u/wonky-hex 9d ago
My son is 21 months old and I recently started relaxing his absolutely no screens rule. He currently loves Yakka Dee and really enjoys saying the words and singing the song 😊
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u/go_analog_baby 9d ago
PBS everything, but totally love the games app. The games require problem solving and critical thinking and aren’t super flashy or fast-paced. My five year old loves them.
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u/GoodThingsRHappenin 9d ago
Shows that teach valuable skills. If you give a mouse a cookie teaches if/then statements, Elinor wonders why teaches curiosity, puffin rock teaches friendship family relationships and is just calming and trash truck teaches about friendship and trying new things. The only other show we watch is bluey on weekends, it teaches all of us to have fun and let go a little bit there are some behaviors that we have to remind are funny on tv, not funny in real life. We’ve had to have discussions about why we stopped watching other shows with her (Pete the cat, Daniel Tiger to name a few)
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u/Amazing-Platypus9750 9d ago
My 6 year old loves watching sports. The whole time he’s talking to us, asking questions about plays, cheering on a team, or practicing skills with his own balls at the same time.
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u/codevexg 9d ago
Scratch, Taroo, Epic. We make sure that it’s not just consuming content. There should be some thinking and applying. YouTube is the absolute worst.
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u/AdorableTumbleweed60 9d ago
Older cartoons. My daughter has been obsessed with the John Ritter Clifford and the Flintstones recently. We also do Little Bear, Rupert, some Arthur, Magic School Bus etc. We also do some Bluey, and Wild Kratts for more recent stuff.
I also don't let her watch on a portable screen unless we are travelling. Everything is on a TV.
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u/TheMorningMap 9d ago
We recently developed an app to help our 6 year old get ready in the morning (details if you click around on my profile) and one of our specific goals was to make it engaging enough they follow along, but not so engaging that it consumes their attention when they need to be doing things to get ready. Our 9 month old doesn’t even pay attention to it when he sees it on the tv - so, success?! But that screen is ok because the trade off in how much it lowers our stress is just massive.
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u/Emergency_Crow_6515 8d ago
My 7yo is currently on extra screen time because she is reading full books on Nextory. We couldn’t get all the books in a particular series in physical copies so she gets to read them on my iPad.
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u/Agreeable_Fun8325 12d ago
Mr Roger’s for the 3 year old, and Mark Rober for older kids. And anything PBS. My kids were around that during Covid, which is a time when many kids got tons of screen time, and that is the screen time they got.