If you are a parent who has successfully made it through 2020 while not letting your child’s education be compromised, we applaud you. However, if you need a little screen time to get through some of those long days, here’s my list of the best educational shows for toddlers and preschoolers.
With such an unprecedented and dramatic change in people’s lifestyles, ‘the indoor life’ brought nothing but greater levels of responsibility for parents to help their kids play and learn at home while not sacrificing their development. With so much free time now at their disposal, a lot of children were becoming subject to an unhealthy amount of screen time – just like adults.
You may not approve of this lifestyle (and neither do we), but considering that it’s the need of the hour, you might want to opt for the shows that are educational and can drive your kids into learning something new while also staying entertained at the same time.
After all, this is THE golden age of learning where your child is starting to mature and is constantly absorbing new information and making sense of the world around them. It’s important to pay careful attention with strategic parenting skills to only expose them to the most important and appropriate content.
In this article, we are going to be helping you with that goal by giving you some of our top picks for your toddler or preschooler to watch.
We also highly recommend letting your toddler or preschooler learn more from real-life experiences rather than TV shows. The mind of a child is a beautiful one and what better way to bring out their talents than to let them explore their own creativity?
From having fun in the backyard in summer to pillow forts for those chilly winter evenings to brainstorming some innovative fireplace decor ideas for Christmas, preschoolers perform best when given ample creative freedom with proper guidance.
Best Educational Shows for Toddlers and Preschoolers
When you’re in need of some quiet time for yourself, tune in to some of these educational shows for your toddler. You won’t feel as guilty when your child earns some screen time if they’re actually learning something!
1. Bubble Guppies – Nick Jr.
Bubble Guppies follows a group of little fish to pre-school where these adorable guppy boys and girls love going to school, making friends, and having fun. As friends, the characters introduce topics like counting, stories, science, and reading- all that toddlers will understand.
Every episode includes catchy songs and well-orchestrated plot lines to provide a balance of entertainment and education to your toddler. This was one of my daughter’s favorites. I loved how much she was learning from it and I couldn’t even get the fun songs out of my own head!
Related post: 12 Tips to Help Your Preschooler Learn Letter Sounds
2. Sesame Street
Sesame Street is one of the pioneers in educational TV for children. Having launched in 1969, the show has served and entertained multiple generations of kids (even the one writing this article right now!) and has a strong fan following for all the right reasons.
The show aims to teach children, not just about basic math and alphabets like counting and ABCs, but also moral values like the value of friendship, honesty, hard work, team spirit, trustworthiness, and almost everything you hope to teach your kids.
With a team of researchers and creative minds behind the success of the show, its rich content, engaging story, relatable characters, and colorful visuals are sure to keep your preschooler wanting to learn more after every episode and have a bunch of interesting questions to ask you.
3. The Who Was? Show – Netflix
‘The Who Was? Show,’ as the name suggests, is a show about bringing historical figures to life and is based on the popular book series of the same name. This show is meant for the older preschooler, however toddlers will enjoy watching it too.
Learning about historical figures and the role they played in history is an incredibly important thing to learn especially at this age.
Kids, especially preschoolers, are always looking for a role model to idolize, learn from, and adopt the qualities of. ‘The Who Was? Show’ helps your kids with exactly that. With its immersive narrative and well-researched characters, the show doesn’t forget to add an element of entertainment and fun to the learning journey.
Related Post: 31 Things to Teach Your 3 Year Old
4. Sid the Science Kid – PBS Kids
If your preschooler is a curious little nugget, they are going to love ‘Sid the Science Kid’. Introduce them to the world of science, crazy experiments, and discoveries that will leave them hooked to learn more. From photosynthesis to “Why does my banana have brown spots?” the show has got it all.
Sid, a youngster who aspires to have a career in stand-up comedy, goes about his day trying to answer some burning science questions and doesn’t skip out on his much-loved humor to make science fun and engaging for your preschooler to come to love.
5. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood- PBS Kids
This modern spinoff of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood involves playful animals in a colorful, imaginative cartoon world. The shows basis is on kindness and has an inspiring tone. Daniel Tiger will teach your toddler everything from sharing their toys to eating on their own.
Every episode has a lesson with a short, catchy musical number perfect for toddlers just starting to learn language. Furthermore, Daniel Tiger is full of heart-warming friendships captured in a colorful, eye-catching cartoon style that your toddler is sure to love!
6. If I Were an Animal – Netflix
This one is a no-brainer and a go-to if you want to introduce your preschooler to the world of wildlife. ‘If I Were an Animal’ is a family-friendly reality series featuring how animals grow into adulthood.
There are indeed some references to animals eating each other (obviously), but the show overall is very informative and focuses on how different species grow, evolve, mature, and learn how to adapt to their natural habitat.
This is an excellent way to teach your preschooler about the natural world and the impact it has on our environment. In fact, it’s now more important than ever to teach them about the value of nature given the alarming rates of climate change.
It’s in our and their best interest that kids learn the habit and value of nature and why we need to preserve and protect it. The sooner, the better. Given the current state of events and the alarming climate crisis, it’s no wonder why preschoolers should understand the concept of flora and fauna and the necessary influence it has on our surroundings and everyday life.
Related Post: 21 Important Things You Can Teach Your 2 Year Old
7. Ask the Storybots – Netflix
‘Ask the Storybots’ is a live-action animated series available on Netflix and revolves around the plot of the characters (StoryBots) go on a thrilling adventure to the human world and use letter rhymes and music videos to answer kids’ biggest questions about life.
From basic questions like “Why Is The Sky Blue?” all the way to astronomical questions like “Where Do Planets Come From?” The reason why we think the show is a great selection for preschoolers is that it allows them to learn the reasoning behind why things are the way they are and how things happen.
This helps develop their cognitive abilities and recognize patterns in everyday life scenarios and understand the nature of reality.
If you’ve tried out some of these educational shows for your toddler or preschooler, you can see why they are developmentally appropriate and a great choice to get your child interested in learning. It’s so easy to incorporate learning concepts for your young children so don’t let them miss out!