What are your 4 and 5yo DCs watching on TV?

[Fairy]

We need some new shows. I'm *very* opinionated on the TV shows that are best for my DS. But our regular shows are clearly no longer holding his interest. Honestly, it has not been a bad run. At more than 4.5, he's loved these shows fully and gotten so much out of them. He still likes them, but he knows his letters and his numbers and all the basics, as well as alot of the social stuff. He's ready for something more challenging. So, what are your 4's and 5's watching? I'm really looking for something with alot of educational and social self-esteem value. So, Wubzy and Max & Ruby don't do a thing for me (tho DS loves them, to my chagrin). We're already trying Electric Company, but ... I dunno, I don't love it.

Shows 4.5 DS Loves and Watches:
* Sesame Street
* Word Girl
* Little Bear
* Zula Patrol

Shows That are Come and Go
* Super Why
* Word World
* Curious George (eh, I don't care for this)
* Martha Speaks

Shows He "Loves" but Are No Longer Holding His Interest
* Blue's Clues (sob)
* Oobi (sob)
* Jack's Big Music Show (Big Major Sob)
* Upside Down Show (simply for lack of it being on!)
* Backyardigans (truly depends ont he episode)
* Veggietales (unless it's new to him)

Shows on Our Do Not Watch List
* Gabba
* Lazytown
* Spongebob
* HM

I have not considered much on Nick or Disney. I feel some of these shows are too old for DS, but ... I dunno, maybe I need to branch out my own opinions as he gets older. So, looking forward to seeing what your 4's and 5's are watching. Thank you!

-- Fairy

[kristenk]

DD really loves Magic School Bus on Discovery Kids. I don't like that it has commercials (wonder hangers, toothpaste dispensers, skechers, tv shows on Discovery Kids that are too old for DD, etc.). We try to go through the commercials, but it doesn't happen all the time.

[fivi2]

Well, my girls are a bit younger, but here's what we watch:

Zoboomafoo
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (I started in prep for our trip to WDW and they still love it)
Little Einsteins (comes and goes)
Pingu (claymation penguin on a free on-demand pbs channel. no educational value, but not offensive and they LOVE it)
Blues Clues (comes and goes)
Bob the Builder (comes and goes)
Jack's Big Music show


I just (like within the last week) started allowing Dora (my girls are 3.5). I don't like it, but they love it, and given the lack of strong female leads for the preschool set, I gave in. I have also allowed a couple Wonder Pets epis lately and the girls enjoy them. Clifford is pretty blah for us.

You can probably find Fraggle Rock or The Muppet Show on dvd - I haven't done much of those. The occasional Fraggle Rock, which is still over my girls' heads.

We love the Studio Ghibli movies - My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service.

There are some Popular Mechanics for Kids dvds on Netflix. They were a bit too old for my girls, but your ds is older and might like them.

eta: we have done some Magic Schoolbus videos from the library. No commercials on the videos and my girls also like them. The library also has a bunch of nature videos, trains, how things work, and animated books - like the works of Eric Carle on dvd.

on HBO, we occasionally watch I Spy. Storybook Musicals (or something like that) also on HBO are sometimes good, but sometimes too intense for my dds.

one more - Netflix also has some Postcards from Buster episodes. My girls weren't really into it yet, but I plan to try again soon!

[hillview]

DS #2 watches now and again (a lot lately, he has been sick). We have dragon's tales (PBS), curious george, Handy Manny (Disney) and Special Agent Oso (Disney). Occasionally we catch Super Why. about 90% of these are online (disney.com).

/hillary

[SnuggleBuggles]

Try the Food Network. Ds has been into shows on there for a while (Dinner Impossible being his favorite).

Beth

[alien_host]

My DD is 4 and she loves The Imagination Movers on Disney. She loves music and dancing and I like how the show talks about solving problems.

She also like Little Eisteins, Handy Manny, MM Clubhouse but they come and go.

Dora is still a favorite.

[kristac]

Peep and the Big Wide World is the current fav.

I can occasionally talk him into Curious George, Word World, or Sid the Science Kid. Also we've been watching more nature shows lately- Planet Earth, etc.

[Gena]

DS is 5 and hasn't liked kids' shows for several months now. His current favorite show is "The Price is Right" (which I loved at age 5 too). He also likes "Jeopardy!" If those aren't on, he wants to watch the news.

[sarahsthreads]

At 4.5, DD1 loves:

Dragon Tales
Word Girl
Charlie & Lola
Go, Diego, Go (she prefers this to Dora - it seems *slightly* less idiotic to me, too)
Sesame Street

Other shows she'll occasionally be obsessed with for a week or two:
Between the Lions
Imagination Movers
Handy Manny
Word World
Reading Rainbow

I feel like she's aging out of Little Einsteins, My Friends Tigger and Pooh and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She'd still watch JoJo's Circus and Blue's Clues, but we haven't seen them in months (we just have very basic cable, so they may be on some of the digital channels?)

We're currently trying to encourage PBS shows and discourage Disney and Nick Jr., because we're considering canceling cable altogether. (The adults in the house quite seriously only watch The Daily Show and baseball or football depending on the season. We think we could learn to live without Jon Stewart and I'd be more than happy to *not* have baseball on TV every. single. night.) I think now would probably be a good time since most of DD1's very favorite shows at the moment are on PBS...

Sarah :)

[Fairy]

DS is 5 and hasn't liked kids' shows for several months now. His current favorite show is "The Price is Right" (which I loved at age 5 too). He also likes "Jeopardy!" If those aren't on, he wants to watch the news.

Oh gosh. That was me at just a bit older than him. By age 7 or 8, I was LOVING Price is Right and the news. Specifically, Channel 2 News in Chicago with Bill Curtis. But I also loved Sesame Street till I was ... well, that never stopped.

[ljackson]

At 4.5, DD1 loves:

The adults in the house quite seriously only watch The Daily Show and baseball or football depending on the season. We think we could learn to live without Jon Stewart
Sarah :)

You can watch The Daily Show online free and legally (AFAIK) at hulu.com.

[bubbaray]

um, so I guess the fact that DD#1 loves NCIS (Ziva's ponytail in particular) would be a BAD thing?! DH is completely horrified that she watches even the non-gory parts of this.

They watch Barney and Dora (not all of either) while I'm getting ready in the mornings. Word World is on after we leave, but I dVR it and they watch that periodically. Mostly we do DVDs. If we are running late, Curious George comes on PBS and then something else? then the Berenstain Bears.

DH, OTOH, will let them watch pretty much anything (though, not NCIS, LOL). He'll just flip to Playhouse Disney and let it run, regardless of what is actually on it. If I'm gonna do that, I let the Knowledge Network run, which is actually a distance learning channel run by the gov't that has pretty OK kids programming -- or we do PBS.

I can't stand Bob the Builder or SpongeBob or Diego

[almostmom]

A couple that I don't think have been mentioned that my kids love:

Maggie and the Ferocious Beast
64 Zoo Lane

I think these are on Noggin, but I forget.

The also are loving High 5 on Discovery Kids. I think it's kind of cheesy, but they like the songs, and it's harmless.

And another vote for Zobomafu (or however you spell it!)

And Bindi the Jungle Girl

[schrocat]

DS (4) loves Veggie Tales, Between the Lions, the Electric Company and 3,2,1 Penguins.

[tny915]

At 4, DD discovered Pocoyo on PBS. It's animated, and the main character is a preschooler boy who is friends with a duck, elephant, bird, and some others. DD still likes it, although I don't see it come on very often anymore, so we're limited to what we have left on Tivo. I have seen it in stores on DVD. It's adorable and very entertaining. I think you can check out clips on youtube.

[lmwbasye]

Not sure how much help this will be. DS is 4 1/2 and likes:

Blue's Clues
Franklin
Max and Ruby
Martha Speaks
Thomas (I cannot stand this)

I have to say, though, he really doesn't watch a lot of TV anymore. Maybe because he's losing interest and I'm not expanding his shows since I don't see much that I think is great for him to watch.

[mrshalco]

My 5 year old loves Magic School Bus, Electric Company, 321 Penguins, Babar, Zulu Patrol...and I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting!

On a side note....DS LOVES Monk LOL We usually have him run an "errand" in the beginning to miss the death part and then he comes back in and watches the rest!

[belovedgandp]

One I haven't seen mentioned is The Mr Men Show - it's the color-shaped people like Mr Grumpy and Mr Loud - on Cartoon Network I think. It has no redeeming value, but is not offensive in anyway.

With summer here, my 5 YO son has gone from an hour of TV a week to almost an hour per day, so we're trying to get more creative too.

[MichelleRC]

My boys are almost 5 and almost 7 and will still watch Noggin or Playhouse Disney, but their new faves are Magic School Bus (with me zooming thru the commercials since we record it), Phineas & Ferb on Disney. They seem to like Special Agent Oso on Playhouse Disney which is a new show I think. And we LOVE the Food Network.

[fivi2]

A couple that I don't think have been mentioned that my kids love:

Maggie and the Ferocious Beast
64 Zoo Lane

I think these are on Noggin, but I forget.

The also are loving High 5 on Discovery Kids. I think it's kind of cheesy, but they like the songs, and it's harmless.

And another vote for Zobomafu (or however you spell it!)

And Bindi the Jungle Girl

I forgot about 64 Zoo Lane - that one comes and goes here, but is pretty cute. Mine also love High 5, when I remember to tape it. Definitely cheesy, but they sing and dance. on and we've caught mama mirabelle's home movies a few times and they will watch it.

I need to look into some of these others!

[Puddy73]

Try the Food Network. Ds has been into shows on there for a while (Dinner Impossible being his favorite).

Beth

When DC are sick we usually get in bed, snuggle and watch Food Network. I think DD1 sometimes fakes a stomach ache for this treat! She especially loves Rachael Ray.

[Puddy73]

DD1 likes Electric Company, Wishbone, Veggie Tales, Reading Rainbow, Kim Possible and Phineas and Ferb. She will sometimes watch Word Girl, Martha Speaks or the Playhouse Disney fare that DS likes now, but it doesn't really hold her interest. I wish Disney/Nick would come up with some good programming for 5-10 year olds instead of jumping right from Playhouse Disney to Hannah Montana.

[ltmommy]

I wish Disney/Nick would come up with some good programming for 5-10 year olds instead of jumping right from Playhouse Disney to Hannah Montana.

ITA!!! DD looooves her some TV, she would sit there all day if I let her, but come to think of it now she has been getting a little bored, and not requesting shows as much. She does like Imagination Movers for some reason that is beyond me; I can't stand that show. And Super Why and My Friends Tigger and Pooh. Fortunately she has no interest yet in the non-cartoon shows like Hannah Montana, but then again we don't really even turn them on, she might get a glimpse of a show as we are turning on the DVR. She has gotten more into movies, though, even when we watch 30 minute segments, so I have been buying the $5 movies from Target like Stuart Little and Milo and Otis and Madagascar 2.

[Moneypenny]

In addition to cooking shows, DD also is getting into decorating shows on HGTV. She likes Ask Genevieve and Divine Design the best. The commercials are sometimes more adult than I like, so I do need to be ready to change the channel or mute during commercials, but I think I sometimes go overboard on that.

[alien_host]

My 4YO loves Martha Stewart. We watch the short segments on On Demand -- making different cupcakes. I have a DVD set that I bought for about $5 that has Halloween, Thansgiving, Christmas and New Years ideas for decorating and cooking.

She is obsessed with the halloween one....she watches it almost daily since she found it again with the DVDs. She loves the pumpkin carving and costume making.

We were at the store and she saw a copy of a magazine with Martha on it and she said, "Hey there's Martha!".

She doesn't really care for Martha's talk show though, she doesn't really like the miscellaneous guests and prefers just to see a craft or a recipe being made.

[Canna]

My 4.5 year old watches:

Word World - her favorite
Mister Roger's Neighborhood (which she LOVES)
Sesame Street
Between the Lions

These are really the only shows we let her watch on a regular basis. We record them - she doesn't see them all every day.

I don't feel she is outgrowing them at all - she already knows her letters and sounds and is beginning to read, but Word World and Between the Lions reinforce that. I think she can still enjoy and learn from Sesame Street even though she already knows the basics of the alphabet. I don't want to push her to grow up faster (in fact, almost the opposite - I'm happy for her to enjoy media designed for younger kids). We have some Electric Company Old School DVDs that she watches sometimes, but I don't like the new series much as a lot of the plot lines seem to center around good-guy/bad-guy themes and characters fooling or not being nice to one another.