Can you recommend any kids' shows featuring real children?

August 26, 2009 5:45 PM

Can you recommend any kids' shows featuring real children? I'm looking for something appropriate for a preschooler. A minimum of franticness would be nice.
posted by moira to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

I really like Little Travelers. It follows a real family with very young children as they travel to different places in the world. You watch the kids meet other kids, try food, and participate in cultural activities. It's gently paced, interesting, and it's only agenda seems to be to experience the world. It's meant for an audience of pre-schoolers and young school-aged and their families. It's quite lovely and real and my son finds the segments riveting while still talking to me about it as he watches something, often dancing along. It's produced by the family, who know what they're doing.
posted by rumposinc at 5:53 PM on August 26, 2009

Reading Rainbow comes to mind.
posted by corey flood at 5:56 PM on August 26, 2009

Pancake Mountain: Order it on DVD if you don't live near DC. (Previously)
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:06 PM on August 26, 2009

Aren't there kids on Sesame Street?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:11 PM on August 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

Cooking for Kids with Luis - a really likeable Australian kid who cooks omelettes while wearing a Spiderman suit.
This is Daniel Cook
This is Emily Yeung
posted by pseudostrabismus at 6:21 PM on August 26, 2009

Although animated, my favorite non-frantic show for preschoolers was Little Bear. The voices are done by children and not adults, which for me was essential to sanity. My smart but sheltered children loved it.
posted by rintj at 10:05 PM on August 26, 2009

I was just about to mention all the shows that pseudostrabismus mentioned, along with a documentary that airs all the time on HBO Family called Kindergarten. It chronicles a year in the life of a Kindergarten class, focusing on the kids and their experiences. My daughter loved it when she was a preschooler (watching the "big kids" was fascinating for her), and I enjoyed it as well.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:14 PM on August 26, 2009

Zoom! Real kids (I went to school with a kid who ended up on the show way back when), nothing too frantic. It's basically just some approachable kids doing simple activities (crafts, hand clapping games, little skits) on a soundstage.
posted by oinopaponton at 6:27 AM on August 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks to all for your suggestions. A couple look particularly like what I was looking for.
posted by moira at 9:08 AM on August 28, 2009