Calming, educational but fun things to watch with young children
March 27, 2017 4:15 AM Subscribe
We have developed a habit of watching TV once a week with our six year old. It's something we all look forward to (and it means he's not the weirdo at school who doesn't watch ANY TV). We've worked our way through two box sets of Planet Earth and last night we watched Alone in the Wilderness which was wonderful as the narration isn't a million miles away from being like an American Attenborough.
Any tips for further things to watch? The key thing is it should be able to hold a six year old's interest (i.e. not too cerebral) and be relatively calming (we watch before his bedtime) and not gory or sensational. We really enjoyed that neither Planet Earth nor Alone In The Wilderness had a competitive or suspense element to them. You're just calmly swept along in such a comforting way for the duration of the feature.
Thanks!
(I am aware that somewhere there's a second installment of AITW, so will obviously try to track that down as my first move!)
Any tips for further things to watch? The key thing is it should be able to hold a six year old's interest (i.e. not too cerebral) and be relatively calming (we watch before his bedtime) and not gory or sensational. We really enjoyed that neither Planet Earth nor Alone In The Wilderness had a competitive or suspense element to them. You're just calmly swept along in such a comforting way for the duration of the feature.
Thanks!
(I am aware that somewhere there's a second installment of AITW, so will obviously try to track that down as my first move!)
Arthur: a thoughtful cartoon for kids to grow up on.
posted by fairmettle at 4:28 AM on March 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 4:28 AM on March 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: @kuanes: either. We're flexible. :-)
posted by dance at 5:02 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by dance at 5:02 AM on March 27, 2017
Attenborough's entire oeuvre is great - all his multiple series over multiple decades - and I watched most of them with my daughter, but they won't prevent your kid from being the weirdo at school. :-)
"Franklin" is a sensitive, kind turtle, and his TV shows tend to be the same way. I haven't watched any of the newer series with 3D Franklin, but I assume that they wouldn't have completely transformed the character or the show.
"Max and Ruby" often has an almost dreamlike feel to it, though I think it's aimed at younger viewers than your son.
posted by clawsoon at 5:43 AM on March 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Franklin" is a sensitive, kind turtle, and his TV shows tend to be the same way. I haven't watched any of the newer series with 3D Franklin, but I assume that they wouldn't have completely transformed the character or the show.
"Max and Ruby" often has an almost dreamlike feel to it, though I think it's aimed at younger viewers than your son.
posted by clawsoon at 5:43 AM on March 27, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think David Attenborough's The Life of Birds would be a good fit, from what I can remember. I can't guarantee no one gets eaten, but it's not sensationalized. You don't have to listen to/understand the audio to enjoy it: the weird birds are cool enough.
...The Great British Bakeoff?
posted by sacchan at 5:47 AM on March 27, 2017
...The Great British Bakeoff?
posted by sacchan at 5:47 AM on March 27, 2017
The Curious George tv series is great. Each episode is calm, but interesting, and introduces new ideas. I can't tell you how many times I've referred to it to explain things in life, like, "Remember when Curious George was was keeping score at the baseball game? That's the scoreboard." "Remember when The Man with the Yellow Hat had a virus and the germs went onto his pen?"
Our kid found "Arthur" to be too emotional. Its focus is more social, so it deals with things like embarrassment, teasing, and exclusion.
posted by xo at 6:28 AM on March 27, 2017
Our kid found "Arthur" to be too emotional. Its focus is more social, so it deals with things like embarrassment, teasing, and exclusion.
posted by xo at 6:28 AM on March 27, 2017
TV shows How it's made or Dirty Jobs. Chopped Jr or any of the Jamie Oliver shows. Mythbusters (might be too exciting but science!!). Amazing Race.
My older boy (he's 11) loves Cosmos.
For fun kid show that adults love too..Pocoyo.
posted by Ftsqg at 6:30 AM on March 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
My older boy (he's 11) loves Cosmos.
For fun kid show that adults love too..Pocoyo.
posted by Ftsqg at 6:30 AM on March 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
Wild America (we got the boxed set).
posted by 445supermag at 6:46 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by 445supermag at 6:46 AM on March 27, 2017
Are you looking for documentaries specifically?
From the nature-themed movies department -- our 5 year old really like The Bee Movie. It was mildly exciting but not upsetting and still had a little educational value.
posted by typecloud at 6:49 AM on March 27, 2017
From the nature-themed movies department -- our 5 year old really like The Bee Movie. It was mildly exciting but not upsetting and still had a little educational value.
posted by typecloud at 6:49 AM on March 27, 2017
I was thinking along the 'How It's Made'/'Dirty Jobs' line too -- the Food Network's 'Unwrapped' may hit the spot, particularly when candy production is the topic.
How about Bob Ross' 'The Joy of Painting'?
posted by mr. digits at 7:14 AM on March 27, 2017
How about Bob Ross' 'The Joy of Painting'?
posted by mr. digits at 7:14 AM on March 27, 2017
Tumble Leaf on Amazon fits this description. It's one of my favorite kid shows.
We also do a lot of Alton Brown's Good Eats but I'm not sure if that exactly fits the calming requirement.
posted by dpx.mfx at 7:18 AM on March 27, 2017
We also do a lot of Alton Brown's Good Eats but I'm not sure if that exactly fits the calming requirement.
posted by dpx.mfx at 7:18 AM on March 27, 2017
Wild Kratts is pretty great - there's a kiddo element that is goofy and fun and there is an educational element that is entertaining for all. More on the cerebral side, watch The Eagle Huntress - it's subtitled but I don't think you need to read to understand the story. For more kid fare I wholeheartedly recommend the Tinkerbell series - clever adventure, storylines that are not bland and great animation. Don't stick to just boys for your boy! The Tink movies are great. Octonauts is good, too.
posted by amanda at 7:29 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by amanda at 7:29 AM on March 27, 2017
My perennial recommendation along these lines is The Kid Should See This, a kind of clearing house of science / educational internet videos that work great for kids. (Further recommendation: take a look yourself before rather than fishing around at bedtime, or you might end up with something that gets your kid revved up rather than chilled out.)
posted by miles per flower at 7:48 AM on March 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by miles per flower at 7:48 AM on March 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
There's a great BBC documentary newly available on Netflix called "Hidden Kingdoms" that is sort of aimed at kids, but really great to watch. There are three in the series, though my kids loved the first 2 and were a little squicked out by the 3rd (bugs rather than cute furry animals), but ymmv.
I agree with the Chopped Junior suggestion since it involves young kids doing really cool things. The judges are so nice and supportive too, so no yelling or belittling involved like the originals. If baking is interesting, you might like some of the cake or cupcake challenges the Food Network does seasonally.
posted by LKWorking at 9:14 AM on March 27, 2017
I agree with the Chopped Junior suggestion since it involves young kids doing really cool things. The judges are so nice and supportive too, so no yelling or belittling involved like the originals. If baking is interesting, you might like some of the cake or cupcake challenges the Food Network does seasonally.
posted by LKWorking at 9:14 AM on March 27, 2017
Human Planet is very good.
posted by pintapicasso at 9:31 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by pintapicasso at 9:31 AM on March 27, 2017
Oh! Life Story is another great British documentary series. The episodes are grouped on life stages
posted by pintapicasso at 9:34 AM on March 27, 2017
posted by pintapicasso at 9:34 AM on March 27, 2017
The documentary "Babies" from a few years ago is really great. It follows 4 babies -- from San Francisco, Japan, Mongolia and Namibia -- through their first year of life.
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:47 AM on March 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 10:47 AM on March 27, 2017 [3 favorites]
River Cottage and Usagi Drop. The first is a British gardening-cooking show; the second is a 20min manga cartoon about a little girls daily life in Japan. Both are super mellow and comforting but would also present interesting things to talk about.
posted by jrobin276 at 12:10 PM on March 27, 2017
posted by jrobin276 at 12:10 PM on March 27, 2017
My 5- and 7-year-old are surprisingly interested in Netflix's "Chef's Table," even when there are subtitles. It's very soothing.
NOVA, carefully curated, is also great with them. (We prefer the ones that focus on science or ancient history; the engineering-oriented ones often involves terrifying disasters and the recent history ones too much war-gore.) There's a selection of NOVA on Amazon Prime.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:08 PM on March 27, 2017
NOVA, carefully curated, is also great with them. (We prefer the ones that focus on science or ancient history; the engineering-oriented ones often involves terrifying disasters and the recent history ones too much war-gore.) There's a selection of NOVA on Amazon Prime.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 2:08 PM on March 27, 2017
Maybe some travel shows, like Rick Steves?
posted by The otter lady at 2:15 PM on March 27, 2017
posted by The otter lady at 2:15 PM on March 27, 2017
Not sure how you define "calming" in your house, but the British show "Horrible Histories" is on Hulu, and it's very entertaining. Might want to select away from certain stories, I guess, depending on your child's sensitivities, but it is wonderful. And if you're willing to watch a show from bootleg YouTube copies, "Wishbone" is a masterpiece.
posted by Charity Garfein at 5:46 PM on March 27, 2017
posted by Charity Garfein at 5:46 PM on March 27, 2017
We have an almost 6yo. Recently we've been watching Flight of the Butterflies on Netflix; it tells the story of the couple who discovered the full migration pattern of Monarch butterflies. It's great for pre-bedtime. We also quite like the "spy in the herd" documentaries.
posted by vignettist at 8:57 PM on March 27, 2017
posted by vignettist at 8:57 PM on March 27, 2017
I think I've suggested this before on similar threads, but Masterchef Jr. is a ton of fun to watch - you get to see kids doing some pretty badass cooking (and, because it's kids, they get all these rather comical rewards like when a winning team gets to dump frosting on the judges) and it may introduce a whole lot of interesting new foods in an accessible way.
It does involve a little suspense (being, you know, a competition) but they do a good job of focusing on technique, teamwork, and constructive comments rather than building up ~who will win~ as the focus of the episode. Personally, because of its focus on learning techniques and skills, I strongly prefer it to Chopped junior (though I'm a little embarrassed that I know enough to have a preference at all).
posted by R a c h e l at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2017
It does involve a little suspense (being, you know, a competition) but they do a good job of focusing on technique, teamwork, and constructive comments rather than building up ~who will win~ as the focus of the episode. Personally, because of its focus on learning techniques and skills, I strongly prefer it to Chopped junior (though I'm a little embarrassed that I know enough to have a preference at all).
posted by R a c h e l at 11:24 AM on March 28, 2017
Do some searches for "Mr Rogers how things are made" to find a whole lot of videos where Mr Rogers Neighborhood took a tour of different kind of factories. The tone of these videos has always been calming and informative. If the length is short, maybe you decide to watch several of them in a row.
posted by CathyG at 2:39 PM on March 28, 2017
posted by CathyG at 2:39 PM on March 28, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kuanes at 4:24 AM on March 27, 2017