TV Shows for Kids

20 Apr 2025

When I was in my early 20s, I vowed that I would keep my kids from watching any amount of television.

Turns out, sometimes you really need a break as a parent. A good show can keep your kid entertained while you perform necessary tasks like preparing a meal, doing the dishes, or getting just enough extra sleep to not blow your top or doze off in the car while you drive your kid to preschool.

So, I have had a change of heart: TV can be a tool, but not all TV programs are created equal.

Without further ado, here is my tier list of the shows I’ve seen or heard about:

S-tier #

These are the shows that I am fine with my kid watching any time. They are well-written, low-stimulus, and never get annoying.

Why do I care so much about low-stimulus shows? I don’t want my kids getting hooked on dopamine rushes. I’d rather that they play imaginatively as much as possible. Low-stimulus shows help by not desensitizing kids to the gentler kind of happiness that comes through creative play.

Bluey #

How could it not be Bluey?! It’s a low-stimulus show about parenting that kids happen to enjoy as well. The dad, Bandit, is an enthusiastic, clever, engaged parent who sometimes messes up but always makes up for it. The mum, Chili, is loving, firm, hard-working, and creative. The relationships are positive and realistic.

My favorite episodes are:

Camping

This one makes me tear up. I initially saw Jean-Luc’s departure as a metaphor for death and Chili’s words as a hope to see our friends again in the hereafter. But then my wife pointed out that the episode is essentially the Star Trek episode Darmok where the captain of the Enterprise (Jean-Luc Picard—the name should have been a clue) must learn how to communicate with someone who speaks a strange language.

The Sign

The hour-long 3rd-season finale is an absolute onslaught of emotional sucker-punches if you’ve watched the entire show.

Granny Mobile

Nothing particularly deep in this episode, but it is so funny.

There are more. Bluey deserves all the hype it gets. It’s that good. If you have a toddler, watch Bluey.

Puffin Rock #

This feels like an Irish-flavored Bluey-type show, but with Irish-accented puffins. Sweet show with a pretty animation style. Most episodes are just about the main character, Oona, exploring the island. Less anthropomorphic than Bluey.

A-tier #

Good shows that don’t quite rise to the level of Bluey and aren’t as visually beautiful as Puffin Rock but are still fun and occasionally educational.

Little Einsteins #

Four kids fly around in a “Rocket”. Each episode features a work of classical music and some art by a famous artist. The kids never fight—the whole show is about them solving problems. The best part is that my kid can now recognize lots of different important classical pieces and enjoys listening to them. Occasionally the episodes get a little annoying because of how formulaic they are, but maybe that’s good for the kids.

Blue’s Clues #

I grew up watching Blue’s Clues and it’s still such a nice, sweet show.

B-tier #

These are shows that we will turn on if we have to. I wouldn’t consider them bad, but they are moderately annoying.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie #

This is a TV show based off of the series of children’s books by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond. The show is… fine. Most of the characters seem to have a sense of helplessness when something gets lost/broken and they feel that the circumstances “…will be ruined—forever!" This is a phrase that I am pretty sure crops up in every episode. Ugh. At least half the episodes involve some MacGuffin rolling down a hill to a pond.

Again, it’s not a bad show, but sometimes my daughter will start talking like Mouse with one-word requests for things like “thirsty” or “hungry” instead of speaking in full sentences.

C-tier #

These are shows that I don’t consider actively harmful, but I strongly dislike because of how annoying they are or because my kid picks up bad behaviors from them.

Daniel Tiger #

On the surface, this is the perfect show: it’s a spin-off of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, the animation gentle and low-stimulus, and it’s moderately cute.

But oh—oh how deceptive it is.

Daniel Tiger displays an impressive degree of learned helplessness and timidity. All of the “problems” that he encounters in the show are invented and stupid. E.g., it is raining outside so we can’t play on the beach—grrr I’m mad and now I need help calming down from a total meltdown.

Anyway, cute on the surface, aggravating underneath.

F-tier #

I have not watched these shows. I’m too scared to go near them with a stick.

CoComelon #

CoComelon is the epitome of high-stimulus children’s programming. In every shot the camera is panning, no shot lasts more than 3 seconds, and the show’s developers utilize a tool they call “The Distraction” to determine when scenes are insufficiently attention-grabbing: when a test subject (a small child) looks away from the show to look at a screen showing adults doing banal household chores, the animators will amp up the show at that point to keep kids dialed in.

I would rather not have my child’s dopamine receptors burned out by stimulus-overload.

Look, if you like CoComelon, I won’t judge you. If you’re wondering if you should pull it up for your kids, I would stay far away.

The fewer shows the better #

Kids need to be bored. The more bored they are, the more time they have to be creative and develop an internal world. I do think it’s fine to have some TV—I grew up loving Arthur, Cyber Chase, and Reading Rainbow. It is really nice to have half an hour to shower, eat, and get some chores done so I can better take care of my child. I’m trying to find good shows though. I hope this helps any parents out there looking for ideas. :) Hang in there—raising kids is the very best experience this world has to offer.