It's hard to deny that parenting in the modern age brings new challenges.
Television in the homes of American families has transformed from a luxury to a staple of everyday life. Although many mothers don't want to admit to resorting to television to occupy their kids (because hello #momguilt and #momshaming), a captivating tv show is a breath of fresh air to a LOT of busy parents.
Balance is a hard thing to find - including in children's television.
We love when shows are bright and fun with some educational material or some encouraging life lessons.
Our generation is lucky to have access to commercial-free and on-demand streaming that can be screened beforehand by parents. The commercial free element of sites like Hulu and Netflix are a blessing as your kids can avoid being bombarded by product advertisements.
Here are some of our favorite go-to shows for your little guys and gals!
Beat Bugs
This Netflix Kid's Original is one of our absolute favorites. Each episode of Beat Bugs is based around a classic Beatles song that teaches a life lesson for each episode. Parents can enjoy listening to classic songs they recognize and the children can enjoy little animations of cute bugs. There's a little science involved as your kids learn to identify different bugs! Your kids will become obsessed with the Beatles and it'll be amazing to hear your kids sing along to some iconic Beatles songs. Thank you Netflix for this absolute gem!
Daniel Tiger
Do you ever feel like you just need a song to help your child understand? Daniel Tiger probably has one! This shows comes up with fun songs for your little one to sing for about any problem they could have. And if you don't want your child to watch an entire episode, check out the website or PBS Kids app for short clips and games.
The Hive
We love this show for a few reasons - including that the individual episodes of The Hive are only about 6 minutes long. They tell the story of a bee family and their insect community while teaching life lessons. We love being able to say “yes” to a show (but have it over in less than 10 minutes. (You'll find this one on Netflix and YouTube as well.)
Peg + Cat
Lots of children's shows feature language and social problem-solving lessons. We love that Peg + Cat adds math concepts and logical reasoning to the mix. The fun theme song is engaging and the show features unique illustrations. Your children will be entertained and encouraged to see math as fun and useful as they work with Peg and Cat to solve everyday problems.
Whether we like it or not, our children are growing up in a world saturated with screens.
It's no longer realistic for most families to completely avoid any exposure to screen time before the age of 2, as the American Academy of Pediatrics once recommended. Thankfully, the AAP has recently updated their recommendations to take into account the current environment families are raising children in and the vastly improved programming options, from television to interactive apps.
As much as we don't always like to admit it, many parents are grateful for television.
A good TV show can provide busy parents with a welcome distraction for fussy toddlers, offering some fun learning to a rainy day inside or whenever you need a little extra peace and quiet.
