As a stay-at-home mom, I’ve come to realize that screen time isn’t all that bad. For starters, it gets my kids to sit still while I accomplish other tasks or simply take a breath. But it’s been really educational for them as well. I was one of those people who swore I wouldn’t let my kids have too much screen time, but then I became a mom and reality kicked in! So, instead, I made sure to monitor the things my kids have access to on the screens and made sure to choose great educational tv shows since they were toddlers.
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Choose Your Platforms Wisely
My first tip, abuse your streaming apps and avoid Youtube. Youtube is amazing, don’t get me wrong. But you have very little control of what automatically plays after your selected video or what recommendations your child might click on. You don’t want to walk in and find them watching something inappropriate for their age and it’s really hard to monitor those kinds of things on certain platforms.
There are various streaming platforms that have a variety of great educational tv shows for toddlers that aren’t complete trash. Some of my favorites include Netflix, Amazon Prime (and their extra channels), Disney+, and HBO Max. And they all allow you to create multiple profiles with parental restrictions so that you can filter what type of content will show up based on age rating. If you’re using a tablet, you can also use the tablet’s settings or third-party apps to set additional restrictions as well.
And there’s always the option of purchasing DVDs of your favorites so that you always have access.
Before We Get To The List
Like I said, we definitely abuse screen time in our house but I don’t really feel guilty about it. My kids have learned so much from all these shows that their little minds are always stimulated. And sometimes I like to sit to watch with them, soaking up all the amazing cuddles.
I will do my best to keep this list updated as we are constantly trying out new shows but things change very quickly as well. For example, between the time that I started putting this list together and completing this post, I noticed that one of the shows was removed from a major platform.
Most of the shows on our list are from our favorite streaming platforms but I will try to include the networks as well.
We no longer pay for cable in our house and one of the things I missed the most was the PBS Kids Channel because every single one of their shows has been phenomenal in so many ways. Their apps, while amazing, don’t store full seasons of their shows so we signed up for Amazon Prime‘s monthly subscription of the PBS Kids Channel (only $4.99/month). Amazon has a lot of really great “channels” that you can sign up for on a monthly basis and cancel any time.
Sensational & Mom-Approved Educational TV Shows for Toddlers
- Storybots (Netflix)
- Daniel Tiger (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Llama Llama
- Wild Kratts (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Dinosaur Train (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Octonauts (Netflix)
- The Magic School Bus (Netflix)
- The Magic School Bus Rides Again (Netflix)
- Let’s Go Luna (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (Netflix)
- SciShow Kids (Youtube)
- Super Simple Songs (YouTube)
- Word World (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Little Einsteins (Netflix, Disney Jr, Disney+)
- Doc McStuffins (Netflix, Disney Jr, Disney+)
- Sesame Street (PBS Kids, HBO max)
- Charlie’s Coloforms City (Netflix)
- Super Wings (no longer on Netflix & partially included with Amazon Prime)
- Super Why (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Elinor Wonders Why (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Tumble Leaf (Amazon Prime)
- Bluey (Disney Jr, Disney+)
- Alphablocks (Netflix)
- Numberblocks (Netflix)
- Ready Jet Go! (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Peg + Cat (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Sid the Science Kid (PBS Kids & Amazon Prime PBS Kids Channel)
- Beat Bugs (Netflix)
- The Stinky and Dirty Show (Amazon Prime)
- Messy Goes to Okido (HBO max)
- Reading Rainbow (Amazon Prime)
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My name is Paula and I’m a mom of two scrumptious cuties. Thanks Mommy Blog became a project for me to help guide other new moms and current moms through any of my own personal experiences and struggles. My hobbies include singing, doing jigsaw puzzles, baking, designing and trying to stay creative.
