My brother and I grew up with no TV in our house. As a result TV barely had any influence in our lives. But in KT’s case, I never allowed her to watch kids programs on TV since the time she was a baby. Most programs on Cartoon Network, Pogo, Nick and likewise never appealed to me. In my personal opinion, the programs are either too violent (one superhero battling another) or poor in language, sometimes senseless and lacked meaningful, positive content for kids. Some times you just wonder what the producers wanted to instill in young innocent minds through their programs.
Well, therefore, I used to spend hours on end on YouTube browsing for good videos that KT can watch. My search was fruitful. YouTube has a humongous collection of good quality videos for kids. It probably is the only glimmer of hope for Indian parents!
Also, during our 5 month stay in the UK last year, KT (and I) fell in love with CBeebies (BBC’s channel for children). It’s from 6am to 6pm with pure, unadulterated programs for children, completely advertisement free! It has programs for different age groups and specially challenged children as well. Their programs focused on numbers, alphabets, phonetics, rhymes, show and tell, languages and what not. The creative ways in which they teach the children is something every parent will fall in love with!
When we returned to India, we were over the moon when we found out that Tata Sky and Airtel were airing CBeebies! We subscribed for it immediately. However, in November last year, to the disappointment of countless parents, BBC stopped broadcasting CBeebies across Asia! Cutting a long story short, I am back at the mercy of YouTube!
Anyways, here is a quick list of KT’s favorite rhymes/cartoons/videos/games –
Rhymes
The Wiggles – They are an Australian children’s group – KT’s all time favorite. Their songs and videos are very catchy. They have a lot of series on different themes. I have around 8 of them. You can also find their songs on YouTube.
Cartoons
Charlie and Lola – We were introduced to them while we were in UK and it was love at first sight. Charlie is a very responsible big brother who loves his little sister Lola to pieces. Lola is cute and adorable, but she has her own problems and can get a little annoying at times. The entire series revolves around how Charlie creatively solves Lola’s issues with immense patience. Their language is something I gotta mention. They have the cutest British accent ever and they come up with ridiculously adorable phrases!
Here’s one of their episode. Now you’ll know what I am talking about!
Peppa Pig – This again is a British cartoon. As you can see in the picture, it’s about a little girl pig and her daddy pig, mummy pig and little brother George. She loves jumping in muddy puddles. She has a lot of animal friends her age. Each episode is either on an adventure or something fun she does with her family. The language again is very simple and music to your ears. (Most episodes available on YouTube!)
The Numtums – They are ten animated creatures who make numbers easy peasy to learn. One number (from 1 – 10) is chosen in each 5 minute episode. The children are shown that particular number in different forms in such a way that it gets registered in the child’s mind! Here’s a sample video –
Dora the Explorer – She needs no introduction and it is the only program KT is allowed to watch on TV!
Online Games
Well, yes, KT plays online games – once a week under my guidance! I am a big time advocate of CBeebies and KT plays games only from their site. The games are beautifully programmed for toddlers and all that a child has to do is press the space-bar at the right time! If you have a webcam, that makes things all the more creative and interesting. In one of the coloring games, the child just needs to wave her hand in front of the camera and the monitor will get colored. Doesn’t that sound amazing?
All their games are uber cool, but here are the one’s KT loves –
Baby Jake’s Drive and Find Game
Squiggle Cam (This is the one where you wave your hand to color)
So… Tell me, what does your child enjoy listening/watching/playing the most? I’d love to check them out. Please leave a note on the comment box below!
Kronicles of K80 & Krissy 
Totally agree with you about the violent and poor content cartoons aired on TV. Asher and me loved show me show me, Mister maker, I can cook and also Baby Jake!! As much as Asher misses CBeebies I miss them badly too!!
Off late, I’ve also been on Youtube…some of the songs and stories we love are from Gofish guys (love love their songs!!), the veggie tales, Theo and The rhino song. Try them…im sure Katy and you will enjoy them too 🙂
Do you get this new channel called the discovery kids? Maya the bee is a nice cartoon. Also we love Thomas and friends that comes on Pogo at 8 in the morning. Our Disney channel favorites are Mickey mouse and the clubhouse, Jake and the neverland pirates, Phineas and Ferb and Art attack (Tho in Hindi, Asher loves watching it as it makes up for Mister maker) which reminds me MAD in pogo is also nice!!
Watched Maya the Bee a couple of times! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is good too! KT doesn’t get to watch Jake the Neverland Pirates as she leaves to school at that time!
Well my story is different – we do not watch TV or computer. I believe in imaginative play and creative outlets. But having said that – the no TV rule vanishes when she is visiting grandparents or traveling. She loves some shows on the Indian channels and I do not censure them as she is on vacation. At home – the TV does not work and the computer is for mommy to work (it means mommy does not get to see you tube too). But she does play on the IPad. I keep changing the apps there so that she can get a mix of rhymes, stories, math and phonetics suitable for her age.
I’ve been very slack on the crafts end. Should resume it. Thanks for the reminder!!
Got some apps on my Windows phone too. But don’t want her to get addicted to any gadget in particular. So I restrict her time on both the comp and mobile!
Tia’s all time favourite is Wiggles and I love them too!! She also loves Veggietales. They’re funny and teach good habits like sharing, being kind to one another etc. They also do the good ol’ Sunday School songs. I’m sure Katie will enjoy it.
Will check out Veggietales! Have you been to a Wiggles concert?
There are lots of free and paid toddler educational apps and gaming apps for iPad / iPhone. They can be downloaded and used offline. The usability of these gadgets are very easy that kids can access the apps without much effort / learning. 100s of kids apps are released every month.
I’m aware! I don’t have an iPad or an iPhone, but got similar apps on my Windows phone =)
Surprisingly, we still get Cbeebies through our local cable guy! Our boys like to watch shows like “Cat in the Hat” & “Handy Manny” on Disney Junior as well. We do restrict the time they spend on TV, though… And as you said, they get creative and find other things to do when the TV is off. We’ve also downloaded a few free apps for kids that are learning oriented and help with hand-eye coordination.
Another friend of mine said the same this morning. I gotta do some enquiring with the cable guys! Which cable operator are you with?
We use the “In Digital” set top box from our local cable operator.