Learning with the Tube

Little minds are always absorbing new things in from the world around them. Why not turn their screen time into learning time? I’ve listed below my top 20 educational TV shows for children.

PBS KIDS

My go to is PBS. We have a smart tv and downloaded the PBS Kids App to our tv. It was pretty simple to do, it was free, and it has some great shows on it! You can also download the app to a tablet, Ipad, phone, etc. You can also go to their website at PBSKids.org to find even more episodes and games. Their whole website is really jam packed with lots of helpful ideas and info, and its all free! Some of our favorite shows are:

Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum

• Topic: History
• Helps teach kids about some great people in history and how they helped change the world in an easily digestible way for kids to understand. I also really like how they try to focus on something great that a particular person did that your child can do as well – encouraging your kids to channel their inner greatness. We often times go to the library and get books on these people to learn even more. I’ve found this show particularly helpful this month (February) for black history month.

Wild Kratts

• Topic: Life Science – Animals
• Fun program that follows the Kratt brothers and their team to help rescue animals from different villains so the animals can “live free and in the wild.” You learn animal facts as they collect information on the various animals to put into their power suits. My kids like to pretend play this show quite a bit. (If your kids are really into animals I made a zoo trip printable that we’ve had lots of educational fun with as well.)

 

Molly of Denali

• Topic: Cultures and Traditions
• Molly is an outdoorsy Alaskan native that goes on various adventures and helps teach children about various native alaskan traditions. Molly uses lots of maps, field guides, and books to report her findings in her vlog. I find it interesting myself and learn plenty of things I never heard of before.

 

Elinor Wonders Why

• Topic: Nature, Critical Thinking Skills
• Elinor is a little bunny that encourages young children to question everything. She will find something interesting which leads to a question that leads to her going through a process to find the answer. It is a cute little show and I like how the main character is a good role model to encourage young children to be inquisitive.

 

Sesame Street

• Topic: Life lessons, Letters, Numbers, and Shapes
• I think I would be hard pressed to find someone that has not heard of Sesame Street. It has been around for a long time due to good reason.

 

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood

• Topic: Social and Emotional Skills
• Inspired by Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, Daniel is a little tiger that helps young children think through their emotions and how to respond to those around them.

 

Hero Elementary

• Topic: Scientific Thinking
• Superhero children use their powers and thinking skills to solve various problems. If your kid is into flying, teleporting superheroes they will enjoy this show.

 

Super Why

• Topic: Letters and Reading Skills
• Follow characters through various fairy tale stories to help fix the story through the power of reading. They incorporate letters and reading skills in a fun way for little children.

 

Let’s Go Luna

• Topic: Geography
• Kids can learn various interesting facts (food, music, architecture) about each place the characters travel to around the world with the circus.

 

 Curious George

• Topic: Encouraging exploration
• I feel like curious George is another one of those shows (books) that everyone has heard of. Young kids can follow the curious little monkey as he teaches them to be inquisitive and explore engineering, math, art and science.

 

Word Girl

• Topic: Vocabulary
• This is a fun one if your kid is into superheroes and villains.

 

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That

• Topic: Science
• The Cat in the Hat is a goofy show that encourages kids to explore, ask questions, and find answers. There are a lot of newer Cat in the Hat books that have quite a bit of educational content in them in a fun rhyming way. Our favorite is probably No Place Like Space – we, particularly my husband, have read that one to the point of memorization.

 

Odd Squad

• Topic: Math
• Agents go about solving various problems and defeating villains by using math reasoning skills. Geared more towards 5-8yr olds – but my 3 yr old still finds it pretty entertaining.

 

Peg + Cat

• Topic: Math
• Peg and her cat use their math skills to solve various problems they encounter. Geared more towards younger children: preschool/kindergarten.

 

There are plenty more shows on PBS Kids, from Pinkalicious, to Dinosaur train, to some old school Arthur. Just check them out, you won’t be disappointed!

 

Netflix

While PBS Kids is by far my favorite there are some good educational programs on Netflix as well

Magic School Bus (And Magic School Bus Rides Again)

• Topic: Wide variety
• Old school Magic School Bus, and the new Magic School Bus are both on Netflix and can get your kids engaged in learning. Ms. Frizzle is an eccentric teacher who is always taking her class on crazy field trips in their magical school bus. Oceans, volcanoes, water treatment, sound, human anatomy, recycling, plant life cycles – on and on the extensive list goes. They also have fun thoroughly informative books.

 

Emily’s Wonder Lab

• Topic: Science
• Emily teaches a group of children scientific concepts through fun science experiments and gives you some ideas of experiments to do at home as well.

 

Our Planet

• Topic: Nature Documentary
• Perhaps not as flashy for some younger children but has some beautiful videography. It is a nature documentary though…and I can’t recall if it was this one or another animal documentary we had but I do recall a zebra being eaten – so, just heads up. We’ve been more into Wild Kratts on PBS Kids for our animal fix lately.

 

The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That

• I already mentioned this one in PBS Kids so I am not going to count it again but it is worth mentioning that it is on Netflix as well.

 

There are plenty of documentaries and I imagine more educational shows as well on Netflix, these are just the ones that we have seen and can recommend for children.

 

Disney+

I love Disney movies and still cry like a baby with lots of them. While I’m a fan of Disney movies, I still prefer PBS Kids when it comes to educational shows for younger kids. Here are a few shows that I’ve noticed a little more educational type content.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

• Topic: Math
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney+ offers some simple practice with counting and identifying shapes for example, but its mostly just entertaining.

 

Doc McStuffins

• Topic: Health and Hygiene
• Doc Mcstuffins is a little girl who can speak to toys and helps fix them. While I feel its still mostly entertaining Doc is a good role model and she also has some episodes with catchy songs involving good health and hygiene habits.

 

National Geographic

• There is a whole section of offerings from National Geographic included on Disney+. We haven’t watched a lot of them – cause I feel like when we open Disney+ they want to watch all the fun entertaining movies and shows first – but there is a good selection to choose from here. We’ve watched some of the Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom which we liked – especially if you are into the behind the scenes of somewhere you have visited or hope to visit someday.

 

There is no doubt about it, I’m partial to PBS Kids – but I think with good reason. Is there anything that I missed that you are a big fan of for educational shows? Leave a comment below and let me know! I hope your kids have fun being entertained while they learn!

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