Lower Stimulation Kids Shows & Where to Stream Them
Right after Mayne was born I read an article about the negative effects of TV on kids under two. I vowed Mayne wouldn’t watch any TV until the age of two. It was a short lived vow to say the least. Can it be done? You bet! There are plenty of parents who’ve held this vow. Is it for us? Absolutely not.
The vow may have been easier to keep had we sent Mayne to a daycare where they held a no TV policy, but being a stay at home mom and holding down this policy is hard at times. Especially on rainy days. We’ve instead adopted a structured policy regarding the shows Mayne watches and how often he can watch those shows.
Mom guilt is unavoidable though. When I first allowed him to watch a show out of desperation to my sanity, I fought with guilt. I’ve since decided it’s not worth the guilt. TV isn’t filling his entire day, many days he doesn’t watch any at all- but when a bought of teething happens, or it’s raining all day, or mama just needs to keep him in a safe place while I cook I don’t think an episode or two of Mr. Rogers is going to affect his development in a negative way.
Why We Choose Low Stimulation Shows:
Young children, especially toddlers, are in a highly critical developmental stage. They’re navigating this new world, figuring out emotions, and learning to process so much information about life. All of this equates to them becoming easily overstimulated- cue the toddler tantrums. Shows with flashing lights, high energy, rapid scene changes, and loud music can create overstimulation (I’m not a toddler and they overstimulate me).
Overstimulation in children can cause:
Heightened irritability
Difficulty sleeping
Tantrums
Excessive crying
Difficulty concentrating
Restlessness or Hyperactivity
Read More on overstimulation in children here.
Lower stimulation shows can help promote language development, calmness, better focus, better sleeping patterns, reduce stress, and emotional regulation compared to overly stimulated shows.
Guidelines We use:
We try to keep it simple when choosing lower stimulating shows for Mayne. A lot of the newer shows seem too hypnotizing- keeping kids glued to the screen. We avoid shows with extremely bright colors, 3D images, fast moving images, and overly stimulating music and sounds. Basically most newer shows don’t make the cut.
For all the reasons above, we generally choose older shows. These shows seem to engage him, without hypnotizing him. He’ll stop watching to play with toys around him, he’ll answer to his name when called, and has no trouble leaving the TV during an episode. He also doesn’t throw a tantrum if it’s turned off.
Caleb and I aren’t big TV watchers so, we hardly have it on as background noise and usually only turn it on for ourselves after Mayne goes to bed. We try to use TV as an extra treat for the entire household instead of something that’s a big part of daily life. This makes minimizing screen time easier for Mayne too. He’s not used to it being on all the time so for him to only get an episode two a day or a movie on the weekends is an exciting treat for him instead of an obsession.
Low Stimulation Shows For Kids & Where to Stream Them:
Thomas & Friends (90’s version)- Retro PBS, Roku Channel or Vizio Live
Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood- Retro PBS on Roku Channel or Vizio Live, PBS App
Zabomafoo- Retro PBS on Roku Channel or Vizio Live, Amazon Prime
Kipper- Amazon Prime
Arthur- PBS App
Babar- Peacock, Amazon Prime
The Berenstain Bears- Amazon Prime, AppleTV
Sesame Street (Early 2000’s or older)- HBO Max, YouTube
Bob The Builder (Early 2000’s)- Roku Channel, Vizio Live, Peacock
Bear in The Big Blue House- Disney+
Fantasia (1940)- Disney+
Vintage Disney/ Silly Symphony (1930s-1950s)- Disney+
Barney- Roku Channel, Vizio Live, Peacock
Little Bear- Amazon Prime
Franklin- Amazon Prime, AppleTV
Blue’s Clues (90s Version)- Amazon Prime, Paramount+
Guess How Much I Love You- Amazon Prime
Reading Rainbow- Amazon Prime, Roku Channel, Vizio Live
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie- Amazon Prime
The New Adventures of Winne the Pooh- Disney+
Puffin Rock- Netflix
Tumble Leaf- Amazon Prime
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