Five Tot Friendly Shows (that aren’t Daniel Tiger)

I don’t know what world you live in but over here it is Daniel Tiger (DT- yes we watch it so much I have come to abbreviating) all. the. time. Seriously. I’m so over DT and have been working on moving us away from it and on to some new and more interesting shows. That being said I don’t think DT will be out of our life anytime soon but I am hoping Edith is over it by the time Alder starts having an opinion about shows because I don’t know if I can bear to go two or so more years watching it. Before I reveal the other shows we (yes we) are liking let’s first see if you also watch too much DT.

You know you’re watching too much DT when…

1. Evening conversations with your partner/husband develop into an over analytical discussion about why Mrs. Tiger is the only one of the tigers who wears pants.
2. You are constantly singing songs from DT (clean up, pick up, put away…ALWAYS IN MY HEAD). 
3. You are still singing the songs when your children have gone to bed.
4. You have playdates and conversation always ends up leading to something Daniel Tiger related such as why the male tigers don’t wear pants or how Mrs. Tiger walked home from the doctors office after just having her baby (and can we talk about the new baby parade?)
5. Your child says “Daniel Tiger has, does, likes, ect too” to everything. Example Edith is eating oatmeal for breakfast –> “Daniel Tiger eat oatmeal too!”
6. You read this blog post and at the end say YES, EXACTLY!

So now that we have determined that you are watching too much DT or that you don’t want to become someone who does here are a few better (IMO) options that you and your tot can both get behind.

 

 

 

So Tumble Leaf is on Amazon and if you have Amazon Prime it’s free. It’s actually an Amazon original show and I don’t remember how I came across it but I really love it. The animation is fantastic and the the story line is actually great. It’s set in the woods (and by the sea and by some snow – they’ve got it all covered) mostly with your traditional woodland creatures except for the funny little chickens that don’t really talk. Anyways each episode features some sort of problem and it shows how Fig the Fox (main character) solves the problem/learns by play and exploration. My description doesn’t do it justice but trust me it’s good.

I know many of you are probably already on the Dinosaur Train but I have to say I really like the show. For one thing there are more episodes than DT so we don’t fall into the trap of watching the same ones over and over. Plus I find it to be educational for Edith and I learn something (hey it’s been about 20 years since I learned about dinosaurs). Edith is really into dinosaurs lately so that helps too.

The Hive is something that Edith actually asked to watch one day when I was flipping through shows on Netflix. It’s a show about a bee family and their insect friends. Oh and it’s British so I think Edith gets a kick out of the British accent and the British phrases. Anyways I think the show is pretty cute and a great alternative to DT.

Now this one is one that I really like and while I was able to convince E to watch Peg + Cat for a short period she just hasn’t been interested in it lately. I hoping to try and guide it to her as an alternative to DT. This show is again like most preschool shows all about certain lessons and I just really enjoy the approach that this show takes.

Okay this last one is the wild card. The SACCONEJOLYs is actually a YouTube channel that I came across last spring and for some reason got sucked into watching it. Since then Edith has become obsessed with their two year old daughter Emilia; I think it’s because they are almost the same age and Emilia has a little brother now just like E does. Anyways they post a new video everyday at 6pm GMT (for us that’s 10am PST) and while we don’t watch this everyday we do watch it a few times per week at the request of Edith. Although I’ll tell you this if there isn’t enough Emilia in it she starts to order the screen to put on more Emilia and will desperately ask “Where Emilia Go? Emilia ARE YOU?? (that’s Emilia where are you in Edith language). So this one really might not be your cup of tea but what can I say I like to be a little nosey and watch other people’s lives and Edith enjoys it (oh and it’s not a cartoon).

So that’s it. This is my current list of shows that I try and persuade my toddler to watch instead of Daniel Tiger. On a side note as I am finishing up this post we are watching Daniel Tiger, oh the irony.

What are your favorite tot/preschool shows?