100+ Best Educational Shows For Toddlers List (Good & Bad Programs)

If you’re in search of the best educational shows for toddlers or preschooler-aged children on TV or Netflix, programs that are non-stimulating, wholesome and beneficial, then chances are you may have already grown to dislike many of today’s bright and loud kids TV shows for toddlers. 

The List: 100+ Educational Shows For Toddlers

Educational Toddler TV Shows List PDF Download

It would be easiest to have this shared in a spreadsheet or PDF. For now I’ll get a PDF download of this list up here in the near future.

Keep in mind this is a very subjective list and I made judgements based on my personal preferences for my son. The list might be different if I had a daughter. Or maybe it’d be the same and I’d share with her the original Ninja Turtles? Haven’t ever thought about it.

But all the first TV shows up top on this list marked “Yes” would be the same, Old Bear Stories, Nature, Pingu, Mr. Rodgers, Kipper, etc.

These 5 I just mentioned our some of our favorites. Within those educational shows for toddlers and preschooler children I do allow him to watch, he does have his favorites and I grant his special requests on videos days.

What’s On This Best TV For Kids List?

This isn’t your usual best educational shows for toddlers list. But over time this list will get added to and might be better. I might just drop all the “No” shows from the list and keep it to approved (“Yes”) and prospective (“TBW”) shows only.

This list has both new and old kids tv shows, nature shows for kids, music videos and other educational videos, learning shows and cartoons for toddlers. You will not find many shows like Blippi on this list as we tend to avoid these Pee Wee Herman/Blues Clues guy type character led children’s shows. Steve Irwin however, is #1 around here. We watch random videos downloaded from Youtube, but if he has a series on IMDB it will be added.

• Nature documentary shows
• Host-driven character shows
• Educational cartoons for toddlers
• Good stop frame animation
• Good stop motion animation (Pingu is a computer generated claymation)
• Educational children’s shows from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s up to today.
• Some of the good, popular shows of the past several decades.

Children Show Average Age Brackets

For your general information, and in case it may be useful when browsing other children’s educational shows, here is what these age ranges are called:

• Infant: Birth to 1 year old
• Toddler: 1 to 3 years old (some say to 2)
• Preschoolers: 3 to 6 years old
• School-aged children: 6 to 12 years old
• Adolescent children: 12 to 18 years old

A quality educational show for toddlers, one made of substance, should be enjoyable for anyone of any age – child, teen or adult.

Modern vs Old Kids TV Shows

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You may find that you enjoy older educational shows for children. There seems to have been more good during the 80’s and 90’s. Most old kids TV shows still have a good sense of morality.

Introduce Old Kids Shows Before New

The order of introduction is simple a personal preference. I assume a child can be spoiled with 4K/HD to the point where they’d even be disappointed with 480p video, even its perfectly fine and able to be watched. I’m at the point of mixing these up, and also some older shows, like Mister Rogers and Thomas The Tank Engine, have been remastered and look great.

As long as the dialogue is clearly audible, the good old educational shows for children are still great to watch, even if it’s as low as 360p or 480p.

What about modern educational shows for toddlers?

Are there any good NEW kids TV shows? 

With modern toddler shows, the only thing you can guarantee is a good amount of computer-generated animation (Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) for video graphics is known as “CGI animation”). And if it’s a live-action show (real people, not an animation), silly bright outfits and loud, whiny characters and sound effects. These types of live action shows with goofy main characters can be good, but most of them out there you’ll come across when browsing are not. It would not surprise me to see characters wearing face masks as if it were normal in any of today’s popular educational programs, for example. This puts the idea together in a nutshell. Classic, timeless educational shows for toddlers for the most part are not mixing in social issues. They’re educational programs not actual social programming shows. Whether real, cartoon, CGI or puppet, these modern kids shows all have that same weird production style and feel.

View our article 5 Reasons To Avoid Screen Time & Most Kids TV Shows for more on this subject.

What I’m now finding is that there may perhaps be some good modern educational children’s programs. Tumble Leaf is one of these good new ones.

Watch The Fox And The Bird in its entirety on Youtube:

The Benefits Of Educational Kids TV Shows

• It’s a different take on children stories that hopefully they first learn from on books
• It could help visual learners as a learning tool
• Learn traditional sayings and classic jokes
• Helps learn the usage of metaphors, similes and other proper language usage
• Helpful for English as First Language children living abroad.

For Americans abroad, being raised outside of English speaking countries at least part time, traditional programs like Mr. Rogers or American Tall Tales for example, and others that are wholesome and educational are very beneficial for the screen-time days. They give you a taste of traditional American culture which is different than anywhere else abroad.

• Increases listening comprehension abilities
• Increases vocabulary and thus the ability to express thoughts
• For busy parents: Nap in peace knowing wholesome content is on the screen
• Helpful for ESL children

SUMMARY

This list of shows is a work in progress. There is enough on it to make it a useful resource now, but it will be updated periodically.

If you’re looking for an alternative to Cocomelon, this list should have something better to replace it with. If you’re looking for toddler shows that aren’t annoying, the few on this list we like better than the Blippi, Coco Melons and PAW Patrol type shows. 

We’re content with what we have and don’t need to keep looking, but if there are some good ones out there I should know about, I’ll add them to this list if anyone lets me know or I come across it. 

What do you think? Have any good learning shows for toddlers to add to the list?

Do you know of any educational shows for toddlers that I should have on this list?

Are they on youtube or available online somewhere?

Would be great to know and add to this list!

I might have to split off the YouTube channels and series and make that a separate list. 

Thanks for coming by our blog.

Next Up: 5 Reasons To Limit Screen Time For Children