I'm looking for some recommendations for good, wholesome (but not too juvenile) shows for boys in the 5-7-ish age range.
My son is 5 1/2, and he has clearly outgrown most preschool-type programming. A lot of his friends are now watching a lot of Disney stuff like Jonas and Hannah Montana - while I think they're relatively wholesome, I think he's too young for a lot of the values (like having boyfriend/girlfriend in high school, etc.).
The only show we're agreeing on lately is Arthur. Looking for other stuff like that - ideas?
You mentioned watching Arthur, which I love too. There are some other shows on PBS that are great for kids that age. Some are Dragonfly TV (it's a science and activity show), Sid the Science Kid, Zoomafoo, WordGirl, and a few more. Try looking on the PBS kids website pbskids.org.
My son is 9 and my daughter is 5. Up to age 8, they were kind of both watching the same shows:
Jimmy Neutron (I hate it, very sassy, but oh well - thankfully he's outgrown it) I would AVOID that show.
Berenstain Bears - awesome show and perfect for this age - even at 9
Avatar on Nickelodeon. - That is an AMAZING cartoon for children. 5.5 is a bit young, but unfortunately, my daughter was watching it at 4 (no choice, she's in the room). It's got great story lines and you really have to sit with your child to watch (Adults love this show and M. Night Shalyn? is making a movie of it) so you can explain anything or answer questions. I've used it to discuss right and wrong.
Arthur - still a fav
Both my kids saw icarly a few months ago at a hotel room and while I don't love it, it is wholesome so they both watch it now. My 5 yr old daughter LOVES it. I would WAIT on that show though. That kind of slipped under the radar and I'm letting it pass.
I won't let him watch any other Disney channel "tween" show though.
Now he's just starting to watch the Discovery Channel (Bear Gryllis and we watch together) but some of those shows are too intense and I just waited and waited till his mind was more mature.
Disney channel - I would stay away from that as long as possible. I know lots of kids that age already watch it. It is so sad to me. They see the commercials (if they are watching Disney cartoons) and beg for it. That's how it happens.
I can't stand Spongebob either and I don't let them watch it - period. My 5-yr-old daughter LOVES Spongebob and would watch it if I let her. She begs for it.
Scooby Doo
Pokemon
Total drama Island-cartoon reality show
Electric company
I do not let my kids watch much of any thing on Nikelodeon-too many sassy mouths.
I wrote this all originally-and saw you thanks today-lI have a couple more things to add---
Banzuki on G4. It is a dubbed Japanese Game show. We watch it as a family-also Wipeout. Phineas and Ferb. and Discovery kids is a great channel. the magic school bus, time warp trio. There is also Mythbusters. and America's funniest home videos. we DVR lots of shows, so i can have something I approve of on demand-plus skipping commercials is always a good idea.
Great question! and GREAT MOM! Sponge Bob is disgusting and NOT child appropriate.
We don't have "TV" in our house. We have A TV, but we don't actually use it for public television (we don't have cable or anything...we even use antenas! and yes, we live in a big city)
I purchase or get from the library what I want my kids to watch. Shows like:
Magic School Bus,
CyberChase,
Zaboomafoo,
Our Planet (or practically ANYTHING by National Geographic),
Arthur,
7th Heaven (TV series)
Or pretty much anything educational from the Libary. He can learn about almost ANYTHING he disires to know about.
Families need to spend quality family time together. My girls get 1 hour of "TV" a day most days unless we are watching something as a family, a movie or something. And many days, they don't even take that because the are "busy" with other stuff.
April, you are the mom, you get to decide what you son will watch and for how long. I recommend that anything you choose be watched by both of you (when possible) so that you can discuss the lessons or the humour or whatever. Please use TV as an educational tool.
I still find some good shows on Noggin and Disney (Disney in the morning) for my kids. 4.5 and 6.5. They love imagination movers. Do you have On Demand? You can find some good shows there too. My kids love scooby doo but I can only take so much so they get that every now and then. I'm with you on the HM and Jonas Brothers. There was a time when my oldest asked for it, I watched one HM episode with her and told her she was too young for it. She hasn't asked for it since. For the most part, try to stay away from a channel with all those commercials! I think they make the kids more crazy than their shows! I think Nickolodeon is one of them, however if you watch it On Demand it's not so bad.
** after seeing another post I'm reminded that both of my kids LOVE Nat Geo, we watch it together often. They love anything about our planet, animals, medical shows and then the other channel we watch together is Food TV - they LOVE cooking shows, my daughter more that my son. I find my son gets very hungry (don't we all) when watching a cooking show. SurvivorMan is a great show.. OK, now things are coming to me! Animal Planet and Nat Geo - I bet your boys would love these channels!! Plus they'll be learning for sure!
Best wishes,
Michele
PBS in the afternoon: Maya and Miguel, Aurthur, Ruff Ruffman, Cyberchase.
Also Qubo: tv shows with moral messages (and no kids commercials. At first I wasn't sure I liked all the "Billy Mays" type commercials but then Christmas rolled around and there was no asking for trash toys because no kids commercials.)
I record some shows like Avatar on Nick so that he doesn't watch the stuff in between the shows or the commercials, the little comments and shows can be disgusting.
He does like Zack and Cody and Phineas and Ferb on Disney.
We have the rule that if the kids are in HS (dating, etc.) then he can't watch it.
Good Luck.
Hi April,
My son is going to be 7 in Sept. We pretty much only watch Disney shows. He watches Zach and Cody, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Jonas and Phineas and Ferb (which is a cartoon). The TV shows with the teenagers do get a little into dating but 6 year old kids in elementary school talk about dating in school now so you really can't avoid the topic. However, the Disney shows keep it wholesome and between shows they do educational short topics or music videos from the Disney stars. Phineas and Ferb is hysterical! It's a really funny cartoon that kids and adults can appreciate. It is not obnoxious like Sponge Bob and the kids in the show are respectful to their parents. It is one of my favorites and I will sometimes watch it by myself. We also like Power Rangers - he's been watching those since he was about 4 years old. I watch those with him too. They do fight robots and aliens but the good guys always win and I he knows that you don't really go around blasting people.
My son also likes some of the Animal Planet Shows and Travel Shows and Cooking Shows. I tivo a bunch of them for him and I watch with him to make sure I know what he is watching. If I don't like something I tell him not to watch it anymore but mostly he watches the shows that I have recorded for him so I know they're ok.
My son just got VHS/DVD of Rescue Heroes and he LOVES them.
I personally don't let my son watch the nature shows because I believe it leads to being too "wowed" by a video and then not impressed by nature itself. I read something about this and it really affected me - a teacher who has always shown kids pond muck under a microscope, and he has really seen a change in the kids' reactions since Discovery Channel/National Geo, etc. have been around, from excitement to "this is boring, I already saw the crayfish eat the mayfly on tv." I'm a little over the top with my anti-tv feelings. : )
Mythbusters
How'd they do that
several programs on animal planet and the discovery channel might interest him and are generally "safe".
as far as cartoons, i like Johnny Test, the Saturdays, or Pokemon. We've stopped watching a lot of the disney stuff because the "live actor" programs are really more in the preteen/young teen age range (like you mentioned).
All that said, its worth having a DVR. Even my little one (4.5yo) can operate ours and get to programs he wants to watch.
Do you have Disney XD? That is part of the Disney Channel, family geared specifically towards boys. My favorite "boy" show is Phineas & Ferb. Funny cartoon.
Ok so I am totally the odd mom out here! LOL Our entire family watches SpongeBob! We all love it. He does get on my nerves sometimes though.
Anyhow my son just turned 6 and he LOVES Bakugan (cartoon network in the AM) Transformers Animated (same channel usually right before Bakugan) iCarly is another fave he has along with Drake and Josh. Power Rangers of course, and he loves to build Lego Bionicles so I bought the movies off ebay and he watches those more then anything now.
Other then that he loves to watch Dog Town and the Dog Whisperer on Nat Geo, and Mythbusters is another family fave. He also is really into watching Clean House on the Style network. That one even inspired him to pick up his toys and get rid of half of them!
My personal childhood favorite and now my four-year-old daughter's favorite, Scooby Doo! Although I have one brave cookie on my hands :) Boomerang used to show it regularly, now occasionally so you'll have to DVR it. Or, Target has $5 DVDs.
I know this isn't a TV show you're requesting. But my daughter loves "In Between the Lions". If you have netflix, you can get it there. It's PBS and is really teaching my 3-year-old how to read. There are even story plots too.
My son is 4, so he's a little younger, but I just put on Discovery Kids for him last night and he watched it mesmerized...although he was annoyed by the commercials! The shows were actually a little old for him, I thought, but he really liked it. There was a show about kids on an overnight trip to Sea World and a show about kids going to help Polar Bears in the Arctic. I think he enjoyed the nature part of things and also loves seeing shows with kids in them.
Good luck! There really is a shortage of good stuff out there for kids...and I'm with you...can't stand Sponge Bob either!
We don't actually have TV anymore (Ha! Read ON, this isn't as snooty as you might think:) We go off of DVD's or things that are streamable on Netflix. Anyhow...because people have different versions of "wholesome" these are my son's and my favorites from the past 2 years, no holds barred:
Educational & Fun
- Magic Schoolbus
- Nova Specials...on just about anything (but he HATES imax)
- The Universe series...PBS I think...stunning visuals (PBS has a LOT of good ones)
- Engineering an Empire series
- "Walking With" series ( with dinosaurs, with prehistoric beasts, etc., ) ..stunning visuals
- Zaboomafoo
- In Between The Lions
Fun
- Avatar; The Last Airbender...this is the only cartoon series I got addicted to. We ended up buying all 4 seasons.
- Pixar stuff (Wall-E, Nemo, Ant Bully, Cars, etc.)
- Wallace & Grommet
- The Pink Panther
- Scooby Doo
- Bugs Bunny & Road Runner (originals)
- The Muppet Show (original)
You Let Him Watch WHAT?
- Starwars
- Indiana Jones
- Doctor Who (NuWho, and the old series, but nuWho is his favorite)
- Pirates of the Carribean
- Inuyasha (in japanese, not dubbed)
- Harry Potter
- Transformers
- Monty Python
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Labyrinth
- Around the World in 80 Days
The Making Of:
- Nearly any film or TV show...he LOVES to see exactly how they make it
Old Favorites
- Kipper
- Bob the Builder
- Fireman Sam
- Angelina Ballerina
- Pingu
- Schoolhouse Rock
- Pigglywinks
I have a 6 year old son and I was going through the same thing till I noticed that he really enjoyed the nature, history and anthropological documentaries that I watched. He loves the discovery channel and his favorite show is Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls. He even did a project on him for first grade. He also loves anything having to do with Egypt and and the pyramid. As an added bonus it is educational and he has no idea. Nation Geographic has great videos that are often available at the library. I hope you find something that works for you.
Yes show on PBS is good (Martha Speaks) also Goosebumps (if they like stuff that's slightly scary). How about The Spectacular Spider Man. Older cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Rugrats (my kids are 3 and 5 1/2 and love these shows), I feel like most shows these days are for teens and are too advanced for our young ones.