To ask where the good kids TV is?

[ProcrastinatorsAnonymous]

I have a 4 year old and a 7 year old. Screen time is limited, but even then I struggle to find much that I'm happy for them to watch. I feel like kids TV used to be so much better when I was little!

I'd love to find some shows that are entertaining but also educational - things like Horrible Histories and Operation Ouch. Or shows with genuinely engaging storytelling. What are your kids are engaged by?

Perhaps I'm just not finding the good stuff, but AIBU to think kids TV has gone majorly downhill?

I think there's just A LOT of kids TV options around now, so the good stuff can get a bit lost. Presumably you're aware of Bluey, amazing TV really good storytelling and engaging, my friends have a 5yo and a 8yo and the 8yo would still watch it and enjoy it if it was on.

iPlayer is generally pretty good for things that are educational, or more traditional sorts of drama shows less of the YouTube infected shouty/short attention span stuff. There's stuff like Planet Defenders, Art Ninja, Hey You What If, Deadly with Steve Backshall, and the likes of The Famous Five, Mallory Towers, Dodger, The Worst Witch.

Where's the good kids' TV? Back in the 1980s.

I'm 40 and would happily sit and watch bluey.

Steve Backshall Deadly 60 in brilliant.

Walking with Dinosaurs might be available somewhere?

Also honourable mention to old school Looney Toons kinds of cartoons - things like Tom and Jerry and Road Runner and Bugs Bunny. I'm a child of the 90s and used to love those when they were used as space-fillers on TV, or on "Stay Tooned" with Tony Robinson, and then we ended up with some videos we used to watch over and over again. I think you can find a lot of them on YouTube. Yeah they're a bit 'violent' at times but it's literally the definition of cartoon violence, and you pick up a lot of things like classic film references and classical music and such from watching them.

Just watch the old stuff! My kids' current favourite is Mr Bean.

Educational...

• Pets Factor (CBBC)

-Andys xxxx Adventures (a few different ones, like dinosaurs)

My 4 yo loves Puffin Rock but a bit young for 7. DS and I used to enjoy Just Add Magic although when he was probably a little bit older than 7. It's a bit American but has some good stories. Oh and Stinky and Dirty (not sure if it's a bit young for 7 again) is quite fun - a rubbish truck and a digger (or similar) that have adventures and solve problems, with a tiny bit of educational stuff thrown in ("what can they use to get across the broken bridge?" type stuff).

Bluey should be on prime time BBC Saturday night.

My similar aged children love one zoo three (iplayer)

My Kids (10, 7 and 5) love Scooby Doo! There are lots of different series but Be Cool Scooby Doo is their favourite. I enjoy it too!

@takealettermsjones my oldest, loves the old BBC Mr Bean episodes, particularly the one where he’s trying to get changed on the beach! 😂

Emily’s wonderlab is good.

Wean them onto the Teen Titans. If only for your own entertainment.

Oh, mine (7 & 9) like a bit of Aussie drama too, Gymnastics Academy, Little Lunch and The In-best-igators are firm favourites, of course they love Bluey too. They’re probably a bit too invested tbh, someone commented on their Aussie inflection the other day

My kids are older now, but we used to watch all the stuff on Milkshake on channel 5 in the mornings (Peppa, Paw Patrol, Blaze, Little Princess) and CBBC stuff in the evenings (In the Night Garden, Andy's (whatever) Adventures, etc)

1970s too.

My 4 yo loves Andy’s dinosaur adventures or Graces Amazing machines. He also has learnt a lot from the Maddy programmes where they find out about how different household objects work or are built in factories or how jam is made or space rockets fly.

all player programmes

My kids loved Octonauts at that stage and will still watch One Zoo Three or whatever it's called. We also like some family competition shows - Is it Cake and things like that.

Though now they're a bit older it's Teen Titans on repeat.

Mine have loved Octonauts - which is educational.

Octonauts is fab (Netflix).

Maddie on BBC is great. She does things about machines, space, animals, and the home.

My 6yr old loves My World Kitchen and What's Cooking Omari on BBC. It's got her really interested in helping me in the kitchen and trying new things.

Ranger Hamza's Eco Quest is pretty decent too.

Olga da Polga is cute and one if the less annoying kids shows.

And Bluey of course!

Go Jetters is a bit more annoying but is a great intro to different places around the world. Especially for the 4 yr old.

Ada Twist Scientist is lovely!
Older but my kids loved Doc McStuffins (I had some DVDs lol but you can probably find it somewhere more useful)

Such good suggestions here - and lots I haven't heard of. Thank you!

I think part of the problem is there's SO MUCH out there now, it's hard to sort through and know what's worth their time... This is a very useful list.

Horrible Histories, etc are all on iPlayer. I also have a soft rule where we always watch some nature programmes from time to time, plenty of “life at the zoo” and David Attenborough programmes on the five major channels free streaming services.

Was kids tv actually better though? i noticed Button Moon was on Amazon prime and excitedly put it on, was shocked at how terrible it is 😅 nothing like I remembered!

We have set parental control over content on YouTube Kids so our 2.5 year old can only watch Gecko's Garage and Numberblocks on there. Gecko's Garage is a mix of songs and also visits to interesting people / places eg. a lifeboat crew, a bus garage, fire station, steam railway.