What do you look for in kids TV? - £200 voucher to be won

[CeriMumsnet]

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Parenting can often feel like a juggling act so it’s a relief to find a TV channel or show that will keep your children occupied and entertained while you get on with your to-do list, and a bonus when it’s educational and rewarding too. With this in mind, Sky Kids would like to know what it is you look for when it comes to the TV that your kids watch.

• Post your thoughts and stories on kids TV in the thread below to the entered into the prize draw
• One lucky winner will win a £200 voucher for a store of their choice.

Here’s what Sky Director of Kids Content Lucy Murphy has to say:

‘We’re so excited to announce the launch of our brand-new linear channel. Millions of our customers already love watching our huge range of Original shows on-demand but families with younger kids have told us that watching on linear channels is an important part of their day; so, we’ve listened and expanded our Sky Kids offering at no extra cost.’

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw.

MNHQ
Insight T&Cs apply

Entertaining - fun for kids and bearable for me to watch too!

Educational - either teaching social skills such as dealing with friends, bullies, etc or actual interesting science, fun songs and dances which encourage learning

Good stories and no violence.

Relatable characters.

No junk food ads.

Making learning fun , children love entertainment!

I like relevant programmes, sing a longs are fun - things that make us laugh, but no water/custard pies or practical jokes please.
Story time is relaxing, and understanding our planet, and the natural world is something I would love my DC's to watch.

Make it engaging, interactive, age appropriate, not condescending, give facts, another language to learn would be good - used to love Dora the Explorer ! Few (if any) adverts - English dialects are good, subjects which will learn them without them knowing - encouragement, clapping songs, all religions should be celebrated.

No costumes please - I found the teletubbies so scary.
Talk to them like small adults.
No slang please
Make it funny and engaging but no slapstick
Love a wind down story at the end of the day to help with bedtime
Show healthy eating - get presenters to cook with vegetables - carrot cake !!

British terms, my chldren are teenagers now but using American English instead of British English is so annoying, especially when they say that I know what they mean when I correct them (Trash instead of rubbish, pants instead of trousers etc)

When they were little and I watched with them it was programs with a storyline that were interesting and as a parent I could watch without wanting to hit my head against a brick wall, could be educational could be funny as long as it was interesting.

deliver fun educational content for our kids. short episodes to retain attention & effectively deliver learning. Avoiding adult themes with a political agenda, these are issues that children shouldn’t have to worry about. No adverts.

We like..
Short and simple.
Learning and educational.
Has a moral or a real life parallel.

Miss Rachel is good, would like a uk version. Bluey is good, some life lessons in there (the bird death one has me bawling). Peppa pig is banned in my house, she's rude n bossy

Safe, educational and engaging is pretty much all I can ask for. Bitz and Bob is a really good example. I would also absolutely love for kids a move away from the trend to just show some random series or video if they get to the end of what they’re watching. Suggested other content is fine, they can decide (or I can decide), but just going straight into the next thing I don’t believe encourages healthy viewing patterns.

When they were younger, something engaging and fun that could help stimulate questions and conversation.
Now they are older, positive role models and life lessons without preaching or patronising.

Things without ads, able to play next episode without being prompted, something I can control from my phone from another part of the house if necessary, educational, interactive feel and movement encouraging, very short intro, volume setting options away from the tv controller.

The best kids TV recently has been the Malory Towers series, it was so well done and they reinforced the message that 'Strong Independent Women' are important, which is the message that Enid Blyton actually conveyed many years ago when she wrote the books. The programmes were also tweaked so that any racism that was of the time was eradicated and showed black teachers as positive role models. Brilliant! And my kids loved it.

Children’s TV needs to be inclusive, educational and entertaining.
It also needs to reflect their understanding of the world while stretching their horizons to introduce a variety of new experiences.

MUSTBEMYDREAM - look up the word linear and it will help as there is google to tell you these days, but anyway my children are older and dont have any young members of my family in this country but think as long as the child is kept amused and its a happy story for its age then thats all you can hope for and its kept interested while you can get on with your household jobs. then fine, as peppa pig is very popular but the age that i am dont know of any other series that kids watch much these days.

OH YES AND EDUCATIONAL AS WELL ON SOMETHINGS

pants instead of trousers

This isn't American-English, we say pants here in the North of England.

I agree with the points already made. I want a programme to be engaging and educational. It is good when children can learn about real world scenario's and see positive communication being modelled by the characters.

Like many others, my pet peeve is made up vocabulary and intentionally misponouncing words. One of my children had hearing difficulties so struggled to hear and pronounce words correctly - shows like bing just make it harder for children with hearing and speech and language difficulties to learn to articulate words correctly.

For me I look out for engaging, fun, relatable characters, some basic maths and spelling, maybe in Spanish - love my DC's to have some basic spanish language - some cooking, no silly costumes or slapstick (I grew up with Dick and Dom) Throw in some basic news so they can see what is going on in the world - aimed at a young mind of course

Good role models of all ages, genders and disabilities - would help make them a rounded character, eating your 5 a day, songs with actions, stranger danger, and talking to them as people.

The winner of the £200 voucher is @Joysutty - Congrats!