My daughter really hasn’t been interested in watching TV. The only shows that peaked her interested for awhile were music videos and her alphabet video. I’ve been trying to find a couple of shows that she might be interested in watching.
I’ve had success with two so far: Dora the Explorer, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. She doesn’t watch much TV, but I like having the option out there for this to be an educational activity that we do at home. It provides a break for Mama, occupies my daughter, and even gives her a little rest time.
Plus, if picked wisely, the shows can be very educational in a way that talking and playing are not. TV shows act things out and give great visuals of all sorts of scenarios. When she’s a bit older I see these shows starting good conversations between us!
We’ve only watched 4 episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and I have to say- I really love this show. So does my daughter, by the way! It’s a cartoon version of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
It is also free on Amazon Prime! The shows talks about things like going to school, going to the doctor, what to do when you get mad, how to express your feelings, and so much more. I find that as we watch these, I am getting reminded of good ways to teach my daughter different concepts. Plus, they are now in excellent jingle form for me already! LOL
Here are just a few of the lessons in this show already (just in 4 episodes):
WHEN YOU FEEL SO MAD THAT YOU WANNA ROAR, TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND COUNT TO 4
This is such a good thing to teach. My daughter is 1.5 years old and she can really get upset. Now that she understands more, this is something I can start to teach her. I just recently talked about how I ask her to “Look at Mama“, before giving a request. She does it so well and doing this one thing allows me to get her attention.
I can then take a deep breath and count to four with her. We actually tried this today and it worked really well. She mimicked what I was doing and took a deep breath! The other thing I really enjoy about this show, is that it shows the grown ups doing these things as well.
Mama tiger gets upset, and catches herself and does exactly what she’s just taught Daniel tiger. It is so important to show that everyone gets upset, but we need to calm down so we can think and solve the problem.
WHEN WE DO SOMETHING NEW, LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT WE’LL DO
I feel like I’m really good at telling Caroline when we’ll be doing something new and the basics of what it is going to entail. At this age she may not understand everything, but it is important to give her a heads up as to what is about to happen and what the expectations are.
What I forget to do is remind her about how she needs to behave, and what happens when we are done. For example: we went to the mall yesterday and let her go in the play area just really quickly, while Daddy got us a milkshake.
While I did warn her that it was going to be a short playtime, I hadn’t reminded her ahead of time of what my expectations were for when it was time to be done. I should have told her that “When Mama says it’s time to go, you need to calmly listen and come to Mama”.
This may not have prevented her from getting upset at this age, but it would have been a more proactive approach so she knows what the expectations are.
WHEN SOMETHING SEEMS BAD, TURN IT AROUND, AND FIND SOMETHING GOOD
We only kind of do this at this age. As an example: if she is upset about stopping an activity and going upstairs, we remind her of the good things she’ll get to do up there. She’ll get to see her friends (stuffed animals)!
She’ll get to pick a book to read! We try and focus on her favorite things. Eventually, as she gets older, the point is to involve the child in the process of finding something good. For now, we try to model this behavior, but can always do a better job!
GROWN UPS COME BACK
The show made this into a cute little jingle with the rest of these phrases. It is simple and short, and I like that it involves all grown ups. We will be back to pick you up after school, and after our date night, etc. Grown ups come back. It is a comforting message. Again, this will be something to hang onto for later. Short and sweet.
I just wanted to take the time to share these, because I’ve really found this show to be very positive and worthwhile for both the adults watching and the children. Again, as she gets older we’ll talk about these things in the moment, and we’ll bring them up later and remind her of the show, etc.
I am so glad she’s enjoying this show, and so glad we found it! It’s a kid show that I can stand to watch hahaha.
They also made it a point to have a very diverse character base, they have women in important job roles, and even switch out of “cartoon mode” to show real life experiences during each show. I hope she continues to enjoy this show, because it is on the good list in Mama’s eyes!