The Best TV Shows For Your Kid (According to Research)

In an ideal world, children would be doing educational, enriching activities every moment of the day and parents would have no need for iPads or Netflix subscriptions. However, in the real world, screens are inevitable for most parents. Yet, when we discuss screen time, most of the discussion seems to center around the quantity of screen time but markedly less so around the quality of screen time. So is all screen time created equal? In other words, if you are going to allow your child to use screens, does what they are watching on the screen matter? How should you make these decisions as a parent?

Fortunately, research can help. Although the research isn’t perfect (most of the research on screen time only looks at associations between types of shows and outcomes in children), it does help to give us some guidance given the many, many screen time choices we are presented with as parents.

Important note: Most of the research in this story applies to children who are preschool age and older, but I have more content that addresses the research on screen time for infants and toddlers.

Does What Your Child Watch Really Matter?

Research finds that what your child is watching does seem to matter. The best evidence we have for this is a randomized controlled trial (translation: the gold standard research study design) that randomly assigned parents to change only the content of what their children were watching and not the amount of time. This study found that simply changing the content of what the children were watching (that is, asking parents to put on more prosocial and educational shows) resulted in improved social skills and better behavior for children.

So Which TV Shows Should You Choose?

This research suggests that just changing what your child is watching on the screen will really make a difference and you can still get the same break in your day. So what type of TV shows seem to be linked with the best outcomes (according to research)?

Shows with a prosocial message

Research finds that shows with a prosocial message (translation: shows that promote kind and helpful behavior) may be associated with better outcomes. In the randomized controlled trial described above, parents were instructed to focus on prosocial shows and it resulted in improved social skills and better behavior. Examples of shows with prosocial content that were encouraged in this study included Dora the Explorer, Sesame Street, and Super Why.

An experimental study also found that children were more likely to show kind behavior after watching a cartoon that depicts kind behavior, suggesting that children really do seem to mimic the type of behavior they see on TV. Finally, research finds that preschoolers who watched Daniel Tiger, a show known for its prosocial themes, were more likely to show improved emotion recognition and empathy. Other shows with prosocial themes include Arthur, Bluey, and Doc McStuffins.

Shows that seem to be interacting with your child

Some children’s shows try to mimic real-life social interactions by looking at and talking to the viewer, asking questions, pausing for response, etc. Although this approach is not perfect since even very young children can detect a lack of well-timed contingency, shows that use this approach have been linked with better outcomes.

Research finds that children learn more when shows seem to be more interactive. Another study found that watching shows like Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer that seem to interact with viewers are associated with increased language development. Other examples of interactive shows include Super Why and Ms. Rachel (although see here for a more extensive write-up on Ms Rachel and shows for infants and toddlers).

Realistic shows

Realistic shows refer to shows that have minimal physically impossible or fantasy elements, such as Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, or Caillou. Research finds that children show impaired executive functioning (translation: executive functioning refers to a set of skills that includes self-control, planning, attention, working memory, and controlling impulses) after watching a fantasy show when compared to a realistic show.

We don’t know yet whether this impact is temporary or long-term, but this research does suggest that you may want to avoid fantasy TV shows before school or other activities requiring executive functioning.

Shows designed for children rather than shows for adults

It can be tempting as a parent after watching the 100th episode of Paw Patrol to turn on a show you actually want to watch or just flip on the news in the background but research finds that this practice might be associated with worse outcomes.

Research finds children who watch shows designed for adults are more likely to show hyperactivity, behavioral problems, and impaired social skills. Another study found that watching adult-directed shows as a young child was related to poorer executive function and lower IQ, while watching child-directed shows was not related to any of these negative outcomes.

Even having adult television shows on in the background (such as leaving the morning news on) has been found to hurt the quality of the parent-child interaction, so remember to turn off the television when no one is watching. [Important side note: the average child in the US is exposed to nearly 4 HOURS PER DAY of background television!].

Educational shows

This may seem somewhat obvious but children preschool age and older can actually learn from screens so it doesn’t hurt to expose them to shows with the goal of teaching children literacy, math, and other educational concepts. For example, research finds that children show more learning of literacy skills after watching Super Why versus a science program.

Decades of research also finds that Sesame Street is linked to positive learning outcomes. Another study found that watching educational TV at age 2 is related to more advanced executive functioning, academic skills, and school readiness at age 3. In particular, educational shows on PBS have been linked to improved executive functioning, perhaps due to the higher quality of these shows or due to the lack of commercials during these shows.

Videos of adults reading books

There are many free videos online of books being read aloud that can be a great alternative to a typical TV show. Storyline Online is a great free resource for these types of videos that feature actors from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation reading popular children’s books. You can also search for these videos on YouTube.

A recent study found that 4-year-olds learned just as much from a pre-recorded video of someone reading book as someone reading the book live or over video chat. However, the children in study produced fewer words in the pre-recorded video condition suggesting that reading to your children live or even over FaceTime may still be preferable in terms of encouraging language from children.

Overall Translation

As parents, it seems like we are always hearing about screen time limits and the importance of avoiding too much screen time. Although the overall quantity of screen time does seem to be important, the quality of the screen time your child is consuming really does seem to matter too. Although this is by no means an exhaustive list, some shows that seem to be associated with more positive outcomes include Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Dora the Explorer, Super Why, and book read alouds (like Storyline Online). However, most of the research is correlational and further research on particular TV shows are needed.

It is also important to mention that most research has looked at features of shows (such as being prosocial, realistic, or interactive) and not a particular show itself. Overall, this research suggests that parents should continue to monitor their child’s overall time on screens but also consider what they are watching— and enjoy the peace and quiet with less guilt!