Toddler television: A case study
Much has been said about whether or not infants and toddlers should be allowed to watch television, with some saying it is a terrible idea and others thinking it is tremendously educational. We have allowed our toddler to watch television, and I have rank ordered the shows she showed interest in based on age. This provides a guide to when a child would be intellectually "ready" for a particular show, in our experience. We do monitor closely to ensure she has enough physical activity in a day, and usually only do TV in early morning and at the end of the day. Individual results may vary, past performance is not a guarantee of future success. Here is our list:
0-18 mos: little to no interest in TV
18 mos: Teletubbies, Boobah
19 mos: Elmo's World section of Sesame Street, Barney
20 mos: Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, Journey to Ernie section of Sesame Street
22 mos: Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, Upside Down Show
24 mos: Wonder Pets, Backyardigans
26 mos: Little Einsteins, Jakers, Handy Manny
At 27 mos she is still not very interested in Big Big World, many parts of Sesame Street or Clifford. Diego and Bob the Builder hold her interest for a bit but not a full episode. I think Diego is fine, but it just reminds her she wants to watch Dora. As she adds in a new program, she has not lost interest in the previous ones.

2 Comments:
Isn't diego a pathetic substitute for Dora?
"The Koala Brothers" is a big favorite of my toddler nephew. I like it too.
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