Odd...yet Captivating

When it comes to kids' TV...the more odd the show...the more kids love it!
For instance, TeleTubbies is a bizarre program but Elliott used to just stare at the TV if it was on. We only let him watch it a few times because it drove us crazy (and didn't seem educational at all)!

I actually like some of the kids' shows out there that are truly educational. If I didn't let the kids watch TV they would be fine, of course, but I find it helpful that some of the more 'intelligent' shows teach the kids things that would have taken a long time for me to teach them. They hear words and concepts that we don't talk about everyday...because quite frankly...it doesn't occur to me to talk about them or the opportunity doesn't present itself. 
Some of my favorites for them to watch are:
Little Bill - a show created by Bill Cosby about a nice little boy and his family - it teaches various concepts like sharing, empathy to the needs of others, etc.
Blue's Clues - a silly show about a man and his dog 'Blue' - it teaches deductive reasoning and is surprisingly interactive where the kids actually feel like 'Steve' can hear them through the TV
World World - all of the animal characters are drawn using the words that make up their name like Dog's body looks like a d-o-g - it teaches basic spelling

Then there are a few shows that don't really have much educational value but I don't mind them from time-to-time like:
Curious George - nice stories and a pretty mellow show
Pocoyo - a silly little short program that usually has a 'moral' to the story but is mostly just silly
Special Agent Oso - it's about a bear that helps children learn things in '3 Special Steps'...like how to brush your teeth or use chopsticks
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - we all like this one with Mickey Mouse and the 'mousketools' that they use to solve problems

Although it's not on TV, there's another show we love for the kids called Boz. The character Boz is a green bear that teaches the kids about colors, shapes, healthy food, etc. while also teaching them that God loves them. It was created by FamilyLife and is one of our favorite DVDs. As far as Christian kids' stories go, we like it better than Veggie Tales which must have been written for older kids because most of the stories go right over my kids' heads.

Then there are the shows that we DO NOT watch.
Sesame Street - I used to let Elliott watch this when he was younger but in the past couple of years it has really gone downhill. There is one character that is on a lot that talks in baby talk and then they have started highlighting a group of fairies for a good part of the show who cast spells, etc. Not something I'm interested in them watching.
Spongebob Square Pants - I really dislike this show although Elliott would love to watch it. It's odd and doesn't teach anything substantive. It's not even funny, just gross bodily function type of humor.
Train Shows - This encompasses shows like Thomas the Train and Chuggington. They are painful to watch (imo) and I've never seen any real lessons come out of them...although we've probably never watched them long enough to get to the lesson part.
Dinosaur Shows - There are a few of them like Dinosaur Train and Dino Dan. (although Elliott asks to watch Dino Dan from time-to-time) I find these shows to be a bit strange and again, no real education there. (I am pretty biased against the subject of dinosaurs though and prefer to teach the kids about my take on dinosaurs personally since I disagree with much of the information taught about them in the media.)
Proud Family - this used to be on but I'm not sure it is anymore. It was a nice story about an African American family and was a bit like the Little Bill show I mentioned above. But I was so shocked about something they talked about one day that I had to turn it off!! They were talking about school and how the tests in school were created in a way that made the African American kids fail and the white kids succeed. I couldn't believe my ears...that an 'innocent' kids' show would push racism to kids. Unconscionable!

So now that I'm all worked up again about that awful show...I think that's enough of this little 'primer' on kids' programming. :)
I'll leave you with one last note about a useless and crazy show called Oobi. (and if you've never seen please click on the link and at least see what it is - you'll get a laugh) It's like TeleTubbies in that the kids get mesmerized by it! It's basically a bunch of grown-ups using their hands like puppets to tell stories. Weird. But I found some oobi eyes and the kids love using them...as you can see.

 

So, what shows do your kids like? Are there any you don't let them watch?