Appropriate TV Programs for a Five Year Old

I see that you've gotten a lot of answers already, but there is a website that I use when I want to find out about movies for my son (even ones that are rated G/PG can have things I don't really want him watching). It's www.commonsensemedia.org. It gives television and movie ratings and reviews and anything that parents may want to watch out for. It also gives an average recommended age for each program. It's been really helpful for me, hopefully it will for you, too :)

Pbs kids/spout and Nick Jr would have age appropriate shows.

http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/tvviewersguid...

NO.... at this age, no teen shows are appropriate.
That is me. That is also the opinion of my daughter's Teacher's, whom I have asked.
MANY of the girls/boys in my daughter's classes, since Preschool (she is now 7 and in 2nd grade), watch these shows. It is obvious... in their dress and behavior and what they talk about.
At this age, they do not understand fully, the teen scenarios that are shown on tv.

Use common sense. Teen shows are for teens. Not younger.

I monitor what my kids watch. My daughter and I have viewed iCarly/Hannah Montana/Zack & Cody and those other shows. Her classmates, watch those. Even when they were only 4-5 years old. And I could tell, as well as my daughter's Teachers, WHICH kids watched those shows.
After my daughter & I watched those shows together, I talked with her about it and told her, she cannot watch it. It is for teenagers. Not her. She even agreed and understood.
My son who is only 3.5 years old... knows as well to not watch anything with teenagers and that it is not good for his age. He even tells us if an inappropriate commercial comes on.

We saw a Doctor once for my daughter, and he asked what kinds of posters she had on the wall and what shows she watches. He said, these 'teen' shows affects young children... and that it can affect their sexual development as well and ability to discern or not, what is appropriate or not, for their age. And quite simply, teen scenarios on TV are not in line with the mind of a 5-6 year old. It is beyond them.

Then sure, teen shows are for teens. But that does not mean it is good for them... so, you need to jointly talk about it and whatever you see on the TV, with them. Even watching the news... can be discussed with a child. So that they learn.... what is acceptable or not..... etc.

My kids, watch Noggin, the Upside Down show, Oobie, Max & Ruby, Little Bear, Gullah Gullah Island, Dora, Diego, Umizoomi, things like that.
The other kids in my daughter's class.... some say these shows "are for babies...." My daughter, is self-assured enough to know that she still likes these shows... and doesn't care what they say. She says they are 'sassy' kids who say that... and too precocious. Her Teacher, commented on it too. Saying the kids watch 'teen' shows and she can tell because of how they talk and what they talk about in class.

just some thoughts,
All the best,
Susan

my oldest is 5, and at this point, we keep it pretty simple as far as what he watches. He seems to get scared easier than his brother (3 years old) so we pretty much stick to PBS kids programming (Sesame Street, Dinosaur Train, Sid the Science kid, etc), we also watch Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, and the basic Disney stuff (Cars, Lady and the Tramp, Winnie the Pooh, Land Before Time).

At Grandma's they get to watch Dora or Diego (we don't have cable - so we don't have those options at home).

I'd say, before a 5 year old watches something, watch it first (or watch the first 10 minutes with them). That's what I did with my kids... when I was nursing the youngest I'd watch TV with the older ones. That way I knew what the programming was like.

Good luck,
jessica

I don't think there is much of anything on TV anymore that is appropriate for children or adults in series shows.

The series shows on Disney and Nick are INNAPROPRIATE for children. Even teens. They show CHILDREN in sexually active roles. Kissing, and dating, dressing like hookers, etc. Why on earth as parents would we ever want our children to emmulate that? Children learn what they see role modeled. I have been made aware that Hanna Montana now has a video on utube showing her pole dancing. The last thing I want to do is have my child put Hanna Montana on a pedistal and want to emmulate her, buy her posters, purses, t shirts, and the like.

We do not have cable. We allow TV only on selected shows chosen from netflix or movies we have bought. Reading books and playing board games and puzzles fill in any gaps.

My children have been told that dating is done for a specific purpose- to find a marital spouse. It is not done for 'recreation'. Sexual relationships come with HEAVY responsibilities- rumors, stigmas, STD's and horrid diseases, unwanted pregnancies, being used, and even depression. Until it is time to get married, it is best to not encourage that behavior at all. Further, the way the teens on these shows talk is disrespectful and tactless, which goes along with their hoochy clothes. No- no one should watch that garbage, even the age of which it was targeted for.

I have a middle schooler and have just started letting him and his slightly younger sister watch some of those programs. Really, they still REALLY enjoy a lot of the shows on Boomerang! Tom and Jerry, The Pink Panther, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo... all the great ones that we watched as kids ourselves!

I would wait for the iCarlyl/ Drake and Josh type shows until he is closer to 10.
But that's just me.

I liked Noggin the best and still do. Bernstein Bears, Franklyn, etc. or if cable is not an option there are some on public television like Arthur and Sid the Science Guy. If you son is starting to pull away from those shows and want something a bit more I recommend Phynius and Ferb (I know i spelled that wrong lol) and Little bigfoot. Little big foot is like an offshoot of the cartoon movie Cars and Phinius and Ferb is about two young boys who are always making stuff and the big sister trying to catch them. Both are something a boy would like. I definitely feel Icarly, Hannah Montana,, etc have way to mature a content for a 5 year old.

Any show that is not animated is usually not for younger kids. I Carly is not a good show because the blonde is really rude and obnoxious. I tend to stay on Disney and feel all those shows, both animated and real life, like Good luck Charlie, are okay. Phineas and Ferb is always good. Nick has some good shows like Danny Neutron and Fairly Godparents but nothing else I can think of.

Hi, I'm also very careful about what my kids watch. Our system is that we set our DVR to record a few shows that the kids have shown interest in (Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train, Clifford, Thomas the Tank Engine, Sesame Street). The DVR is set to hold onto 3 episodes at a time and it replaces them with the newest episodes that air, so we always have a revolving inventory of these shows. I do not allow them to watch "live" TV because I don't want them watching commercials, so they only watch the ones we have stored on the DVR. We also have Netflix so that we can put on movies or other shows that aren't on TV (Cars, etc). I heard a child at hte playground tell my 4 year old that Thomas was "for babies", but my daughter just loves it for some reason, so I calmly stepped in and told the child that it was just fine for my daughter to enjoy the show, and my daughter didn't seem uncomfortable about it. Hope that helps!

Nick Jr, Playhouse disney and Sprout. are all good channels. Play house Disney is the morning disney channel stuff.

Noggin became the Nick Jr channel.
Check out http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

We bought a tv at Best Buy that has a VChip in it. We set the programing to what we want our children to view. We chose the G setting and the tv will only allow programs rated G to show. If a program comes on with a higher rating, the screen goes blank and asks for a password.
I have a 5 year old and I try to chose programs that help them learn like Dora and Diego, Sesame Street. Other good ones are Handy Mandy, Bob the Builder. I bet if you google it you can get a list of shows and their ratings.

My kids are 4 and 6. They like Nick Jr, and Noggin. They also enjoy some "older" shows like Drake and Josh. I am not real uptight about what they watch, I just make sure I watch an episode or 2 so I know what goes on in the show. I know some parents who think shows like Spongebob are bad, but that is one of my kids favorites and I see no problem with it. They understand that TV is not real life. I think some people do not give their kids enough credit to think that they can think for them selves and will not copy everything they see on tv. I talk to my kids about what they see, so they understand it, and know what is real and right, and what is just for entertainment.

My daughters are 13 and 15 and I don't like them watching icarly. It's a horrible show, but I did allow them to watch it at ages 10 & 12. You as a parent need to make the decision as to what and when your child watches tv, based on his maturity level and what your values are.

Most shows having ratings. You would want to stick with Y. You may also want to check out the website commonsense.org.

For age 5, I would stick with PBS and Nick Jr.

Our digital cable company has the on screen guide and each show has the rating in the description (You're looking for Y right now.) PBS Sprout is a good bet for Y programs--Kipper, Berenstein Bears, Thomas, Calliou, etc. Also, Nick Jr.

At his age, animated shows are appropriate - Nick Jr and PBS shows, Disney Channel for kids. At that age, my son was watching Arthur, Thomas the Tank Engine, etc. I don't know what the current shows for little kids are. There really isn't, that I am aware of, evening programming geared at the little kid set. Shows like ICarly, Hannah Montana and Suite Life, that are about teenagers, are definitely not for little kids, the "kids" on those shows are teenagers, doing things that teenagers do like dating and kissing (I have a teenager, these are normal behaviors). TV shows do have ratings, by age, they come up for me when I turn on a show, I guess it's something thru my cable company. I wonder if online tv listings have this?

My kids are younger, 4 and 1.5 so they watch only little kids shows-PBS kids, Nick Jr., Noggin and the occasional science or nature show. My 4 year old loves Backyardigans and Curious George and similar shows. I see what is on Nick in the listings and it seems aimed at older kids, mid to older elementary school age. If you are not sure about a show watch it yourself first, with or without the kids. On our cable package we have lots of kids shows free on demand (1 or 2 episodes) so you might be able to watch one episode yourself that way.

My husband was in the TV programming production business for a while and he was disgusted to learn how children's programing and commercials are designed to "hook" them on to the older programming at as young age as possible, thus insuring their viewer population. (Disney is quite blatant in their marketing of the young kids to older sexually appealing ones.) He lectures now on Visual Intelligence so I'm a little opinionated. A parent not only needs to be aware of the actual program, but of the commercials or cut-ins which are usually slightly inaproprate for the viewing age of the program. It's a tough policing job. I really hate it when my kids just passively sit there watching what the network chooses for them. Teaching children to be educated and choosy consumers includes TV, and starts when a child has an oppinion. It's part of their Visual Intelligence. When you boy is 16, like mine, I hope he is able to make those good decisions for himself because you are starting now, good for you.

I personally don't think television is appropriate for children (or adults, frankly) so we don't have one in our home. We don't miss it, and our kids don't waste their lives seeing things they shouldn't. Neither do we. :)

We have netflix on our computer, so if we want them to watch something intentionally, they can.

I have a 6 1/2 and a 4 1/2 year old daughter. They watch noggin/nick jr. shows- dora, diego, olivia, little bear, franklin. They are also into Disney shows- Mickey Mouse clubhouse, Handy Manny, Charlie & Lola.

I think shows like Hanna Montana, iCarly are much too old for them. I watched part of Hanna Montana on my own to see what it was all about since I know many girls my daughters' age watch it. Definitely not appropriate. More like a sitcom for the tween set. I haven't allowed my daughters to watch it, but if I did allow them to see one episode I don't think they would really like it anyway.

If they say their friends are allowed to watch a certain show that I don't approve of, I just tell them every family is different and in our family we don't watch that show.

I guess as far as shows go that you are not familiar with. Watch them yourself and see if you deem them appropriate for your son. I'm not sure about rating systems for kids shows.

Nick Jr. Only you can determine what is appropriate for your child. I do not let my 6 year olds watch some of the shows their friends watch. I know someone who's 2 year old loved watching shows with 'movie kisses' in them. Eek!!! The best thing to do is to record some shows and pre-watch them and determine what you are comfortable letting him watch. Try Toot & Puddle, Martha Speaks, Franklin and Little Bear.

I let my 5 year old watch nickalodean, the cooking channel, and discovery or nature shows. I try to limit TV time in exchange for books and card games. 5 year olds can learn to play Rummy, War, etc.He is also pretty good at checkers and chess already. You'll be surprised! A lot of people do let their kids watch those shows you mentioned but I think you sound like a parent who wants the best for your child. Why clutter their minds with all that confusing and mushy stuff when you can stimulate them to think instead.