Best PBS Shows for Three Year Olds

Word World, Sid the Science Kid, and Super Why are the most educational programs on PBS in my opinion and my 3 year old likes them.

My 3/yo LOVES PBS
honestly it is the only station I will let him watch.
He loves:
Dinosaur Train
Super Why (about reading)
Word World (spelling, reading)
Sid the Science Kid

They are very educational, I love them.
I stay away from shows on PBS like:
Word Girl
Cyberchase
Cat in the Hat
etc

I am not a fan of TV shows that are just noise and stupidity. :)

I work at a PBS station and occasionally get to see a show or two at lunch. So far I have watched and enjoyed Word World and Clifford. I have never been a Barney fan and we air that one early in the morning around 8:30 after Sesame Street.

Any of the shows aired on PBS have to be much better than the ones on commercial channels that seemed to be geared to get the kids to get mom and dad to buy stuff they don't need. (I won't get on that soapbox.) Some of the shows I ask how and why did they write that? Oh well, where is the old MIckey Mouse Show and a few others from yesteryear?

Thanks for bringing this up. I will surely let the people at the station that do programming know that they are doing a great job.

The other S.

PS I still get a kick out of the kids' shows.

My son (almost four) loves Word World more than anything else. He is reading and I think that show helped him there. He also likes Super Why and The Cat in the Hat.

Sprouts is a good channel....he likes all their shows. Caillou,lazytown, wiggles...just to name a few. Despite of what we all say, you should check them out for yourself. :) good luck!

I am constantly singing the praises of PBS! i feel comfortable with my daugther (4) watching ANY kid shows on PBS. However, for your three yr. old who is new to tv, I would not start with Cyberchase, Electric Company, Word Girl, Martha Speaks, or Fetch. these are made for older kids I think, although, they are still appropriate, the subject matter is older. Wild Kratts is our FAVORITE! It is very appropriate, but also maybe older subject matter. Super educational. My daughter is alway wow-ing people with her knowledge of wildlife, all learned from Wild Kratts!

Not sure why someone didn't want their kid to watch Cat in the Hat, my daughter actually learns a lot from that, although it's silly, there are some catchy tunes!

My daughter has loved the whole morning line-up - Curious George, Clifford, Word World, Super Why, etc. And of course Sesame Street is an institution!

Educationally, for that age, I think WordWorld is probably the best. Between the Lions is great, too, but maybe a bit old for him (although my first loved it at a young age.) Both focus on reading skills.

For fun? Curious George is great, and so is Dinosaur Train. Curious George is the type of show I can have on and it doesn't "get to me" if you know what I mean...it's not irritating. We also like Thomas.

Personally, I don't recommend Caillou or Barney, because they kind've pander and are really irritating.

He also might enjoy Sid the Science Kid and Super Why...they are fun and educational as well.

If you are interested in purchasing DVDs for your son, I would recommend Season 1 or 2 of "Sesame Street Old School" (the episodes that were actually educational! And fun! The ones we grew up with! No ridiculous Elmo, no occult like Abbey Cadabby or whatever her name is...) For fun, we really like to watch old Popeye, Looney Tunes, DuckTales, Garfield and Friends...all of which I've bought on DVD.

As already stated:

Sesame Street (I love Abby Cadabby, and I can't imagine posters getting their knickers in a twist about her being part of the "occult", whatever that means. I grew up on the old-school Sesame Street of the early 70s and loved it, but I also like that they keep it modern and relevant.)
Curious George
Cat in the Hat (annoying, but it is educational, especially regarding nature)
Super Why (a favorite!)
Dinosaur Train

For a 3yo, Thomas the Tank (the British version is better), Franny's Shoes, and I'm sure there are others on really early. I think that's when Thomas and Franny are on. Luckily, we are past the waking up at 6 am stage.

Curious George is my daughters absolute favorite show and she is 22 months. She calls it the Monkey Show

I agree with Curious George for that age, or Calliou and Clifford. Super Why, Word World, Sid the Science Kid are educational too. We watch the Leapfrog learning math/letter dvds. My kids love them, especially my 3 year old.

my two and four year old watch only 2 hours of tv a day. They have the choice when they want to. So they watch what ever is on PBS, we have cable and movies, but they always LOVE almost everything on PBS except Sid the Science Kid, and They really dont like Word Girl or Martha Speaks. When they are on they opt not to watch or to wait for the others. They LOVE the Kratt Brothers, or I think its called Zooboomafoo?

Abbey Caddby Is Occult??? I just have to giggle my tush off with that response.

Why not check out the site http://pbskids.org/ on your own? There's a section for Parents, and I'm sure you can find info on shows to see what your son can best benefit from. I used to go on it with my grandkids and am sure i will within the next few months, my little guy is 2.5. We do have cable and when he watches it's the Sprout channel.

Kudos to you for not just turning the TV on and planting your son in front of it!!

We LOVE Jack's Big Music Show (as in, my husband and I like it and dance with it also.....it's cute, not annoying like so many other shows). We love it so much we're having a JBMS birthday party for my 2 year old. We bring out all kinds of instruments and dance as well during that half hour. It's just fun. That's on Nick Jr.
My 2 year old loves Blue's Clues and Thomas (the British one....I think it's narrated by Ringo???) Both boys like Curious George, Dinosaur Train, and occasionally Martha Speaks. (These are not all watched in one day or one sitting, lol----we DVR these shows and they watch 1 or 2 shows in the morning, and 1 show in the evening while I'm cooking, IF they're not outside with the dog. On weekends, those DVR'd shows come in handy so we can lay in a little bit later---give them a drink and turn on a show and it's extra cuddle time for husband and I. :) I hate Word World because they butcher the stories that I love to tell on a regular basis. Joseph will be like "That's not what happened in Word World" so we just casually nixed that from his list of shows he can watch. He doesn't know it, it just was replaced with Dinosaur Train, which is cute.

DInosaur Train and Curious George!

My kids love Super Why, Martha Speaks, Caillou, Cat in the Hat, Clifford and Curious George. All of these are exceptional shows that are educational, age appropriate and entertaining. My kids have learned a lot from them. Super Why and Martha Speaks are wonderful for pre-reading skills and Curious George involves a lot of math skills. Cat in the Hat, Caillou and Clifford have an emphasis on social skills. Sid the Science Kid is not one of my kids' favorites, but it does emphasize a lot of great science skills on that show. They watch it every once in awhile.
Good luck and happy watching!
A.

My son loved Clifford...and I think that's on PBS. :)

My daughter loves World World and Super Why. She can sing all the songs, it's hysterical.

my son loves NOVA. And the Planet Earth series narrated by Sigourney Weaver. Anything about wildlife, the Earth, planes trains, science.

Definitely Curious George! Love, love, love that show. Good thing our son does too!

"Little Bear" by Maurice Sendak, is a great show and my son LOVES Little Bear. Even my older daughter. I even like it myself. GREAT show.
It is on the Nick Jr. channel.