Momma's with 2-3 Yr Olds

My son is 2 and he loves almost all the shows on PBS. Word World and Super Why are great with letters. My son knows and recognizes all the letters of the alphabet (not just from TV but from other things as well, flash cards, etc) I also like the fact that PBS shows commercials only for their own shows and not other things, toys, etc.

Blue's Clues. Son #1 is 6 now and will still come watch if it's a "new" one (one he doesn't remember). Son #2 is 2 and has a speech delay. He learns more from Steve and Joe than from me no matter how hard I try.

M 2 yo is frightened by Word World.

p.s. There are no commercials on Nick JUNIOR (formerly Noggin). All other Nick channels have them though.

I love Word World! :)
It's a great program, no violence and plenty of 'learning'. Plus it's cute enough to keep mom from going out of her mind (or wondering what drugs the producers were on!). :D

LOVE PBS kids--Super Why, Curious George, Cat in the Hat, Dinosaur Train, etc...Dora & Diego, Imagination Movers on Disney...there's a whole list...

Team Umizoomi (Nick Jr.);Also PBS full of shows... Super Why, Sid the Science Kid

My (just turned) 4 yr old loves Chuggington, Special Agent Oso, Go Diego Go, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Jungle Junction. He only gets about 30 minutes in the mornings for TV. Otherwise on Friday and Saturday nights he gets to pick a video to watch after dinner. Two great ones you might want to invest in are Leapfrog's Letter Factory and Word Factory. They are extremely well-done...my 18 month-old even likes these and she doesn't watch any other tv or movies. My son learned his letters extremely fast after watching Letter Factory just a few times when he was 2. He's spelling short words now, can write his name, and I think the basis of beginning to understand the sounds of the letters and recognition of written letters came from these movies. :)

We enjoy Word World, Super Why and Team Umizoomi. I have a 20 month old and a just over 3 year old. They both have fun with the shows.

There are many other good educational kids shows on PBS besides Sesame Street - Curious George, SuperWhy, Sid the Science Kid, Word World, Dragon Tales.

Some of my daughter's other favorites are (on Nick Jr.):
Oswald, LIttle Bill, Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, Franklin, Little Bear, Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, Team Umi Zoomi, Nai Ho Kai Lan (might be spelling that one wrong!)

And on Disney: Secret Agent Oso, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

There's also a bunch of stuff on Sprout. Not familiar with In the Night's Garden - never heard of it.

Wonder Pets and Max & Ruby are my sons favorite. He used to like Dinosaur Train but not anymore. good luck

I have a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. My 2yr old loves Dinosaur Train, Word World, Super Why!, Caillou, Sesame Street & Barney. My 4 yr old basically loves the same ones..with the exception of Barney :)

A lot of people have mentioned the ones I was going to say too, we like "Super Why" "Word World" and "Sid the Science Kid" on PBS, those have some good educational themes.

My favorite shows are on PBS. They are Sid the Science Kid, Super Why!, Word World, and Dinosaur Train. The kids don't watch a whole lot of TV, but when they do, we try to do those shows (or those types of shows). We also like to watch Food Network shows. They really like watching Food Network Challenge when they make cakes and pumpkins into cool shapes!

My son has learned alot with team umi zoomi, its in nick. It teaches him numbers and patterns. Its mostly math. But it is great. Special agent oso is another one on disney.

Good luck!

my daughter is almost 4 but we watch amostly Nick Jr (use to be Noggin). I really liked Oswald, team Oomi Zoomi, Peppa Pig, amd many of the other shows. Plus they dont have commercials spo you dont get the constant 'I want that" happening.

i keep it on channel 8 in the morning, sesame street, curious george, barney, clifford the dog, sid the science kid, calliou, some dinosaur cartoon that looks great with our hdtv, cat in the hat(knows alot about that), maya and miguel, and when i need to, not that i really NEED to, i have elmo/cookie monster dvds. I think elmo has subliminal baby messages in his little voice.

We like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Team Umizoomi, HOP Learn to Read, Rock and Learn series, and Pre-School Prep.

I have 2 girls, who are almost 3 and 6. I only allow educational shows and prefer the channels without commercials. They have always loved Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. PBS Kids has many great shows. One of our favorites is Word World. It is very cute and teaches reading and spelling skills.

If your daughter is into music like mine is, then she will love Freshbeat Band. My daughter loves it, Ni Hao Kailan, Sesame St., and Blues Clues.

don't know but we love sprout - seems like the only channel i can count on to always have something appropriate. other channels have good shows, but you still have to make sure those good shows are actually on. we are a sprout house!

My boys love micky mouse club house. we also love pbs at my house. the good thing about pbs is that on there website under the parent section there are activities and things you can go over with your children about the show they just watched so they are learning after tv time too.

backyardigans is good because it's musical and i like that they are pretend playing in the episodes. any encouragement for children to use there imaginations is wonderful.

We don't have cable, so my kids only watch PBS. I have a 2 and 5 yo. I find everything they watch on there in the mornings educational and fun. They are limited to two cartoons a day but Curious George is a fave- he does a lot of math and science. Some others they watch occasionally are word world and Super Why which both deal with reading skills. And they both love Zaboomafoo which is an animal show that comes on early in the a.m.

My 2 & 3 year olds love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - I think it is pretty educational. Handy Manny & Berenstain Bears as well.

My 2 1/2 yr old son likes a variety of shows, but I feel like he actually learns a lot from Super Why.

my daughter gets to watch more tv than i'd like, but at this point in time, its the only way i can get anything done. she is absolutely in love with the wiggles. she does learn songs and other things through them. she's so musical already, so i don't mind her watching it simply for the music value. she also loves sesame street. if she is watching tv, we have it on sprout. also, we try to find things on netflix for her to watch so she doesn't have to watch the commercials.

While I am not so sure that TV is very educational, if you watch with your daughter, you can talk to her about what she is seeing and have her express what she thinks and feels about what she saw. Even if there are no commercials on the channels, many of the shows for children are vessels for marketing one toy, clothing article or decoration of some sort. The shows that my child is into (and we let him watch) are Max and Ruby, Curious George, Fresh Beat Band (a newer one on Nick Jr) and Dora. I ask him frequently what is going on and what he thinks is going to happen next (sort of like when you read a book and you want to see if they are comprehending) and hopefully that keeps him from just zoning out. While I totally believe that not everything has to be educational or a learning experience for kids, its a little disconcerting thinking of my child becoming a zombie in front of the tv. Good luck!

My three year old watches Little Bear, Franklin, Dora, Diego, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Oswald and occasionally Little Einsteins. She doesn't do too many movies but has latched onto TinkerBell and the Great Fairy Rescue (about 1 hour after commericals) so that has been her go-to show for the past week. I think my husband and I have it memorized! What I like about the channels the above shows are on is that before/after the show they do some sort of educational segment whether it's finding a letter or trying to locate things that rhyme. We DVR her cartoons so she can watch 1 then she knows it's over with.

I have not watched In the Nights Garden but I never liked Teletubbies...

If you look at my questions, I just asked a very similar one. I recieved a lot of great responses...

Dora & Go Diego Go. They both have some Spanish language, counting, sharing, etc. No commercials during the show (but all on at the end), and I like that they both have intact, involved families. Not violent at all.

My son LOVES the reruns of the Lawerence Welk show. Not necessarily educational, but the music and the dancing and all the colors... LOVES IT!

He also loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and we have the Muppets and Fraggle Rock on DVD. They tend to have the life lessons type things, but it's still fun.

I figure my son is getting his little brain full of learning stuff at his daycare/preschool and we read and whatnot at home too, so why not let him have some extra fun with some shows. Not that we watch much anyway.

Nick Jr has a really cute show called Team Umizoomi. It is educational and fun!

My 2 almost 3 year old daughter loves "Bear-Bears" (Bearnstein Bears) and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Max and Ruby....

Nick jr (formerly Noggin). Great shows.

Super Why on PBS

Nature shows

My son is almost 3 and loves Dora and Diego. Mickey Mouse Club house is pretty cute, too. And backyardigans was one of his favorites for a while, but I don't know when it comes on anymore, so we haven't watched it in ages. Those are pretty much the ones we watch. I didn't let my kids watch teletubbies until they were speaking well because I don't think it's a good model for speech. But now that they are older I'm not so strict about it. I don't turn it on purposely, but if it comes on after something else, I don't automatically change the channel.

Both of my sons love Dora and Diego, and they're very educational. My youngest is 2 and the oldest is 4. They also love Curious George and always enjoy Thomas and Clifford -although Thomas and Clifford aren't what I think of when I think "educational" -but they are age-appropriate. My oldest started enjoying Word World and SuperWhy when he was 3, but your two year old may not quite be there yet. You could try it though -they're on PBS. I haven't seen the Night Garden one you're talking about. I've always thought the Teletubbies were produced by a really long acid trip.

My sons LOVE Curious George on PBS. I have seen In the Night Garden and they like that too even though I really don't know what is going on...

My kids watch Sprout mostly which you only get if you have Directv. They are 2 & 3 and love Kipper the dog, Bob the builder and Thomas & Friends. On Nick Jr. they love Little Bear, Franklin, Little Bill and Olivia. Also Dora and Diego and Max & Ruby. They have learned so much from these shows. They talk really good and know stuff I haven't taught them yet.

My son will be 3 next month and he watches the Sprout Network and preferrable Caillou. He loves that show and watches it over and over.

We got cable last month and still we almost always watch PBS. My 2 year old loves Word World, Super Why, Dinosaur Train (although the concepts are a little old for him, he still loves to watch the dinosaurs), Sid the Science Kid, The Cat in the Hat, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Curious George. Some of the things in the shows are a little over his head, but he started recognizing letters since watching Word World. We don't watch a lot of TV at our house, but if I need to get in the shower, I know that he'll be enthralled with Word World or one of the others and not get into mischief while I'm in there. I also LOVE the fact that PBS doesn't have "real commercials." I like some shows on Disney, Sprout, and Nick, but there are TOO MANY commercials trying to sell JUNK!

I also agree about Dora and her shouting. I hadn't realized that she shouted her words until my SIL brought it to my attention. It is a cute show, and has taught my daughter a few spanish words, but Dora drives me crazy. I also have had to enforce the no shouting rule at our house after my kids watch Dora.

My advice is to sit down with your kids and watch the shows together. Then you can see what they're all about and see which ones your kids like & respond to. Good luck in finding the right shows for you & your daughters!

My daughter loves Dora. She learns a little Spanish, how to be a good friend, prioritizing, helping.... All kinds of good stuff. She loves it. :) She does like Team Umi Zoomi too. Lots of math learning in that one.

I never wanted my kids to watch much TV, but I have found that Sprout and PBS have some good shows that my boys love. They really like Thomas the Train, Bob the Builder, Word World, Clifford, Martha Speaks, Sesame Street, Dinosaur Train, and Sid the Science Kid. I never thought my boys really understood the topics, but when I heard my sons repeat letters, words, and certain scientific terms, I was impressed!

My 3 YO LOVES Word World.

I'm surprised no one talked about Qubo. http://www.qubo.com/

My 3 year old likes Willas Wild Life (if you go to that site you'll see Willa on the front, wearing a red dress.) There's some shows for younger children/toddlers on there, such as Maisy. We watch Qubo much more often then PBS.

We don't have cable, and love PBS Kids. They have Dinosaur Train, Super Why, Martha Speaks, Sesame Street, The Cat In The Hat, etc. And for videos, I highly recommend Leap Frog Letter Factory. My kids learned their ABC's and letter sounds so easily from it, and love to watch it. We have others now, like Talking Words Factory, Math Circus, etc. Very educational, and my kids love them! Great gift idea, and they're only $8 each.

My 3 y/o likes Team Umizoomi, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Blue's clues, Little Bear, Backyardigans, Jack's Big Music Show, Dora, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Olivia. Umizoomi, Mickey, and Yo Gabba Gabba are the most educational ones.

I just buy or get DVDs from the library or store. Other than that it is PBS and only certain programs for an hour or so. I get more learning DVDs versus entertainment ones.

You can find cool stuff to watch on youtube as well. Just do a search and see what pops up. We found a British show called Pocoyo that my son likes a lot. It's very cute. Hope you can find something you like :)

We are a PBS family. We love just about all the programs for kids. Sprout has a good line up as well. One thing I like about Sprout is the shows are short so in a 30 mins setting they can get a couple of different shows. I am not a big fan of anything on Nick Jr for this age group especially. Good Luck there is a lot of good programming. We also us our DVR/VCR and try an cut the commercials when we can.

my daughter watches dora and umi zoomi on Nickelodeon. She says words in Spanish,counts and says her colors.She answers the questions when they ask them on TV.

My 3 year old loves Nick Jr.(used to be called Noggin) and Disney Channel. His fav shows are Jack's Big Music Show, Dora, Max and Ruby, Oswald, Little Einsteins, and Thomas on PBS.

I always loved Backyardigans. Can't stand Dora and all her shouting. I'd try teaching them how to use the DVD player. Your 3 year old is probably capable, and make some strict rules about how to take care of DVDs - put them away, etc. then invest in some great DVDs. Go to Amazon for product reviews. You can check them out for free from the library too. Also, there are some great educational websites w/games, reading, math, etc. that they might be able to mouse through once you point them to the right website. My son loves Starfall.com.

My daughter turned 3 last week and I let her watch 30-60 minutes a day. If see misses Sesame STreet in the morning, I usually let her watch "Word World" and "sid the Science Kid" on PBS. They are on back to back in the early afternoon on our PBS. Great shows, plus since it's PBS, the commercials are limited and appropriate (I'm seriously sometimes more bothered by the commercials than the kid's shows sometimes). Good luck! Glad there are other mamas out there who pay attention to what/how much their kids watch!

Well the shows I like and my kids are:

Oobie
The Upside Down Show
Little Bear
Gullah Gullah Island

Caillou is one of my daughters favorites. It is more about concepts. Going to the farm, building, sharing, taking turns, than ABC's and 123's. It is sweet and it is nice that is teaches other than the basics. It is also calm show not bright lights and lots of songs.

I do not have my child watching too much TV, they watch the DVDs and tapes of educational shows and kids movies. I find TV sometimes very inapropriate and repetitive and ladden with commercials. PBS can be good sometimes, though.
We have a great collection of kids classics and learning movies and my kids love them, sometimes even the older boy will watch with the little guy.
They both like Discovery channel and Animal planet.
Nickelodian seems completely stupid to me - I never allow it. Believe it or not my litttle guy likes to watch Fox and the old movies...