I have a nearly 5 year old with Aspergers. He is VERY naive and innocent, and I feel it's time to introduce him to the pop culture of 5 year olds so he will fit in better. We are taking him to Toy Story 3 in a few weeks, but other than that, he has never been to a movie, and won't sit through them at home. I would like to avoid anything above a PG rating (TV included), and would like to avoid superhero type violence (is that possible?). Anyway, what are some shows that I should consider introducing him to? He likes Curious George, Martha Speaks, Sid the Science Kid, Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, Thomas, Barney, Kipper, Ruff Ruffman (obviously not all in one day).
Any other pop culture suggestions? He LOVES books, and can read, he is obsessed with numbers, not a sports playing kind of guy mostly due to coordination and attention issues.
personally, I believe that we should preserve their innocence as long as possible, but that is getting hard in these times. Also, he has a 2 year old brother who I would like to avoid exposing a lot of stuff to.
I'll add that he does have a Leapster 2, but he doesn't really get how to use it properly, and we have some old school video games that I need to introduce him to. He does like dinosaurs, but his pretend play is really lacking. Just recently, he has started showing an interest in bugs so I need to get him a magnifying glass so he can explore them. Oh, and he does sometimes watch Dinosaur Train and Phineus and Ferb.
Thanks for all of the suggestions so far! I will keep them all in mind. My kid would spend all day writing numbers if it were up to him; he is so obsessed with them, that he has even figured out how to make the shape of the numbers with his hands. His baby brother has been a great help with his socialization. Even though he only just turned 2, he is very advanced for his age in his play skills. (Now if we can just get that one talking - he might have apraxia of speech).
I don't have many suggestions but I wanted to add: The disney channel has a cartoon called Phineas and Ferb. It is geared towards his age group but is very appropriate content wise. No violence and no crude humor. Its really cute and I know my 5yr old nephew loves it.
Just wanted to add that, my son LOVES Geo trax trains, they are really cool and they come with little people that actually go inside of the trains and they are pretty simple to put together!
I understand what you are thinking, and I wanted to offer an alternative. There are some families and kids that do avoid "pop culture" or consumerism all together, or at least limit it as much as possible. It sounds like you might fall into that category. We have a 3 and 1 year old who do not watch TV regularly - the occasional show every few weeks maybe and have seen a handful of movies at their aunts house. I have had a really hard time finding media that doesn't perpetuate attitudes towards grown ups, friends, vegetables, etc. that I'd like to avoid, so we just do other stuff. I'm not the only one - we have a group of families who are on the same path which makes it easier. Anyway - I'm glad to help if you are interested - just wanted to throw that out there.
L.
Has he seen the Disney/Pixar Cars movie?
Dinasour Train is awesome for a 5 year old. Both my kids love that show. My 5 year old also has a DS game that he plays about an hour a day.
He also loves the scooters (he went from a 3 wheeled one last week and now is riding a 2 wheeled Razor we bought from a garage sale), rides motorized kid cars and a bike with training wheels. My goal before he starts school this year is to teach him to tie his shoes. We have a t-ball set and he loves to hit the ball (doesn't care too much to be out in the field).
We also play I spy when we are in the car and in order for me to read a book of his choice, I have him tell me each letter of the title of the book. Oh, and Ralph's World (http://www.ralphsworld.com) is really great for kids. In fact, Ralph will be playing at the Morton Arb in 2 months. We have all his CDs and listen to them in the car.
Hope that helps.
My son and nephews are that age, and Spiderman, cars, robots, legos, Sonic the Hedgehog, soccer and dinosaurs are pretty much the only thing they ever talk about. You can still do the superhero thing without getting too violent. My sons have their own handmade capes (that aren't specific to any superhero) and play superheros a lot.
Some other shows to consider: Super Why! (they sell action figures), word world (there is a whole line of toys & games related to this one), Caillou. The first 2 shows are geared toward 5 & 6 year olds. Caillou to 4 year olds.
My son loves dinos as well. I recently discovered the juvenile fiction section in the library, which has a whole shelf of factual dinosaur books. My son loves them. He also loves the "Ultimate Dinosaur Collection" movies. Its a set of three movies one of which is "walking with dinosaurs". The movies are incredibly realistic. They are a little violent (dinosaurs eat each other), but there is no violence to people, just dinosaurs acting the way they would in nature. My son is 2 & 1/2 & would watch them all day if I let him. I don't believe the violence has affected him at all. I also don't let him watch any violent tv or shows like sponge bob either. I was hesitant about getting him the videos, but ultimately am glad I did. He has learned a lot about nature from them & it has given us an opportunity to talk about death (some dinos die) without it being too emotional an issue. It made it a lot easier to explain what happened when my MIL cat died. When we told him, he said, It died, just like the dinosaurs. We said yes & then he ok & went back to playing.
Good luck
i've found that the only movies my son is NOT scared of are the ones about a real dog/cat adventure. Like Otis and ?
Nick Jr is a good start. There are no commercials and they try to teach. It may be a little below the 5-year-old because it's really geared toward pre-school age kids but your 2-year-old will love it and you won't have to worry about what your older kid is being exposed to things you don't want him exposed to.
We don't have cable, so there are many pop culture things my son doesn't know about, although he's only 3 so the social aspect of fitting in isn't as much of an issue. My son actually first learned about Mickey at pre-school. Still, the only 2 Disney movies he's seen are Cars and Nemo, which we own and I don't let him watch them very frequently. I'm going to take him to Toy Story 3, mainly because he loves watching movies and I think he'll enjoy the in-theatre experience. At a family event recently, my mother-in-law bought a bottle of Sponge Bob soap for the kids - all of his cousins were so excited, but my son was clueless. More importantly, it didn't bother him. You could try getting DVDs from the library to see what other characters or shows he'd like.
Other than the usual boy stuff, my son is also crazy about space, so we take him to the Museum of Science and Industry, and the Planetarium has a new (permanent) exhibit called Planet Explorers which is geared for younger kids (3-8). MSI has an original Mercury or Gemini Capsule, as well as one of the lunar lander test modules. We have just about every toddler book about space, and they're great because they're factual: learning the planets, books about the first moon landing, learning to be an astronaut. If he's obsessed with numbers, On the Launch Pad is a space-themed counting book, although it's only up to the number 12, so it might be too easy for your son.
Anyway, I don't think you should worry about it too much right now. He'll get exposed to it and learn from kids at school and will probably ask you about it at that time.
Anything dinosaurs and BUGS!! My 5 yr old is obsessed with bugs. I can't even tell you how many warm afternoons him and I spend out in the dirt looking for bugs/spiders/rolly pollies/etc. My son likes to watch the discovery channel (although you do have to be careful that some of the programs, while VERY educational, aren't too graphic for such a young child). You can also see if you can find episodes of Bindy the Jungle Girl (I THINK its on Nick Jr.). Its all about animals and geared more towards the younger minds. She's the daughter of the late Crocidile Hunter, Steve Irwin.
Also, as one poster mentioned, the super heros aren't all bad. My son LOVES Spiderman and Batman. He doesn't even really care about the cartoons, but loves to play with the action figures and act out his own scenarios. Also, Imaginex toys are GREAT. Most don't require batteries and are all about being geared towards kids using their imaginations. They have tons of stuff that isn't about violence.
Finally, if you think he might like video games, I would suggest V Tech V Motion. The games are educational and generally very easy to play. My son has been playing them since he was three, when it was just the regular V Smile games. But the V Motion is a better alternative and is very much like Wii for little ones.
too bad you don't live closer - I'd have you come visit and play with my group of preschool boys. Pop culture has NOTHING to do with their lives really. yes they may play army or spiderman but it isn't a tv show they are going off of, just playing in general.
My two daughters are older and cultural things didn't come into play till at least mid 2nd grade really. They didn't care if their friend didn't know about the Cars movie, they would just explain the movie and go on.
I'm serious about my offer to come for a playdate, but I'm closed for the summer. In the fall I will have 3 boys that are all 4 yrs old, so you are welcome to come play at that point!
My daughter LOVES the Backyardigans! Very music oriented
I also am of the thought that we should preserve their innocence as long as possible. It sounds like the shows he's watching are age appropriate. I don't think we should cave to the pressures of society when we feel like our kids are too young for certain subject matter. Disney movies should be a nice addition. I know five year old boys love legos and star wars. I'm not sure how appropriate the movie is but there is a cartoon series and lots of kid friendly star wars books. Good luck.
My daughter is on the spectrum too. We joined our local autism society. We all go to movies together every so often. Like this month we are all going to see toy story 3. The theater is accommodating to us, for example the lights are not turned all the way down and the volume isnt as loud. Since everyone's kids there are on the specturm somewhere, no one thinks twice when a child is getting antsy or needs to take a small break to walk around during the movie.
We also do many other actvities togther too. We have our own soccer league, baseball, bowling - - even camp! My daughter went to camp with a bunch of other kids who also have sensory issues or whatever. She had a blast.
You should look into your local autism society and see what they offer. It's a great way to integrate your child into activites that other kids are doing too - without all the pressure of having to be "normal"
I am quite ignorant of all the implications of Asperger's, but have you tried Dinosaurs with him? My 4 year old and most boys (and girls) REALLY are into dinosaurs -and also sharks!
Don't shy away from superheros. You can dig back into the old 60s and 70s cartoons and get pretty tame Spiderman and Batman stuff. Superman is also a little less violent. I have to tell you from about age 3 on -they LOVE LOVE LOVE superheros! You don't have to let him see the modern movies or anything -just some comics, old tv episodes and stories -it really excites them and it's something they love to role play about.
You mention Thomas, and Thomas has been a joy for both of my boys. I have a 20 month old and a 4 year old, and while the 4 year old is getting a little past Thomas, he still enjoys it. They both love anything to do with trains too.
I know some of these sound more retro than pop culture, but I've noticed with my boys that everything old seems new again, and that you can't beat the classics -trucks, trains, planes, superheros and dinosaurs!
Has he read any Beverly Cleary books -"Henry and Ramona," "Ramona and Beezus" etc.? I think they have a movie coming out this summer and I dearly loved those books as a child. They're non violent and very funny.
Have you seen the new silly bracelets? They remind me of the jelly bracelet trend from when I was in late elementary school. The bracelets are shaped like animals, and kids collect/trade them. My son is 3 and likes them... not sure if older boys are into them? I know girls love them. You can pick them up at Walgreens.
Do you guys enjoy nature? You can have your son go online to or get the subscription for National Geographic Kids. We watch some nature shows from Animal Planet or NatGeo, too. http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
Littlest Pet Shop is popular now as well as Zhu Zhu Pets.
Good luck!
