Hi ladies-
First, I ask that you be kind in your responses. I am not looking for this post to become a "gender" discussion....
What I am in need of is some viewing suggestions that are more "boy" oriented and age appropriate for the range from 4 to 6 YO.
My children don't watch a ton of TV/videos, but they like to rent movies from the local library and while we get a bunch of the usuals like Diego, Dora, and Thomas, I feel like we have crossed a bridge into another level of videos with the rental of Strawberry Shortcake, Barbie, and My Little Pony by my oldest daughter. The messaging in these shows are fine (friendship, cooporation, problem-solving, etc) and I am not concerned with them being viewed by my "Troop" - ages to-be-born to 7YO - but I do feel that they are generally more feminine. I don't want movies with a lot of violence and gun shooting type of stuff although "action" like chasing bad guys or that type of thing I think is okay (maybe? I'd have to view the series first).
So, do you know that "bridge" I am talking about? Those movies that are not so "baby" oriented any more but that the child is still too young for those more "gorwn-up" themes? And, if so, what movies would you recommend for the little boy in your life?
Thanks in advance, especially if you understand this post. LOL! :-)
~C.
Wow ladies! Thanks so much. There are some awesome ideas here that I had forgottenabout or did not know existed! We are already a Veggies Tales and very Disney based household (L&T, Mary Poppins, Tinker Bell, Toy Story and Cars and so on). I love the ideas of Jimmy Neutron and the Land Before Time (the latter he should be able to find at the library). They like the thrill of renting the shows/movies.
Unfortunately, I think the crew is not ready for Scooby. It was the old-school version and I was asked to turn it off because it was "too scarey". I guess that will come in time. :-(
I did catch them watching Tom and Jerry one morning... They usually do not get to watch anything unsupervised and the noise of the show caught my attention. I am still on the fence about that one but I guess that is a different post for another day (or at least after they are in bed!)
We like Scooby Doo, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Backyardigans, Veggie Tales, Toy Story, that sort of thing.
We have The Land Before Time movies on DVD that the boys really enjoyed. There are at least 15 of them. They also enjoyed Scooby Doo, movies and shows.
Delighted to see someone mention "Shaun the Sheep." Brilliant for all ages and genders and the adults will love it as much as the kids do.
The older animated films like Sword in the Stone that someone mentioned are good and so are The Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, etc. -- check out all the older Disney stuff that is not princesses. My daughter didn't get into princesses at all and she loved the other things.
I love some of the old full length animated films, like The Sword in the Stone, The Secret of Nimh, An American Tale, etc. that portray young heroes who are daring, adventurous, and chivalrous. The narratives are more sophisticated, too, which makes me feel better about their educational value. There are some really old Disney films about explorers and American heroes that you can check out, too.
Jake and the Neverland Pirates has been popular with both girls and boys. I think is says ages 2-5, but I know 7 year olds who like it too. It is on Disney Jr.
Some how when we were on vacation the show Ninjago was one (i think it is cartoon network). It is lego ninja cartoon. My kids loved it. I was really surprised since I still had them on Caillou at home. My younger child has been exposed to things i would have never let my oldest watch when he was her age. I had to compromise.
Scooby Doo is another good suggestion There are a lot of DVDs at Target for $5.
We also watch a Christmas Pinocchio recently. It was totally 80's like Rudolf.
I think some websites like 'commonsense media' will give you more ideas and opinions.
movies idea:
Wreck It Ralph (my 3 and 6 year old loved)
Rise of the Guardians
The Lorax (6 year old liked)
Monsters Inc
Dumbo (3 year old girl loves and 6 year old likes)
Wizard of Oz (yes, my kids love this)
Lion King
Toy Story
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
I love the other suggestions of Lady and the Tramp and we also watched 101 Dalmatians on you tube. You can see a lot of these movies there.
Not a movie, but a great series my boys (4, 6, 7 and almost 11) LOVE, is Gator Boys. You can buy hour long episodes on itunes and they play it quite a bit on Animal Planet.
Well my kids (boy and girl), liked and like these shows:
The Upside Down Show
Oobi
Shaun the Sheep
Little Bear
LazyTown
Pink Panther
These shows are younger kid types, but even if my kids are 6 and 10, they like these shows. Its fun and funny.
I like it too.
And its relaxing for them.
not sure they're quite old enough, but i love Wipeout and America's Funniest Videos. They're very family friendly (except, disclaimer - the crotch shots on AFV - but my 6 1/2 year old knows that we don't do that "for real")
In addition to a lot of the great animated suggestions below, my boys (2 and 5) like some real life shows like Tanked (about making fish tanks, not booze!), Cake Boss, Chopped, Cupcake Wars, American Pickers, Top Shot (neat target shooting and other things like bow and arrow, depends on how you feel about that kind of thing but it is pretty non violent, targets are things like balloons and jars of marbles and focused on skill), Amazing Race. My five year old LOVES Restaurant Impossible. I think his favorite is seeing the super gross stuff that they find in the dirty kitchens :) Extra bonus- the food shows have them interested in helping in the kitchen!
Tarzan
Jungle Book
The Sandlot - excellent movie when they're a little older
My boys love watching old episodes of Home Improvement (although I think they may have been a bit older when they started watching it; your 7yo would probably like it).
My boys (ages 2, 4, 6) love the following:
~Scooby Doo (vintage) - they do like the newer ones too, but I'm not as impressed by the new ones, as they are scarier than the old ones where the seemingly-paranormal activity is always someone in disguise. There are some on Netflix
~Veggie Tales (their favorites are Jonah; The League of Incredible Vegetables; The Wizard of Ha's; Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space; Dave and the Giant Pickle) Many are available on Netflix. Even I love the Veggie Tales; like Pixar movies they are hilarious for both kids and adults.
~Curious George -the full movie is REALLY cute and satisfied all their ages. The tv show is also great, can be streamed on Netflix, and is sp cute. Sometime my 6 yr old protests that he doesn't want to watch it, but once it actually starts he is glued to it.
We have a ton of Disney VHS:
Beauty and the Beast
The Little Mermaid
Alice in Wonderland
The Jungle Book
Snow White
The Lion King
Bambi
From Pixar; all have some scenes that might be too intense for very young kids, but my kids do ok as long as they watch them with me:
All the Toy Story movies are great
Up!
Cars (Cars 2 has shooting and pursuits)
Finding Nemo
Monsters Inc.
ok I'm gonna go a totally different direction here
How it's made , Mythbusters
Dexter's Lab
Jimmy Neutron
All available on netflix.
My son loves rescue heroes and rescue bots. LOVES. We stream from Netflix and watch qubo.
Wild krafts is a great show.
My son is 6 and still enjoys Max and Ruby, caillou, and the Backyardigans. He's now into Ben 10, ninjago, Scooby Doo.
We rent the old batman series from the library from the 60's which are hysterical and campy.
My son loves pink panther and pals and americas funniest home videos. He also loves monsters vs. aliens which is really funny...the bad guy is just silly. He used to love Cars (age 3-5) and Surfs Up. Neither really has a bad guy and I think he loved the music in them both too. For a TV show at those ages he loved Pingu. It's a cute claymation penguin family and it's pretty funny.
My 5 year old son is very limited in the shows that he will watch. Currently, he enjoys Busy Town Mysteries, Mighty Machines, Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman and Word World. He will occasionally watch Team UmiZoomi or Super Why and used to love Olivia, LIttle Bill and Peppa Pig when he was 4.
