5 Great (mostly) Educational Shows for Kids 3-7

Yesterday I blogged about essential items to take on a trip with your kids.  Before I go any further, though, I did want to add in Liz's great comment about the Apple iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation--with iPhone OS 3.1 Software Installed) [NEWEST MODEL] which can seriously lighten your load by having the multi-function capacity of games, music, and movies.  It never crossed my mind and I think I'm already sold.  Thanks Liz!  For long trips, you might want to take along a rechargeable battery pack like the Maxell P-2 2-G Rechargeable Back-Up Battery Pack.

Well, anyway, as much as I would like to pretend that my kids never watched TV, never ate at McDonald's, and never ever ate candy - it's just not all that realistic.  So today I'm going through some of my favorite DVDs (some are also downloadable on iTunes as well) for kids.

My kids are really liking all things Martha Speaks.  The main character is a dog that talks and every episode centers around new related vocabulary.  One episode talked about voting, petitions, and protesting - all concepts that are not easily explained to a 6-year-old but Martha does it effortlessly and age-appropriately.  My husband thinks the dog's voice is annoying, but I suppose that's just a personal thing.

Though my daughter should technically be ready to outgrow it, she still loves Peep and the Big Wide World.  This funny, clever show teaches kids simple physics and science concepts and gets lots of laughs from the whole family.  The show is narrated by Joan Cusack, whose voice is a perfect fit for the show.

A recent find for us has been the extremely reasonable Animal Stories: The Complete 52 Episode Series.  Produced in England and winner of a BAFTA award, these cartoons retell Aesop's Fables through animals.  My children have watched it five times straight so far (which is normal for a four year old, but more rare for an almost seven year old).  The stories are great for teaching character and honestly, this is a LOT of DVD for $5.99.


Though my kids have past these, we loved the Leap Frog series of phonics and math concepts.  My son learned all his letters and sounds at 3 without having to work on them from Leap Frog - Letter Factory.  My daughter, who preferred sight reading, finally started sounding out more often from Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory.  Take that, camp that says TV can never be educational!  They also liked Leap Frog - Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory, Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper, and Leap Frog - Math Circus.  Some of these DVDs are currently selling for under $5 so they are a great bargain as well.

Last on my list isn't all that educational but it is fun and involves one of my favorite childhood storybook characters - Huckle Cat.  My children adored Hurray for Huckle: Zooming Around Busytown and watched it over 5 days of driving across country (all the grain fields they missed in Kansas!).  The series has several other titles as well.

All this said, that's not to say my children never watch Bakugan or Ben10.  But I try to limit it.  Oh, shoot, I left it on the kitchen counter! and that sort of limitation.  I figure banning things outright will only make them more exciting.

Now to my real dilemma, and I'd like to hear from readers.  What are your favorite educational shows for kids 7 to 10?