Let’s admit it – however idealistic as we want to be with kids, we will need some attractive and educational videos for our toddlers too one time or another. May they be for your own kids, niece, nephew, godson, goddaughter, or your friend’s kid, you will need some form of entertainment and a way to educate them through videos.

For first time parents who are trying to keep technology away from their kids, don’t worry too much or don’t deprive them. Technology is part of our  world now and some videos are really helpful in expanding their knowledge. Videos are used as learning aids in school even in the 80’s and 90’s. If used with proper guidance, kids will benefit a lot.

I personally use them for my toddler now. She knows a lot of action songs now and knows so much about animals and parts of her body- a bit too early for a 1 year and 3 month old baby but I can see how active and willing she is to learn. I don’t force anything on her to learn but she just shows deep interest on new things (the overly curious stage). She has her weekly favorite videos.

The main activities we do daily in the home are playing with her toys and reading books. I introduce something new activities once in a while like writing, painting, and many more lined up for her until the time we’ve adjusted well and know our routine very well with the new addition to the family.

Aside the TV channel – Baby TV channel and Disney Junior Channel, we play several videos before bedtime too. We sing and do action songs together.

Here are adorable and educational Youtube videos we watch the past months. These are mostly sing and dance videos since our little girl likes to watch videos with so much actions and colors. Hope you get some things here for your tots:

* You may either watch online or download these videos too. Since my tot wants a different set of videos every night, we view them via streaming everyday on our TV (not via tablets since I want watching TV to be a social activity for her, not a solo activity she will do alone)

**Click on the colored Video channels for the videos page in Youtube of each item

1. Sesame Street– classic and timeless. I grew up loving them. Loving the new Sesame Street now! They’re so lively and vibrant. They have old and new videos of Sesame Street. Their Youtube channel even has so much surprises everyday: Music on Mondays, Celebrities on Tuesdays, Muppet Fun on Wednesdays, Clasic Sesame on Thursdays, and Furchester on Fridays!
2. Dave and Ava – The videos are for kids from ages 1-6. Dave and Ava are so cute! They are 2 kids in costume exploring the world and singing nursery rhymes. Nice graphics too!
3. Super Simple Songs – Their videos feature nursery rhymes and their original kids’ songs that are easy to teach, easy to learn, and really fun!
4. HooplaKidz– Their videos range from nursery rhymes, good manners, letters, shapes, numbers, Aesop’s fables, and others for bigger toddlers.
5. Barney– Barney is a character from the past as well like Sesame Street. They do not produce new episodes anymore but the legacy lives on. It’s very educational for the kids.
6. Chu Chu TV– They have upbeat nursery rhymes! Their nursery rhymes sounds so modern that children will really pay attention to all the movements and colorful characters.
7. Mother Goose Club– Didn’t know this existed since 2008. They aim to bring early education to the world through their online channels. There are 6 colorful characters in Mother Goose Club that our little girl loves so much! I lobe their videos too!
8. Little Baby Bum– cute 3D videos for kids!
9. Bounce Patrol Kids– I love their voice and the way they sang the songs and I guess my toddler loves them too! They are Jacinta, Will, Jackson, Alyssa, and Rachel from Australia. Their songs from toddlers to preschool are very cheerful, colorful, and educational for the kids.
10. Disney Junior Asia– to complement the TV channel on cable. This youtube channel has videos for the kids to view per program and the songs they’d like to hear from this channel too are here.
11. Farmees– This channel has colorful and animals as characters in almost all of their videos. The animals sing and dance to nursery rhymes and other songs like shapes, letters, numbers songs.
12. Kids Camp – Elly and her little sister Eva sing and dance in their colorful videos of songs and rhymes!
13. Baby TV – Aside from the Baby TV channel on Cable. This FOX-produced channel has a Youtube channel too where most of their videos are uploaded. They have nursery rhymes, baby songs, and other new characters that your toddlers will love. Our little girl loves Hungry Henry, The Post Train, Tippa and Tuppa, and Oliver.

Educational videos may facilitate learning for the kids and may have a lot of benefits too because they can:

• demonstrate those things that are harder to teach in just words
• help kids be interested and learn faster through visuals and songs
• help shape kids’ imagination through all the visuals they see
• help widen their vocabulary
• relax and distract the small kids who are teething, sick, or in pain
• Kids who watch informative and educational shows as preschoolers tend to watch more informative and educational shows when they get older.  They use TV effectively as a complement to school learning.  On the other hand, kids who watch more entertainment program watch fewer informative programs as they get older  (Macbeth, 1996).
• For parents, videos may be a quick solution if you need to take a quick visit to the comfort room (of course leave the kids in a safe place like playpen if they’re younger), quick rests, or do important chores.

It’s best to choose what videos the children will watch. Better not to leave them yet with a tablet and let them explore the web on their own. But some parents prefer to have no gadgets until 2 years old since some researches say that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. I say it’s really up to the adults on how to introduce the videos to the children.

Enjoy watching with the kiddos! 🙂

“Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding.” – Robert John Meehan