The Best Kids’ Shows on Apple TV+
There’s no denying that PBS Kids, home of Daniel Tiger, was once the gold standard for children’s programming. Unfortunately, many of their shows now seem recycled or like they are spoon-feeding their audience. For example, they turned Elmo and Cookie Monster into transforming robots . Parents can’t help but wonder if they’re more interested in selling toys than keeping their kids entertained.
Apple TV+ has quickly (and quietly) overtaken PBS in quality children’s programming, adding significant value to the parent company’s dwindling streaming budget. Several Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood creatives have their own programs on the streaming service, and the shows are aimed at specific age groups, not just preschoolers.
Toddlers and preschoolers
Hello Jack! Kindness show
After playing 30 Rock’s Kenneth Parcell with terrifying aplomb, Jack McBrayer seemed destined to host a Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood -style show. Here he plays a version of himself who is also the kindest resident of Clover Grove and spreads his love to others in his colorful hometown. Behind the scenes, McBrayer created this musical show ( featuring songs by pop group OK Go ) with Angela S. Santomero, songwriter of Blue’s Clues and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood . According to my oldest son, this program is strictly for preschoolers because he doesn’t like the show as much as his little brother.
Frog and Toad
Every streaming service has a children’s series based on the book. Netflix has Captain Underpants and Prime Video has If You Give a Mouse a Cookie , and each show translates the source material to the screen with varying degrees of success. Apple TV+ has Frog and Toad, which captures what made Arnold Lobel’s award-winning series so enjoyable to read, from the color palette of the illustrations to the infectious positivity. The show moves at the same pace as your preschooler, so his senses aren’t overwhelmed, and its core themes about communication and accepting differences slip through subtly. Both my sons love it. Don’t be surprised if this becomes the next kids show you watch without kids.
Older children
Still water
From every hair on a panda’s face to the blades of grass that sway in the wind, Stillwater is too beautiful for children’s television animation. Even the sound design is soothing, which is intentional given the premise of the series. Each episode features a problem that one of Stillwater’s neighborhood kids brings to them. Instead of letting emotions take over, he helps them find a solution by taking a deep breath and looking at the problem from a different perspective, offering a way to deal with difficult feelings so that viewers can work toward becoming more self-aware people. Surprisingly, my kids love this show, especially the beautiful fables Stillwater tells his young neighbors to get his point across.
Camp Snoopy
When Apple TV+ announced it was becoming the new streaming home for all things Peanuts , I wondered why, considering most TV programming had its heyday in the ’70s and ’80s. I clearly underestimated Snoopy’s power, especially since parents were outraged when it was revealed that A Charlie Brown Christmas would not be televised due to an arrangement.
The agreement also allows Apple to create new content featuring Charles Schulz’s characters. Their latest offering is Camp Snoopy, which features Charlie Brown and siblings Lucy and Linus Van Pelt heading into the great outdoors. There are the usual Snoopy and Woodstock shenanigans (which drew my kids in), but the other characters have their own issues, like homesickness or fear of trying new things, that are handled gracefully.
Tiny World
Who should watch Honey, I Shrunk the Kids when the documentary program Tiny World reveals the microscopic ecosystems of the jungle, savannah and outback? Narrated in the soothing voice of Paul Rudd, the series offers fantastic images unlikely to be seen anywhere else to capture your child’s imagination. I recommend waiting and watching this on a new big screen TV rather than an iPad, as the detail in these images is enough to make your family’s jaw drop.
Teenagers
ghost writer
My eldest son, a self-confessed bookworm, immediately dove into this reboot of the ’90s live-action series about a group of kids who solve mysteries involving literary characters mysteriously brought to life. He was busy figuring out the identity of the main character, who communicates with four young detectives through spilled drinks and a mysterious typewriter, as well as other themes that dominate the character’s personal life (such as grief). This series’ biggest trick is making classic stories like The Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland relevant when so many other characters (and toys) are vying for your child’s attention.
Circuit breakers
Goosebumps. Are you afraid of the dark? The ’90s had no shortage of creepy anthology shows aimed at teens. Now there’s Breakers , which focuses on the effects of using technology to deal with problems related to children, such as overbearing parents or waiting for your growth spurt. This is unusual content from a technology company particularly known for monitoring adult content for disparaging remarks made by its creators on air. It’s still fun that it exists, and unlike its ’90s predecessors, there are no scary elements or monsters to interfere with your child’s fun.
The Wolf Boy and the Everything Factory
Joseph Gordon-Levitt voices one of the characters in the animated series about a creative kid who is sent to boarding school to make friends. However, he wears a wolf mask (hence the nickname “Wolf Boy”), so he doesn’t quite fit in. He finds his tribe inside a magical portal in the forest near his school and finds the Everything Factory, where everything on the surface of the Earth, from clouds to trees, is manufactured. The show has an Adventure Time vibe to it, but it feels like something one of my boys would do from a comic book.