What shows are appropriate for six year olds and how much should they watch?

Question

My daughter is six and I let her watch a little television between homework and supper. Sometimes, well my sister says so, that when she babysits my daughter my sister will let her watch MTv and VH1. Usually she watches some Disney Channel and Nick. I don't like shows that sarcastic or swear. Does anyone have any ideas on what she should watch and how long? I don't want her wanting to watch tv more than read like my little sister.

Answer 1

We let our children watch 1.5 hours of tv a day - 3 shows. Disney is okay. Nick is okay but there are some shows on there that we think are rude and obnoxious and they're not allowed to watch them. My kids haven't asked to watch MTV or VH1 but I would say no if they did at this age.

Answer 2

There's so much that's unhealthy about body image and morals and race on MTV and VH1--and you can't predict when they'll pop up--that I'd only let my child watch for short periods and then we'd turn it off and talk about it. I'd never let someone else leave it on for her to watch as she chose.

Disney and Nick don't always have kids that I want my kids to emulate. Of course, the worst thing about kids' TV are the commercials, but that gives you a chance to teach the difference between an entertainment show to create a mood and a commercial to influence behavior. From 3 on, we worked at, "Is this a commercial?" "What do they want us to do?" "Do we have to do that?" The answer to the last was always, "No, we can think for our own selves."

My kids (now 21 and 25) used to be in the same room when I watched Cagney and Lacey and LA Law when they were around 6. Always if I saw them paying attention and sometimes when they didn't seem to be, I'd talk about how TV wasn't real, just people pretending. I also used such shows to talk about how miserable people are when they lie, have affairs, drive too fast, drink, etc. The accidents and tragedies, secrets coming out, etc. are usually in TV Guide or signaled by earlier events in the shows so you can stress the cause and effect part.

If I had it to do over, we would have watched less TV, but the content would probably stay the same. They have been far less materialistic and influenced by what others do and have than their peers. Result--no drugs, no jail, no accidents with others left dead or crippled, no babies, no going wild in college.

Answer 3

First no children should watch more than an hour of TV a day. Second, your child should only be watching G rated shows. MTV and VH1 are not even suitable for teens, let alone a 6 year old.

Answer 4

MTV and VH1 aren't appropriate for 6 year olds. Disney Channel and Nickelodeon are definitely good. Also try Animal Planet, Discovery Kids, Cartoon Network, and PBS Kids. Kids like TV and if she's a good kid, then reward her with extra TV time then just in between homework and dinner. :)

Answer 5

I live with my sister and nephews 1 is 6 and the other is 2.
The six year old watches cartoon network and animal planet. We let him watch an hour at a time. For example he watches from 10 am to 11 am then after lunch he plays with his toys for an hour then we let him watch another hour of tv and so on.

when it comes to school he gets home at 3:30 and we let him watch tv till 4 then he does his home work. then after supper he plays with his toys till six and watches

Answer 6

I allowed my daughter an hour a day of television IF she earned the time. My daughter watched all kinds of shows. What a child watches is up to the parents.

Answer 7

Well she's deffinatly outgrown the Barny stage. Here are a good list of shows to watch-

-Dragon Tales, Arthur, Clifford, Curious George(Pbs)
-Sponge Bob Square Pants, maybe Dora the Explorer (Nick)
-Pepper Anne, Pucca (Toon Disney)

Good luck =)

Answer 8

For a 6 year old, 1 hour of t.v. a day should be plenty. At her age, she should be spending more time playing, make believeing, etc, than watching t.v.

Beware of what you let her watch. Now-a-days, you see half-naked girls on t.v. I would never let my children watch this because t.v. really does impact their choice in clothes, etc.

I babysit a 6 1/2 year olf girl. She loves to watch Clifford, Disney channel, and i have alot of Lonney Tunes cartoons.

Answer 9

My niece is 6 and she loves watching shows with music. her favorite shows are Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody, Charlie and Lola, and American Idol. She also loves High School Musical. My sister and I actually enjoy watchng HM and Zach and Cody with her, which she enjoys, also, she likes to get up and dance during the musical parts of HM, HSM and American Idol. As for how long, she doesnt getta watch all the shows everyday, and honestly I don't think she would sit long enough to watch all of them. Let her watch about 1 or 2 hours a day, depending on what else is going on. My niece loves playing dress up, "reading" books, playing outside(if we ever get out of this heat advisory) and playing games like memory and chutes and ladders. There are alot of products that disney has released that kids can play with that has their favorite shows on them but they're away from the television ( they have a dance step game for hsm, cds that are fun to dance to, and my niece really wants this hannah montana microphone that you can sing into and listen to yourself on the radio)

Answer 10

Er, well call the bad mother brigade for me! We don't have a TV but we watch DVDs...she is addicted to Austin Powers right now! *rolls eyes* She knows that the swearing is bad and gets a bit embarrassed at the saucier bits, but it's no worse than what I saw at the age of 6 whilst being hooked on Dallas... She also really loves Xanadu right now, that's good fun! (I recommend...!) She also likes those Barbie movies, you know, 12 Dancing Princesses and all that!

When she goes to her dad's, her favourite thing to watch is Doctor Who. She is really into it, and knows more than the staff at the exhibition!

Not having the TV is really good, as she finds other things to do. She has read so many books this holiday! She also likes to draw and write, and play with her dolls.