Good Kids TV Shows My Friends Tigger and Pooh

Finding good T.V. shows for kids can be a challenge for concerned parents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends just one hour a day of television or less for babies and infants, and just two hours per day for toddlers. Even for older children, the recommendation is to limit TV to good, educational programming that fosters good values and fairness. All of this is easier than it sounds.

In order to be worthwhile television viewing for your kids, the shows also have to be fun and entertaining, as well as educational. The ultimate parenting skill challenge is to find the happy medium between depriving a child of the same television watching experience of their peers, thus creating a gap between them and other children, and keeping the television from turning into an ongoing source of brain rot. Finding good TV shows is like finding good kids movies.

My Friends Tigger and Pooh is one good kids T.V. program that parents of both toddlers and older children should check out. This animated cartoon revolves around the familiar Winnie the Pooh characters of Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga and Roo, and Eyeore, but with some updated twists. Christopher Robbin is replaced by Darby, an intelligent little girl and her dog Buster. Together with Pooh and Tigger, they form the Super Sleuths, a problem solving team.

Part of the Disney Channel and its Playhouse Disney shows for toddlers and pre-schoolers, My Friends Tigger and Pooh succeeds in being both educational and value-based, while still be entertaining. Most episodes manage a fun plot line in which the moral or lesson of the episode is clear, but suitably in the background. Of course, some episodes end up being a bit heavy handed, and these are likely to be less interesting to children and adults alike.

The updates to the beloved original Winnie the Pooh books by Milne, as well as to the previous generations animated Winnie the Pooh cartoon are effective and subtle. Shifting the Christopher Robbin character to being a girl is the most obvious change, but does little to affect the show. That Darby is a girl has nothing to do with the show or the plot. In fact, a boy could be colored into the same spot in most episodes with no affect. The nice part about all of this is that it includes a female character in a show without making it preachy. Of course, most of the remaining characters, including Tigger and Pooh, and probably Buster, as well as Rabbit, Roo, Lumpy, and so on are still all "boys".

Other new characters include Lumpy, an English accented elephant, and occasional appearances by all manner of other animal characters such as Smalls, a bug, and Beaver, Turtle, and Porcupine, each of whom has unique characteristics that make them both endearing and good examples for how every person is also unique. Turtle and Porcupine are friends, in part because Turtle's shell makes him the only person in the wood who can give Porcupine a hug. Beaver is hard working and industrious, but also helpful and non-judgmental of those who are not.

As an added bonus, parents can watch Tigger and Pooh with their kids without resulting to brain shutdown and subsequent drooling in an effort to tune out the shrill, dumb, or just plain boring features of many other kids shows.

Set your DVR to pick up an episode of My Friends Tigger and Pooh, or if you have Comcast or other cable TV provider with On Demand viewing of cable TV shows, you can find Tigger and Pooh under Kids -> Disney Channel. Watch it with your kids for best effect. After a few episodes, you'll find yourself becoming endeared to the characters and enjoying new episodes thanks to their traits and characteristics that you've come to love.

One of my current favorites involves Rabbit, Piglet, and Eyeore thinking that the Super Sleuths have been taken by Woozles, and so they take the place of the usual Sleuths including in the ongoing musical montages such as "Think, think, think." Have a few episodes under your belt before watching this one and you'll find yourself cracking up as Rabbit flails his arms about as he soars up in the air like Darby usually does and then laughing even harder when watching Piglet's face when he does Tigger's characteristic pike move during the same sequence.

My Friends Tigger and Pooh is a good selection for educational and fun TV show programming for children, toddlers, and pre-school age children.