The Best Low-Stimulating Toddler Shows for Screen Time

It’s no secret that too much overstimulating screen time can have negative effects on toddler’s behavior and development.

I noticed this with my own kids. I would let them watching certain shows, not understanding why they would be having full meltdowns after watching them.

However, screens are all around us and can be tricky to avoid all together. I am not suggesting you should either, unless that is what your family has decided is best for your toddlers!

If you are like me, you do your best to limit screen time in a screen-abundant world.

Not only do I try to limit screen time, but I try to make the screen time I give my children as least detrimental as possible.

While I would love to be that parent who does not give my children screen time at all, sometimes I just need a few minutes to make dinner in peace, or it might be the best way to get my children to sit and rest their little bodies.

So mama, I am not here to judge how you handle screen time! Only to help you if you are looking for a simple and healthy way to give your children balance.

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The Impact of Overstimulating Screen Time on Toddlers

There are so many new toddler shows out there these days, designed to keep your toddler’s attention and keep them addicted to their show.

That means shows that are full of fast paced movements, quick transitions between scenes, and bright colors and movements.

Have you ever put on a show for your toddler only to turn it off and have them kicking and screaming? I know I have.

Our kids are not just watching these shows, they are absorbing and learning the behaviors and messages from them, more than we think they are!

These over-stimulating shows can be too much for small, developing brains! They can only handle so much.

When their brains are overwhelmed, it comes out in their behaviors. They may have bigger tantrums, get upset easily, and/or seem hyperactive.

They may be more impulsive and have a much more difficult time controlling themselves.

Obviously, this can be really frustrating for both parents and toddlers!

The best solution to balancing out screen time is to allow low-stimulating shows in moderation.

What Does Low-Stimulating Mean?

Non- or Low-Stimulating shows are toddler shows that have much less of an effect on toddlers’ behavior after watching them.

To find a show low-stimulating, it would have muted, less bright colors. It should also have more time between transitions of scenes, and the characters should move at a slower pace.

They tend to give a much calmer feeling while watching, and are easier to pull away from, because they are not so addicting.

After realizing that I needed to make a change to my approach to screen time, I decided to research and test out some different shows that would have less of an effect, or even a positive effect, on my toddlers’ moods.

This is the list I came up with.

The Best Low-Stimulating Shows for Your Toddler

Puffin Rock

Puffin Rock is an adorable animated show about an animal family living on an island in Ireland. I find this show so soothing. It is calm, colorful but not bright and overstimulating, and just a great feel good family show. There are also some educational elements to it that I love.

Llama Llama

Llama Llama is about a little llama who goes through every day normal struggles and works through them with his mama llama and friends. It is about life, friendship and new experiences.

I love this show for its slower pace, as well as teaching young children how to handle every day challenges that lots of children go through.

There are also Llama Llama books for your toddler!

Bernstein Bears

Bernstein Bears was a favorite of mine as a child, so it has been around for a long time. It is about a family of bears, mostly following the brother and sister, who learn different lessons related to safety or morals each episode.

Much like the other shows, it has a calm and slow pacing to it, with soft animation and great lessons.

Little Bear

Little Bear is probably one of the lowest stimulating shows on this list. The colors are very muted and the pace is quite slow.

The show follows Little Bear, who goes on wonderful adventures with his animal and human friends. This show really sparks the imagination, in a really fun and safe way for toddlers, as much of the adventures come from Little Bear’s imagination.

It has an older animation style, which I love.

Clifford the Big Red Dog

My kids absolutely adore Clifford the Big Red Dog. It has an older animation style very close to Little Bear, and it is slow paced and fun.

Clifford is loved so much by his owner Emily-Elizabeth, that he grows bigger than a house. So, the family has to move and Clifford makes a wonderful group of dog friends.

They go on adventures, play, and learn lots of wonderful, everyday toddler-appropriate lessons.

Sea of Love

This show is newer, the colors are a little brighter, but it is still slow enough paced to be low stimulating, as the transitions between scenes are not super quick.

It is a great show to teach that despite the differences between friends, everyone has something valuable to contribute. It teaches great social-emotional skills and lessons about friendship and other toddler-related lessons.

Bluey

Everyone has heard about Bluey and it is loved by children and adults alike.

It is relatively slow paced, and there are so many wonderful lessons packed into this show. I particularly love the fact that sometimes the parents are doing the teaching, sometimes the parents are actually doing the learning, and sometimes Bluey and Bingo are figuring it out all on their own.

There is quite literally a lesson about anything you could want to teach your toddler, from sharing and getting along to bigger things like moving away from home.

Trash Truck

This one was a favorite of my son’s when he was a toddler.

It follows a little boy and his adventures with his garbage truck friend, as well as other animal friends.

There are lots of episodes with problem solving, friendship navigating and emotional development.

If your toddler loves garbage trucks, this is the show for you!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

We all love the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and I love that it got turned into a show.

This is another of my kids’ favorites. They love to read the book and watch the show. It is about animals and their human friends, exploring the delightful chain reactions that come from their small acts of kindness.

It is super light hearted, so imaginative, and so sweet!

Guess How Much I Love You

Another wonderfully slow paced and light hearted show based off the book, Guess How Much I Love You.

It is based off the main characters little nutbrown hare and his dad, big nutbrown hare, and their animal friends. They explore their watercolor world, and learn about friendships, nature, kindness and familial love.

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As you can see, there are so many wonderfully low-stimulating shows out there with amazing learning concepts.

Many of them star talking animals and their human friends, which any toddler would love.

Let me know in the comments which one is your family’s favorite!