Ten years ago kids watched shows like Spongebob, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Powerpuff Girls with bright colors, loud sounds, and silly episodes that made no sense. The shows amounted to no message or life lesson in the end. It was pure entertainment with silly endings like Spongebob receiving his “milkshake licence” after a difficult adventure through the Milkshake Academy.
However today it’s not just funny shows with no reason behind them, there’s life lessons and themes. Shows like Bluey and Puffin Rock are modeling kindness, friendship, and family through their show. Puffin rock is described as “low-stimulating” by Motherly, a parenting resource with advice and recommendations praising shows such as these. With these recommendations from the website it provides reasons for which these shows are endorsed like emotional regulation and language development.
Shows such as Bluey and Puffin Rock aren’t the only forms of entertainment that focus on education and themes. Some YouTube creators aim to do the same thing, people like Ms. Rachel, Rachel Accurso, post consistently for children. Although the videos gained popularity through YouTube, her team has created a website with sub categories of educational videos for toddlers, babies, and pre-schoolers. In her “About” tab her team writes, “The Ms. Rachel’s team, made up of professional educators, dedicated entertainers, and developmental experts, is passionate about creating learning videos for babies and toddlers that spark joy while fostering early development.”
Accurso, through her website, is described to have a goal to ensure that children have access to quality early childhood education. With two masters in education Accurso is intentional when it comes to videos for children and their development.
Child development often relies on modeling. Simply telling a child to be kind means nothing when the term is so broad. But shows like Bluey give examples of kindness, helping them understand further.
Not only does this show provide examples and themes beneficial to children, but they also keep it visually appropriate. The show’s stylistic choices are beneficial to their viewers as well.
“Its (Bluey) soft colors… create a calming experience that fosters comprehension and emotional engagement,” in 7 Reasons Why “Bluey” Is a Masterclass in Parenting, a blog published on Psychology Today.
The colors are all kept very appealing but not overstimulating. None of the colors are oversaturated or “too much” to look at. As well as the designs, it’s easy to tell that the tree is a tree but it isn’t not over-detailed, keeping it simple and easier to look at. Shows like Spongebob are bright, oversaturated, and deemed overstimulating for children. Blogs like Psychology Today highlight the gentle colors, real-life language, and tranquil episodes to avoid overwhelming the children, keeping the ease of understanding the episode.
Senior and older sister, Marely Ontiveros, observes her four year old sister and the shows she watches. Shows like Spongebob are watched and always followed by laughter and giggles, but the show might not be as well understood as shows like Bluey. Ontiveros felt as though there was a difference between the two, “Bluey is more kid appropriate and SpongeBob is a bit more older.” With Bluey children may find it easier to digest its themes and storylines, Ontiveros feels as though this is true when it comes to her sister. “With Spongebob she’s literally just laughing,” Ontiveros explained. Having seen first hand the difference between the two shows, she made note that one is more understood than another.
