Media & Your Child’s Development

Media exposure plays a significant role in young children's development, shaping how they think, behave, and interact with others. As early childhood educators, we see firsthand how media can influence attention spans, language use, imaginative play, and social-emotional skills. While some media can be educational and enriching, overexposure or over stimulating, or age-inappropriate content can interfere with children’s ability to focus, engage in cooperative play, and manage emotions. We believe it's important to partner with families in understanding how media shows up in their child's behavior and development at school, and to share insights and recommendations that support healthy media habits. By working together, we can help set a strong foundation for balanced, mindful screen use that supports children's well-being now and as they grow.

Although many popular shows are marketed as safe and appropriate for children, they often include underlying themes like aggression, narrow portrayals of identity, and rigid gender roles. These shows are also purposely designed to be highly stimulating and addictive, with messages that can contradict the values and behaviors we work to foster in the classroom.

We recommend shows that are gentle in pace, shorter in length, and grounded in wholesome values such as kindness, friendship, and community. A few programs that support the kind of emotional and social development we nurture at school (while also giving parents a break at home!) include:

• Frog and Toad

• Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

• Franklin

• Little Bear

• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

• Llama Llama

• Tumble Leaf

We suggest that parents always watch shows together with their children.  Ideally, watching a show should be an interactive relational experience for your child, where they have a chance to discuss what they are seeing, feeling, and wondering about with a parent who loves them. This is especially important as preschool aged children do not yet have the cognitive capacity to fully differentiate between reality and fantasy, and need their parents' active help to understand the content of what they are watching. Additionally, watching shows alongside your child will allow you to know what your child is being exposed to, and you might later come up in their conversations or play at home or school.

By staying curious, involved, and intentional about media, families and schools can help children build a healthy relationship with screens that they can carry with them into their later childhood and teenage years.

-First Friends Preschool