Low-Stimulating TV Shows For Toddlers

Parent’s have become increasingly aware of the impact “screen time” or TV can have on their kids, especially toddlers. A new trend is emerging regarding “low-stimulating” shows and those seem to have less of an impact on your child’s addiction to screen time and the negative side effects of it. I wouldn’t consider myself a super strict parent by any means, but we are trying to limit screen time as much as possible with our toddler and we’re trying to stay away from shows that are OVERLY stimulating. We also try to avoid shows that we find annoying… since we have to listen or watch them too!

Here’s some of our top picks for low-stimulating TV shows our 18-month old boy LOVES and doesn’t cause him to be “addicted” to screen time. I bet you haven’t heard of them before, because I had not! Hoping you and your family can enjoy them too!

1. Tractor Ted!

This show has by far been his favorite! It’s based off a real farm in England and the only part that is a cartoon is Tractor Ted himself, the rest is all real-life. We really like that and that it keeps him engaged and learning about real things that happen on a farm. The show follows along Tractor Ted with Farmer Tom, Midge the dog, and Merlin the pony as they discover what’s going on at the farm. They explore silage making, how carrots are grown on the farm, how fence posts are made, and so much more!

My son’s favorite part is definitely all the real-live LARGE trucks and tractors that are used throughout the shows. He also enjoys seeing the real-life animals! I think this helps him make better connections when he seems them in the real world too and can recognize them better than if they were just cartoons.

We love all the British accents in the show and the British humor and terms… like “cheeky” Midge! We secretly hope he gets a British accent from watching the show so much LOL!

The show has enough humor in it, includes some counting, and very catchy songs that you can also find on Spotify too! This works great because we can use this to calm him down in the car and he recognizes the songs from the show! The songs aren’t terribly annoying and we find ourselves singing them too!

Tractor Ted has a whole website and it’s own streaming service! You can find it on Youtube or Amazon Prime Video. Unfortunately, Amazon Prime Video only has 5 episodes available with no plans to add more anytime soon. However, we have been able to re-watch those same 5 episodes multiple times and he isn’t bored with them yet! We HIGHLY recommend checking out this show!

2. Trash Truck

You may have already heard about this one, it seems to be pretty popular on Netflix. It’s technically marketed as a preschool series, but our toddler enjoys it too!

It is a cartoon show all about a little boy who is best friends with a large Trash Truck. The Trash Truck doesn’t talk, but still communicates with the boy and they go on lots of different adventures together! The show’s writers get really creative and in one episode, the Trash Truck even goes swimming in the ocean!

We like this show and even though he’s too young to appreciate it yet, it actually has some really good storytelling! We also like the catchy intro tune! This is a fun one that we actually enjoy watching with him too. There’s currently only 2 seasons out on Netflix and it’s unclear if there will be more.

3. Leo the Truck

My husband doesn’t necessarily love this one, but I enjoy it enough, and most importantly my son loves it! Some might say this show is almost TOO low-stimulating. It moves pretty slow… but it still keeps our son engaged and I think he’s able to take it all in better since it does move slower!

It’s all about Leo the “inquisitive” truck. In each episode, Leo gets a picture and pieces that he has to put together to look like the picture. Usually it’s another type of truck. The narrator usually describes all the pieces and their function too. My son has a real interest in learning how things go together, so I think that’s why this show keeps him so entertained! I would really recommend this show for the younger toddler ages, as it doesn’t necessarily have a story line they have to follow, but it’s more about introducing colors, numbers, and matching pieces like a puzzle. The episodes are pretty short, so you can either watch a few of them or one episode may be enough for a quick car ride!

You can watch Leo the Truck on Youtube or Amazon Prime Video.

4. Blaze and the Monster Machines

This has been one of the newer shows we’ve added to our list. The episodes are much longer and there’s always a storyline, even if it doesn’t always make sense! This one has a lot more “audience participation” where they look to you to help answer questions and keep you engaged. This may work well with older toddlers, but it doesn’t quite work yet for our 18 month old. Regardless, he still really enjoys this show and of course, all the different race cars!

The show is really just all about Blaze, the fastest race car around, and all of his buddies as they go on different adventures. This is the first of the shows on our list that has a “bad guy” who’s name is Crusher. He is always causing trouble for Blaze and his friends. The show uses the bad guy/good guy storyline to teach important lessons like not to cheat or lie. However, again, this is probably a lot better for older toddlers or little kids, as my son hasn’t quite picked up on these parts of the story yet. We still really love the show, with the catchy songs and fun characters (like a dinosaur truck!). Quickly becoming one of our new favorites!

You can watch Blaze the Monster Machines on Youtube or Amazon Prime Video.

Which Shows Did I Miss?!

I didn’t intend for the whole list to be about trucks and cars!! However, these are the things my son is really into right now, so I guess it makes sense! I’m hoping if you have a young toddler that he will enjoy these as much as we do!

Reach out to me if there are more low-stimulating shows we need to watch! You can contact me here.