We don't watch a lot of tv in our house. In fact, the only tv we have is in the basement and gets no channels (we only use it for dvds). I'll admit to occasionally plunking the kids down in front of the laptop to watch some trains or an episode of Peppa Pig (and they're increasingly interested in Grandma's tv with satellite and Netflix), but in general, they have gained all their knowledge of popular cartoons from the books we find at the library.
This week's favorite hard-bound cartoon series is Bob The Builder. The books are, essentially, just panels from the show, so they seem very 'realistic.' And through the adventures Bob and his crew have, my kids are learning about teamwork, kindness, ingenuity and hard work. They play "Bob Builder!" with some frequency - puttering around the house in their hard hats and tinkering with plastic tools. They claim to be building porcupine tunnels, mending fences and making cat houses. They can't wait until they are old enough to use real tools and build real projects. What fun to see my kids exercising so much creativity, all because of some books we read.
I highly recommend that you check out this series - especially if you want to limit tv time. There's nothing like some snuggling on Mommy's lap with a good book to unglue the kiddos from the tv set.
This week's favorite hard-bound cartoon series is Bob The Builder. The books are, essentially, just panels from the show, so they seem very 'realistic.' And through the adventures Bob and his crew have, my kids are learning about teamwork, kindness, ingenuity and hard work. They play "Bob Builder!" with some frequency - puttering around the house in their hard hats and tinkering with plastic tools. They claim to be building porcupine tunnels, mending fences and making cat houses. They can't wait until they are old enough to use real tools and build real projects. What fun to see my kids exercising so much creativity, all because of some books we read.
I highly recommend that you check out this series - especially if you want to limit tv time. There's nothing like some snuggling on Mommy's lap with a good book to unglue the kiddos from the tv set.
