Author Topic: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?  (Read 2088 times)

cpthammer

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What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« on: November 20, 2021, 11:04:11 AM »
My son is two years old now, and probably old enough for Christmas movies and cartoons.

I pose this question to the MMM community: Which Christmas classics are still part of the standard canon, and which have faded into obscurity?

I don't want him to grow up with the stop-motion Rudolph movie and Mickey's Christmas Carol only to learn that these have been forgotten and kids never watch these any more. I want him to be watching the same ones every other toddler is watching!

Thanks, all!

Chris Pascale

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2021, 08:04:57 PM »
When I last had  2-yo I was working too many hours between jobs and school, and honestly can't recall.

My 10-yo and I are knocking out 2-3 (mostly new) Christmas movies a week right now. The really bad ones we have to watch in 2 parts, but "Jingle All the Way" with Sinbad and Schwarzenegger was done in one shot.

waltworks

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2021, 10:06:39 PM »
There is only one Xmas movie worth watching regardless of your age: Die Hard.

When all the other fluff has faded away and you're on your deathbed, your kid will be able to hold your hand and whisper "yippee kay-yay, mother****er!"

I'm only half joking. Why do you want your 2 year old watching Xmas movies (or any movies) anyway?

-W

Freedomin5

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2021, 11:57:08 PM »
Research suggests it’s best not have kids in front of screens for extended periods of time before age five (and probably after age 5 too). Why do you want to put your two year old in front of a screen?

Go out and look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Visit a Christmas market (if it’s safe — ie, masks, social distancing, etc.). If you have snow where you live, build a snowman or snow fort, go sledding. Read Christmas books. Color Christmas pictures/coloring books.

Seriously, we have never shown our 7 year old a Christmas movie (cuz we don’t have a TV), and she has never claimed to be deprived because she hasn’t watched any of the shows the other kids watch.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2021, 01:43:44 AM by Freedomin5 »

nereo

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2021, 04:55:10 AM »
My son is two years old now, and probably old enough for Christmas movies and cartoons.

I pose this question to the MMM community: Which Christmas classics are still part of the standard canon, and which have faded into obscurity?

I don't want him to grow up with the stop-motion Rudolph movie and Mickey's Christmas Carol only to learn that these have been forgotten and kids never watch these any more. I want him to be watching the same ones every other toddler is watching!

Thanks, all!

Frankly this seems like a really weird post.
Why do you care whether your two year old watches the same christmas movies as his peers? And why do you want him watching movies at all? Seems like trying to willfully bend to pop culture at a time when you actually get to be the key influence.

What stories and traditions do YOU want to start with your son? What is important to YOU?

Eventually your kid will be in elementary school and his friends will all start talking about whatever they saw on whatever has replaced TikTok by then and you won’t have any idea what they are blathering about.

WorkingToUnwind

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #5 on: December 18, 2021, 05:27:13 AM »
We're not big on tv for our 2-year old. She's watched maybe five hours in her lifetime, with a couple of that being on flights and another hour when I had therapy and forgot to tell my husband so he couldn't watch her. That being said, we have sat down a few times this month to watch twenty minutes or so of Christmas programming with her. There's something special about all the Christmas movies that makes it fun to watch with her. We tried the old Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie, and she loved pointing at his nose and seeing the reindeer. But that abominable snowman is kind of terrifying, and I ended up feeling she wasn't quite ready for that. Lol! Frosty the Snowman was cute. And the Snowman movie, which is a silent film, captivated her attention.

I have a few mom friends who let their kids watch a ton of TV. One recommended the Netflix elf on a shelf show. I don't think we'll get to it, as we haven't got time for the classics and that's the priority if we are going to sit with her. But that might be fun.

As far as the research goes, American Academy of Pediatrics says 1 hour a day of high quality screen time for two year olds is ok. It's best if you're there with them, interacting with them and not using it as a babysitter of course.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2021, 08:56:29 AM by WorkingToUnwind »

Freedomin5

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #6 on: December 18, 2021, 07:42:00 AM »
Here’s an article summarizing research on screen time from the American Psychological Association

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/cover-kids-screens

I guess the other question is what qualifies as “high-quality educational programming”.

WorkingToUnwind

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2021, 08:51:00 AM »
Here’s an article summarizing research on screen time from the American Psychological Association

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/cover-kids-screens

I guess the other question is what qualifies as “high-quality educational programming”.

That's a great article.

Haha yes, how do you define "high quality educational programming?" We tried sesame street with her one evening, thinking that would be educational. She had no idea what was going on. Definitely too old for her. Cocomelon has lots of songs so she enjoys that. That seems to be what all of her friends watch. I'm not sure if that's high quality educational programming though.

Blue82

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Re: What Christmas movies/cartoons are toddlers watching these days?
« Reply #8 on: December 18, 2021, 02:28:17 PM »
Another parent of a two year old here.  He watches Sesame Street music videos to brush his teeth every night, but other than that has watched very little in his life.  That said, we went to a movie in the park last week and watched half of the 2018 version of The Grinch, and it was so cute he wanted to see the end to be reassured that “the gwinch does like Christmas at the end”, so we borrowed it from the library and he watched the second half in two twenty minute intervals. 

One or two Christmas movies, watched with family members while you talk about the characters and the lessons the characters are learning is probably not going to harm your 2 year old.  Have fun and enjoy, but don’t be surprised if they don’t want to sit through the whole thing at once or want to play with toys while they watch.