Top Ten Entertaining, Engaging, Educational Cartoon Shows in India

Which parents will not be happy if the kid shouts out the answers to the questions the cartoon characters ask in the show, or  if the show does wonders in your child’s colour or shape recognition?

Many shows in the Cartoon channels are engaging, but in different ways…While some are very entertaining like Tom and Jerry, Oggy and Cockroaches, Chota Bheem, Motu Patlu, Ben10, Doramon, some shows are truly smart, funny, educational, and can hold the attention.

Then, which are the good cartoon shows? ........ In my opinion - those which engage your child and teach him or her something positive, along the way. And, if you can join your child to watch, that's an added bonus.

This is the list of shows which I believe are not only Entertaining and Engaging, but also very Educational :  

1.    Umi Zoomi

This is a delightful series for preschoolers, which reinforces math skills like counting, measuring, and spatial relations. The show’s interactive format keeps kids engaged and excited about helping the characters solve the problems they encounter, and they will sharpen other skills like shape recognition and color identification along the way.

2.    Mister Maker

Mister Maker  is a preschool television series commissioned by  Michael Carrington at the BBC for CBeebies. The series launched in 2007 and also airs on BBC One and BBC Two.

Mister Maker does something interesting and that gives him an idea of what to make. He collects the required things from the Doodle drawers or an art and craft shop and makes it. Then he wakes up the shapes and they do a song and dance, followed by a randomly selected shape (circle, triangle, square or rectangle) to form a picture or to find how many (particular shape) are there. 

3.    Dora the Explorer

Dora the Explorer is an American educational animated TV series created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh, and Eric Weiner. Dora the Explorer became a regular series in 2000. The show is carried on the Nickelodeon cable television network, including the associated Nick Jr. channel.

Dora the Explorer features the adventures of little Dora, her monkey Boots, Backpack and other animated friends. In each episode, viewers join Dora on an adventure in an animated world set inside a computer. The titular character seeks viewers' help in solving a puzzle or mystery she faces in each episode.

4.    Blue Clues

Blue's Clues is an American children's television series that premiered on Nickelodeon in 1996. Producers Angela Santomero,Todd Kessler and Traci Paige Johnson combined concepts from child development and early-childhood education with innovative animation and production techniques that helped their viewers learn.

It is about an animated puppy that helps its human master by revealing the clues to solving everyday problems.

5.    Gali Gali Sim Sim

Galli Galli Sim Sim (Devanagari: गली गली सिम सिम) is the Hindi language adaptation of the American children's television seriesSesame Street (famous for its Muppets), for India.

This classic educational series sometimes deals with strong emotions -- such as missing a friend, suffering from low self-esteem, and being worried about a new sibling's arrival -- but the messages for kids are always positive and self-affirming. The show's superb educational content supports early skills in literacy, math, and science and exposes kids to a variety of cultures through music, dance, and language.

About 157 million children in India are watching the show on Indian children's TV channels, Turner's Cartoon Network, POGO and Doordarshan.

6.    MAD

A Pogo original production by Turner, the Music Art and Dance show "M.A.D.", is a do-it-yourself show. 

Rob, the favourite anchor of kids' TV takes you on a fun-filled, interactive, creative journey, transforming ordinary materials into stimulating works of art with his MAD twist. Every single time you discover new styles, that are easy, and exciting, and for everyone to try and enjoy.

Armed with simple art tools like a pencil, paintbrush, colours and paper, Rob will take you on a creative joyride, and help you explore the world of possibilities through art. From new and easy painting techniques, to fun and exciting paper crafts. Playing with shadows and silhouettes, recycled boxes and bottles, was never so much fun! And to make the MAD experience even bigger and better, Rob allows his imagination and creativity to run wild, and gives us the most spectacular, most magnificent, most gigantic BIG Picture. So hop on board and get set for an art adventure like no other. Because MAD hai, toh sab cool hai!

7.    Little Einstein

Little Einsteins is an American animated television series on Disney Junior. The educational preschool series was developed for television by Douglas Wood who created the concept and characters, and a subsequent team headed by Emmy Award-winning director Olexa Hewryk and JoJo's Circus co-creator Eric Weiner, and produced by Curious Pictures and The Baby Einstein Company.

Little Einsteins takes us on an adventure with four children: Leo, June, Annie and Quincy. Each of these four children have their own specialization, Leo loves to conduct, Annie loves to sing, Quincy loves to play instruments while June loves to dance. This show never leaves its primary focus of helping children learn to explore and introduce new concepts into their minds, though it certainly attempts to expand the viewer's curiosity.

8.    Octonauts:

The Octonauts is a British children's television series, produced by Silvergate Media for the BBC channel Cbeebies. The series is animated in Ireland by Brown Bag Films but uses British voice actors. The TV series is based on American-Canadian children's books written by Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy of Meomi Design Inc.

The Octonauts follows an underwater exploring crew made up of stylized anthropomorphic animals, a team of eight adventurers who live in an undersea base, the Octopod, from where they go on undersea adventures with the help of a fleet of aquatic vehicles.

9.    Micky Mouse

Mickey Mouse is a funny animal cartoon character and the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company. He was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at the Walt Disney Studios in 1928. An anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves, Mickey has become one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, with morals and lessons teaches about helping others in a fun and energetic way.

10. Akbar and Birbal

Discovery Kids lights up the television screen with the humorous stories in its new animation series Akbar & Birbal. The tales of famous Emperor Akbar and his trusted adviser Birbal have been passed on from generation to generation, enthralling young and old listeners alike. The series will take its viewers to the era of Mughals where they will witness amusing exchanges between Akbar and Birbal. Discovery Kids will offer children an experience to cherish for a lifetime.

Are cartoons good for the children?

Few days back one article caught my eyes and attention…compelled me to think, are cartoons good for the kids?

In that article, the author opined that most of the programs on different channels are actually not good for the children, except few programs in Discovery Kids. For example, most of the popular programs have negative effect, like Chota Bheem encourages to eat unhealthy Ladoos, Motu Patlu promotes to eat Samosa, Doremon shows how to cheat parents and teachers, Horrid Henry demonstrate dirty tricks etc.

I think everything has positive and negative side; all these programs confer different take aways in different ratios. If I compare the same with Facebook and Whatsapp in short, both have merits like bringing long lost friends together, share your happiness and sorrow quickly with your well-wishers etc., at the same time, negative effect too like, sometimes consume lots of your time, update your foe very easily, make you unanswerable to your boss why you have not completed your task on time etc.
   

Here is my experience with my four years old son…..

Pocoyo was the first favorite cartoon for my child, since around 1.5 years till 2.5 years. At 2.5 years, Tom and Jerry got the preference. At 3, Oggy and Doremon and at 4, he is now fond of Chota Bheem, Dora : The explorer, Blue Clues, Mister Maker, and Rescue Bots…….and I am sure, at his 5, he will be a Ben 10. A quick transition of his likings towards cartoons!!!

Pocoyo : an award winning, truly educative Spanish cartoon which is available in English too, but is not popular in India. Experts say that the children, who are watching cartoons of Pocoyo, will be educated in values, at the same time, they enjoy many hours of entertainment and fun to learn. My child used to watch these programs in Youtube, enjoy a lot. But, he hardly used to talk till his 2.5 yrs. though he used to pronounce just few words. So, should I blame Pocoyo for my child not talking? I don't think so....Stephen Fry's clear voice, commentaries instead could have helped him pick up the words easily.

Tom and Jerry :  Nothing to learn as such…..but just enjoy the movements and actions….chasing…..No talk in the Cartoon, so as my son. People started giving advices to take to a speech therapist….spend more time with him, talk in one language at home etc. Accordingly, we took him to a speech therapist for one day….But because of some time constraint, we could not take him to the therapist any more, but we observed a bit improvement in his vocabulary gradually at home without any therapy.

So at 3, when Oggy and Doremon started getting huge points for their TRP from my home, I could see some continuous improvement in my child's words' kitty too.

Then came my parents to stay with us for few months, and by that time, his interest went to Chota Bheem, Dora : The explorer, Blue Clues, Mister Maker, and Rescue Bots….My parents encouraged him to watch those program with full volume so that he can catch each word…….And he picked up….Yes!!! It’s kind of miracle….He started framing the sentences in Hindi (though not his father or mother tongue)…..I agree that my parents’ contribution is there, but now I cannot deny the fact that the Cartoons help the children to grow and develop.

I understand that many parents are obstinate about keeping their children away from television referring as an idiot box, may be in the fear of their children getting influenced by the cartoon characters in a negative way, or becoming couch potatoes looking at Chota bheem eating Ladoos or Motu grabbing Samosas. In fact, child experts claim that cartoons can reduce the imagination powers and instead they should be engaged in productive activities like reading, jigsaw puzzles, arts and crafts, and playing outside. We all know that later activities are always good, but is keeping kids away from the TV completely possible?

Ofcourse, there are many solutions in infringing the battle between kids and parents when it comes to watching cartoon. For example, limiting the time period to watch the television can be one option. Some say two hours a day is the maximum for children under 6. Secondly, parents should accompany the kid to watch the shows and take on a more participative role to what’s happening on the screen. That way, the child is interacting while watching and notably, learning some things from the parents too.

Lastly, parents should properly regulate the shows that the child is watching. Just because it’s a show on a kid channel doesn’t mean it represents the right values to the kids. I totally agree that some cartoons are detrimental to the child’s soft brain due to violence or disobedience to elders and such other issues.

So, I would say, "Cartoons are not bad for kids under the proper regulation of parents."