How to Choose Age-Appropriate Movies for Toddlers

Selecting movies for toddlers requires a child’s perception and imagination. This article will tell you what all factors you should consider while picking up the right movies for your children.

Selecting movies for toddlers is just not randomly picking up any kid related CD/DVD from a video store or walking into a movie hall or tuning into television channels showcasing children’s movies. Parents need to judiciously decide which movies would be appropriate for their child’s age. Here are some pointers to determine suitable movies for toddlers.

‘Good’ Content for Toddlers’ Movies

Children usually tend to believe all that is shown in the movie. Not every movie is necessarily inappropriate in content, but probably it is not yet meant for your toddler’s age. Different movies might be suited for different age group of children. While animations, musicals or fantasy might be suitable for toddlers, movies with a social message or ones depicting friendship, bravery, hobbies might be of interest for older children.

While choosing the best movies for toddlers for viewing either at home or at a theatre, parents should search for any of the following good content:

1. Imagination

Movies should have imaginative angles to broaden a child’s viewpoint and understanding.

2. Creativity

Movies should be able to foster creativity in children and motivates them to create new things. Toys based on movie characters are a good way of doing this.

3. Positive Outlook

Movies should encourage children to develop a positive perspective from an early age.

4. Building strong opinion

Movies should help children build a strong opinion about day to day issues around them or educate them on certain matters.

5. Life Lessons

Movies that convey a social or personal message help children differentiate between the right and wrong and can influence their social behaviour.

Content to Be Avoided in Toddlers’ Movies

1. Violence

Violent visuals can have an adverse effect on a child’s thinking and character in the long run.

2. Disturbing scenes

Certain scenes or music used in horror movies are disturbing as they might scare the toddler and give rise to unrealistic fears or phobias in them.

3. Pornography

Any content related to sex, nudity, sexual abuse of any kind should be strictly avoided.

4. Foul language

Language used in movies has a huge impact on kids, they tend to copy the same and speak out in the family or public. So special care needs to be taken that they do not pick any coarse language from movies, as it is both harmful and embarrassing.

5. Addictive substances

Use of addictive substances like smoking, drugs and alcohol should also be avoided in terms of movie content, as children might get interested and pick up a bad habit.

Reading the Movie Reviews

Movies always come with a rating on viewership like G (general), PG (parental guidance required) or M (for mature audience only). Censor board takes utmost care to rate every movie. Moreover, qualified child development panelists judge children’s movies on various parameters. Hence, before selecting movies for toddlers, parents should always run a quick preview through the content to ensure its suitability.

Choosing the best movies for toddlers may require patience and efforts, but it is worthwhile, so that they can enjoy watching the movies and you can have your peace of mind.