Dora the Explorer and the Lazy Town TV Shows - Essay Example

Paediatric/ Toddler Television has a wide range of shows for all ages. We focus on toddler television show for the age group of 2-4 years. Both educative and non-educative aspects of the shows are looked at in the essay. We also find out the developmental milestones for kids between two and four years of age. We closely focus on two kids’ shows taking Dora the Explorer as an educative show and the Lazy Town as entertainment show. Dora the Explorer and the Lazy Town TV Shows The children show selected are Dora the Explorer and the Lazy Town. These two shows are targets to children at the age group of 2-4years. At this age, a child is rapidly changing physically and emotionally. Dora the Explorer is the early time educative children’s television show, while Lazy Town is mostly for entertainment, though with some aspects of education. Dora the explorer is a children adventure television show created by Chris Gifford, Valerie and Erick. It originated from the United States and has 118 episodes. Chris Gifford is the executive producer. Lazy Town is a television series for children originated from Iceland. Magnus Scheving and other stars created this show. It has 52 episodes, produced by Lazy Town entertainment and distributed by Viacom international. At ages, 2 to 4 years, there is a lot of development in a Childs life. Child develops both in mind and body. Developmental milestones indicated at this age are; at 2 years the child height on average is 32-36” and weighs 22-31 lbs. The child at this age is able to construct short sentences and commonly adds “ing” and use of plurals. At 2.5 years, the height may have gone up to 38” and weight between 22-34lbs. the child normally ask questions such as where, who, what phenomenon. The child has now gained muscle control, therefore, training for toilet can be done. The child is able to display self control and interests in peers and also difficult in sharing of things. At age 3, a child can button clothes, use the toilet and walk alone downstairs. He fills vocabulary with past tenses and wants to get answers for questions “why”. The large swayed back large toddler abdomens get lost and sense of time and sense of self. At 3.5 years, a child can stand on one foot. At 4years, a child can cut with scissors and also catch 2 out of 3 thrown balls or tennis. Sharing appears improved at this point. The child makes choices of food to eat and also feeds alone. The child is taught on the importance of cleanliness. The child can ride a tricycle and can jump in place. A child can hold a crayon and control it in writing and copying of a drawn object like a circle. Can stack four pieces of blocks and can scribble. The child becomes interested in other children and engages in fantasy plays and interactive games. Dora the explorer is a show of interactive cartoons. In this show, the children of the age 2yrs-4 years get knowledge about colours, shapes of objects and numbers.  In the show Dora the Explorer, Dora is able to solve different riddles (Shipkowski, 2008). Kids watching this show will get knowledge on issues like solving a puzzle. Through a clear focus, a kid is able to capture so many educative episodes in the show. Particularly, this age group is remarkably eager to grasp what is happening around. Dora leads other children.  Lazy town show as the name goes; things are not in order in this town. Stephanie comes to live in this lazy town where lazy people are the majority. This town has laziest people and, therefore, an aspect of laziness gets portrayed in this show. The show promotes and campaigns for healthy lifestyles for kids. The show encourages children to be active and provides entertainment with a healthy message (Bryson, 2009). This show fits well for this age group, since kids are exceptionally keen on issues surrounding the environment. We see different people like Ziggy and Trixie and their life wishes. Specifically, this show targets children of all age group. The shows Dora the Explorer and the Lazy Town in some episodes fail to target the age group 2-4 years. For example, a kid at the age of 2 years is struggling to construct sentences. The show at this age may not be so beneficial to a 2 year old kid. Languages used, like Spanish, for instance, may be difficult for children. These two television shows have greater concerns in the lives of the growing children. Dora is a 7 year old girl and always seen to have can-do-attitude. Children watching this show may take Dora’s character and emerge as successful citizens in future. When we look at the lazy town show, Ziggy’s character is that she likes sweet things but struggles to make healthy choices. Small children get encouraged and also entertained by each episode of these two shows. There are other children shows present at this tender age. We have both the bad kid shows and the good shows. Any television show containing educative and entertainment may be viewed as a good show for the children. Any show which is neither educative nor entertains is termed as a bad show. The bad shows instil fear to kids and are capable of transforming their lives in a negative manner. Some shows, like Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and The Osmonds, bring fear to the children. Parents should keep watch on what their kids watch on televisions. Some shows contain war or fighting and others contain horrific images (Bryant, 2007). These shows may be described as unsuitable for the children at the age of 2-4 years. They will damage the kid’s brain by installing obscene images and memories in a child tender brain. They may change the character of a child into a negative way. They should be banned from watching by young children. They are capable of transforming child behaviour and make him/her a difficult citizen in future. As a healthcare professional, all children aged between 2-4 years must be protected from unsafe television shows. The brain of the baby at this age is usually extremely flexible to accommodate everything in its surroundings. If the child gets exposed to bad television shows, the brain will store all information regarding the show. Humans get descriptions by what they hold in their brains. If the child accommodates good information from the show, thence, she or he will act in the same way, and the opposite is true. Therefore, medically, children should not be exposed into inappropriate television shows because there is a great possibility of a child spoiling. Educative shows are the best for children until that time when a kid can know the good and the bad. References Shipkowski, B. (2008). Caitlin Sanchez Dora the Explorers new voice. The San Francisco Chronicle. Bryson, C. (2009). Lazy Town premieres new second season on Monday, May 15. About.com. Retrieved from http://www.lazytown.com/en_GB/home Bryant, J.A. (2007). The childrens television community. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers.   Read More