Floella Benjamin on toddlers and TV
The legendary 'Playschool' presenter and mum of two speaks out
Early learning should be linked to play and fun. Young children are like little sponges, soaking up information and experiences at an incredible rate. They are viewing life for the first time, so the way adults display or interpret things has to be as if we’re seeing life for the first time too. Every day, someone tells me how much they loved Playschool and what a huge influence it had on their lives. My secret was to imagine a small child on the other side of the camera and I would try to connect to them with love and enthusiasm. Someone once said to me, “When are you going to move on from children’s TV?”. I replied, “Never! How can you move on from the future?”.
I believe that the best way pre-school programmes can build a solid foundation for children is to use human presenters and show other children on screen. It helps children to understand emotions, learn to interact with others and find out about the world around them.
Learning through fun
The beauty of Playschool was that it was designed to stimulate children’s imagination and encourage learning through fun and play. Parents could join in and use the programme as a platform for their own ideas. Also, it was repeated twice a day, which was great as children love repetition. That’s a very important part of learning because it reinforces a child’s memory skills, builds confidence, develops their cognitive skills and helps concentration.
Helping at home
Parents can now choose and record what they want their children to watch — and there are some great programmes out there. Let them watch a show, then play it again together so you can talk about it and ask questions. Build up a library of favourites to play over and over, and use what you’ve seen to develop how you communicate with your kids. Tell stories, paint, make things, sing songs and rhymes together and have fun — it keeps you young at heart!
Floella is a member of the NSPCC Hall of Fame for her contribution to ending cruelty to children. She is also part of an All Party Commission to promote better articulation in schools and the voice of Mama Mirabelle in Mama Mirabelle Home Movies, on CBeebies.
What YOU think
"My daughter watches an hour of TV a day but not in one block. She has picked up lots of words from Roly Mo, Tweenies, Me Too! and Balamory and loves to sing the theme tunes. Kids’ TV is an excellent way of having some ‘quiet time’ so I’m all for it." Louise, mum of one daughter, 2 ½
"I’ve cut down the amount of time I let my twins spend watching TV and now they enjoy it more. I never let them watch before pre-school and I also limit it in the afternoons and at weekends. CBeebies and Nick Jr have helped them to learn colours, numbers, letters and songs. Now they want to watch other channels and I have to be careful as there are so many cartoons that I don’t think are suitable." Samantha, mum of Jordan and Joshua, 4
"My three-year-old son loves Tweenies and Smarteenies. He watches a couple of hours in the morning while I talk through the educational stuff. The programmes are good and of a higher standard than they used to be. So I think TV can be good. A little doesn’t hurt and keeps the peace." Rani, mum of three, aged 3, 12 and 17
Do you have an opinion on toddlers and TV? If so, contact us — we’d love to hear from you.
“We sit down together to watch TV and talk about what we're watching. Sometimes we use TV when Chloe's tired but not quite ready for a nap – she enjoys that time for us to snuggle up together.”
Paula, mum of Chloe, 14 months
Print this article >
Save this article >
Send this article >
Facebook >
