The Best Netflix Kids Shows for Family Bonding

Netflix offers tons of unique family-friendly shows, along with handy hacks to help you control exactly what your kiddos watch

We’ll admit it, mamas: screen time can also be family bonding time. Whether you like to snuggle up watching movies on the couch with your kids during the weekends, or you prefer to keep cartoon-watching to a good ten minutes after snacktime, you’ll find something good on Netflix. One of the things we love most about it is you get to choose what your kids watch, when they watch and how long they can watch for.

If you’re a Netflix novice, here are some simple Netflix hacks to get you started:

• Create profiles for your kids. With the ‘Manage Profiles’ feature, you get to create up to 5 different user profiles within a Netflix account. Sibling rivalry? Solved.
• Control data usage. With the ‘Cellular Data Usage’ settings in your Netflix app, watching Netflix on-the-go doesn’t have to bust your data caps. One gigabyte of data can stream up to 3 hours of TV shows and movies.
• Set parental controls. As much as we love Orange is the New Black, we’re not quite ready to introduce our little ones to Litchfield. Keep those curious little fingers away from mature content, so you can relax while they have fun.
• Identify shows by characters. For visual learners, they can scroll through the row of characters at the top of the Kids section and select their favourites.
• Pause and play. Assure your kids that their favourite character will remain just the way you left them, allowing you to easily continue watching where you left off.

We’ve put together a list of shows that are perfect for co-viewing and parent-child interaction, providing your family with a good dose of bonding during playtime, while giving your child space to grow and learn, no matter their age. Click through the gallery for our top picks. Happy streaming, mamas!

Word Party is a vocabulary building show from The Jim Henson Company that follows four adorable baby animals as they sing, dance and play. The show invites the littlest viewers to help teach the baby animals new words, practice these new words themselves, and celebrate these achievement with a “Word Party!”

Suitable for: Ages 2 – 4
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Puffin Rock is set on a beautiful island off the coast of Ireland. Oona is a charismatic and plucky young puffling who, along with her ever curious little brother, Baba, explores the diverse array of sea, sky, land and underground creatures, all the while introducing a combination of pre-school themes and soft natural history learnings to young viewers.

Suitable for: Ages 4 – 6
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Project Mc2 follows four super smart and science-skilled girls as they are recruited to join the spy organization, NOV8 (“Innovate”), working together to save the day and prove that Smart is the New Cool™.

Suitable for: Ages 6 – 9
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“Hit the pin!” Netflix’s first original documentary, The Short Game, follows the lives of a handful of the best 7-year-old golfers in the world as they train for and compete in the World Championships of Junior Golf. If you’re looking for a way to inspire your kiddos to get off the couch, this is it!

Suitable for: Ages 6 – 12
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Meet the Beat Bugs: Jay, Kumi, Crick, Buzz and Walter, all with the charm and energy of five knockabout, lovable kids. They are best friends who band together to explore and learn in an overgrown suburban backyard, which to them is their entire universe. Bonus points that every episode features a famous Beatles song covered by rockers like Eddie Vedder and P!nk.

Suitable for: Ages 2 – 5
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From Temple Street Productions, Lost & Found Music Studios is a series about a group of talented teenage musicians who struggle to find their authentic sound and place in the world as they hone their craft at a prestigious music studio.

Suitable for: Ages 9 up
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