The best internet video diversions for little people (for the desperate times)

Naturally, pre-kids,  we weren't going to use the TV as a babysitter - we don't watch that much ourselves so it seemed like it'd be easy to avoid. Ha! If you have made it through the toddler years without resorting to screentime I salute your resolve - but that's not how life is panning out here.

(I was a mostly TV-free toddler, because my parents didn't have one until I was 6 - though I'm pretty sure we were glued to it whenever we visited anyone with one - so I am saluting my own mother here too)

All our TV is streamed, so we do have to put a bit of thought into what we watch, and I have no idea what is available on broadcast TV for kids. But we've worked out a few things that are not only fun for small people to watch, but are at at a minimum tolerable for bigger folk - and ideally enjoyable. I thought I'd share our Youtube favourites in case you (or your toddler) are having one of those days - and if you have any great discoveries let me know so we can diversify our playlist.

Videos of cats

Is it just me, or was the internet founded around videos of cats? And if your little people are like mine, furry creatures are about as fascinating as life gets. And so we discovered that if there are no real-life dogs or cats outside to watch, videos of cute kittens and puppies on Youtube are a pretty good substitute. Cue giggles, pointing and great big grins. Definite win!

Sesame Street

It's an oldie but a goodie. The Little Monkey loves the furry monsters, and I love the celebrity clips, because they're often a bit clever (Sesame Street intentionally try to make their shows appealing to adults as well, so that you'll watch and interact with your kids - very sneaky of them but it works here!). The songs are the best, and we know quite a few of them off by heart now. A few of our favourites are Dave Matthews and Grover; Oscar ft. Macklemore; One Direction with the letter U; and Usher's ABC song.

Pingu

Nothing new here, but something about this non-verbal animated TV show seems to captivate kids. There are plenty of episodes available on Youtube and it ticks the boxes for inoffensive amusement.

The Duck Song

This is a very silly (but catchy) song with an animated video. It's a certain kind of humour that perhaps not everyone enjoys, but it made me laugh and I find the tune pretty bearable on the kid scale. There are also two follow up duck songs, which continue the story. The Little Monkey is captivated by the simple animations and likes bopping along to the song too so this gets him in his happy place.

What are your default tension diffusing shows for scratchy inside days? Have you watched these ones? Or do you have have alternative distractions up your sleeve which magic away the grumps? Please share your tricks!