Media literacy for preschoolers: Explaining how the media work





Media literacy and my family: Explaining how the media work



As a result, since the age of two, our son has mostly watched programs available on Netflix. Shows like Sesame StreetBlues CluesThe Wonder Pets, Thomas and FriendsDragon TalesDora the Explorer–they’re all there, and commercial-free. We also watch Mister Rogers Neighborhood through Amazon Prime and assorted movies, like Monsters, Inc, Tangled, and My Neighbor Totoro on DVD.

I appreciate that anything our child views is deliberately selected by or for him. There’s no segueing from one show to the next all afternoon long on a single channel with him suddenly watching something he shouldn’t. (Except that one time he was trying to click on Bob the Builder but accidentally turned on Doctor Who, instead… It took me a minute or two to realize it, and he saw some scary-looking aliens before we could turn off the screen. Oops.)




My son is four now, and just this week, he was watching a Thomas and Friends DVD in the living room. I’d popped it in the DVD player per his request and went into the kitchen to work on a few things. Next thing I knew, he was calling out to me, really annoyed: “Mom-meeee! This commercial is trying to sell me Bob the Builder. I don’t NEED Bob the Builder!!!”

Score one for mommy!



Coming soon: In my next post, I’ll explain how I’ve been discussing media content with my preschooler–how we chat about the messages conveyed on screen during his favorite programs and movies.


Parents: How do you foster media literacy in your children? What has worked for your family? What hasn’t? Please share your ideas in the comments below!

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7 thoughts on “Media literacy for preschoolers: Explaining how the media work

  1. We listen to Pandora streaming radio in the car, which plays an ad every few songs. The girls learned from my wife to yell, “Ad!” when they come on. She then turns the volume down. :-)

    Also, as a side note, if you are watching Hulu in a web browser and have AdBlock installed, it won’t be able to show you any ads. You just see an obsequious message that you should disable your ad-blocking software for the “optimum” viewing experience. But what you really get is 60 seconds of peace and quiet. :-)

    If you’re watching on a streaming device, there’s not much you can do about the ads. We used to have Hulu Plus on our Roku, but we found it deplorable that we still had to watch the ads even after paying a monthly fee.

  2. We have regular television in our home but it is viewed with intention 95% of the time. Commercials are almost always muted (or skipped with the DVR). A few weeks ago our youngest was exposed to a children’s channel with commercials. I let the experience play out. Sure enough he began asking for all these amazing things he had seen in the ads. NOT seeing the commercials made the toys all that more impressive. My take away lesson was teaching him media literacy requires him to see the commercials and advertising sometimes and then discussing how they are, as you said, “Yeah. Commercials just try to sell us things we don’t need.”. Great post.

  3. Pingback: Media literacy for preschoolers, pt. 2: Thinking critically about media content | Rebecca Hains

  4. This is a great exercise for youth-focused newspapers too once they’re old enough to read (although it gets into a question of advertising as supporting media in general, since newspapers are scrambling to stay solvent).

  5. Pingback: Media literacy for preschoolers, pt. 3: Understanding that media are created | Rebecca Hains

  6. Pingback: Media literacy for preschoolers, pt. 4: Tips and resources | Rebecca Hains


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