What’s the best children’s TV for the school break this summer?
Screenshot from The Singing Walrus YouTube channel. Used under fair use for educational purposes
The summer is here and everyone wants to be outside all day, and as late into the evening as possible. But what if the weather has turned bad and your young children can’t play outside. They are restless and have nothing interesting to do . TV or online entertainment is often a handy fallback, and I previously wrote about this in relation to children aged around 1 to 4 years old, but the present article is for older children (around 3-6 years old, but possibly older too).
As most people know, you can’t just sit your child in front of the TV and leave them there – you need to watch the programmes with them, explain the content to them if needed, join in any singing etc. That’s fine, except if your child wants to watch endless zany cartoons in blinding colours at full volume. So the challenge is to find something suitable not only for them, but suitable for you too. Making the right choice for you makes sense when you consider that children’s TV has proved quite handy as a military torture technique. But don’t worry because I have some good news for you - The Singing Walrus may be the solution to your problem.
“You can’t just sit your child in front of the TV and leave them there – you need to watch the programmes with them, explain the content to them if needed, join in any singing etc. That’s fine, except if your child wants to watch endless zany cartoons in blinding colours at full volume.”
The Singing Walrus is a set of educational music videos that help teach your child colours, shapes, numbers and the alphabet, as well as things like the days of the week, months, names of planets, having friends, the weather etc. There are some add-ons such as worksheets, but the bit your and your children will love are the songs.
The Singing Walrus was started in 2011 by a couple who worked as English teachers, Josh Grimley and Ja‑Hae Oh. The music is all original and influenced by some really great music from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Josh does the music, and Ja‑Hae does the lyrics and animation. If you are a fan of disco, reggae, funk, new wave and even country music, you will be pleasantly surprised and impressed. Since the release of their first video in October 2012 (“Counting Numbers 1–10”), and as of July 2025 the channel has gained an impressive 3.5 million subscribers, 2.2 billion views, and a collection of 145 videos. Here are some of the best ones: Good Morning; Rainbow Colours; Transportation Song; Summer Song.
The Singing Walrus videos are free to watch on their YouTube channel. The songs are aimed at young children, but if you ignore the lyrics and animation, the songs are pretty good by themselves, so quite possibly older children – or indeed people of any age - won’t mind them being on in the background either.
If you find your kids really enjoy The Singing Walrus, you might want to know that all the Singing Walrus music videos come with sheet music, activities (such as learning to spell based on the songs), and even instrumental / Karaoke versions. There are also other extra resources you need to pay for, and a section for teachers who want to use the materials in schools.
In conclusion, I’d like to say that Josh and Ja‑Hae have done an absolutely wonderful job, and I 100% recommend visiting The Singing Walrus website.
If you have any recommendations of you own, let me know in the comments box below. And if you tried out The Singing Walrus, share your thoughts in the comments box below. Thanks.
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Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, legal advice, or other professional opinion. Never disregard such advice because of this article or anything else you have read from the Centre for Male Psychology. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of, or are endorsed by, The Centre for Male Psychology, and we cannot be held responsible for these views. Read our full disclaimer here.
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John Barry
Dr John Barry is a Psychologist, researcher, clinical hypnotherapist & co-founder of the Male Psychology Network, BPS Male Psychology Section, and The Centre for Male Psychology. Also co-editor of the Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology & Mental Health, and co-author of the new book Perspectives in Male Psychology: An Introduction (Wiley).