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Domenec Reynolds
Children's entertainment has gone through big changes through the decades. TV shows and movies used to appeal to kids with colorful, simplistic visuals and safe stories. Nowadays, emotionally-charged TV shows for kids are common ground, and epic adventures are no longer reserved for teenagers and adults. What better time is there to go through Netflix's vast catalog and pick the best TV series for kids? There is something in this list for everyone, from educational, PBS-style animated shows about magic buses to live-action shows about fighting evil and classic anime. If you're looking for the next series that will both entertain your kids and get them to appreciate a good story, you've come to the right place!
So check out our list of the best kids shows on Netflix below. And for movie recommendations, check out our list of the best shows on Netflix, best family movies on Netflix, or best children's films on Prime Video or HBO.
Arguably one of the all-time greatest animated shows, Avatar: The Last Airbender pushed boundaries for what a TV show made for kids could do. The show follows a young boy who is tasked with bringing balance to a world in war. The show featured an epic serialized story with heavy themes such as genocide and totalitarianism while maintaining a playful humor. The characters are well-developed and have their own interesting arcs, and we get perhaps the best redemption story in decades. And the show actually builds up to a concrete ending that ties all the themes and stories in a near perfect bow. If you haven't seen this modern classic, now is your chance. Watch on Netflix
Superheroes are everywhere, there's no denying that. But where the Marvel and DC movies are aimed towards older kids, here comes PJ Masks to introduce the younglings to the exciting world of superheroes. We follow three 6-year-olds who become superheroes at nighttime, and get together to fight crime as the titular superhero team, facing villains and having to work as a team to defeat them. PJ Masks combines all the superheroics of a big-budget movie, with the vast imagination of its target demographic, resulting in a kid-friendly action-adventure show that's both entertaining and an effective morality tale. Watch on Netflix
Just like Dr. Seuss' stories function as bridges for kids to be introduced to the English language, or how to read, Netflix's Green Eggs & Ham functions as an excellent introductory course to TV storytelling, and comedy. A kind of kid-friendly version of the comedy classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles, we follow Sam-I-Am and Guy-Am I, who are tasked with guarding and transporting a wild chicken/giraffe hybrid, and end up on a roadtrip of self-discovery. The animation is simply gorgeous, the star-studded cast will delight grown-ups, and the colorful, stylish, silly fun ride of a story will entertain kids as well as give them an excellent introductory course to comedy and TV. Plus, the show has a few surprisingly dramatic twists and turns that will keep you on your toes and teach you a thing or two. Watch on Netflix
What better way is there to learn about science than with wacky, magic-assisted bus rides that prove field trips are the best part of elementary school, or any school? That's the premise of this classic '90s PBS show, The Magic School Bus, which showed you don't necessarily have to compromise education or entertainment when making an "edutainment" show. Every episode an elementary class would go out on a field trip led by the mysterious Ms. Frizzle, the catch being that their bus was magic and could send them on extraordinary adventures like going back in time to see dinosaurs, or the classic fantastic voyage plot where they go inside a student's body. The stories were as varied as they were fun, and you do learn about a wide variety of topics. Plus, the theme song is a classic. And if you want something a bit more recent, Netflix also made a reboot of the same name, with Lin-Manuel Miranda composing the new theme song. Watch on Netflix
No matter what anyone tells you, Shaun the Sheep is Britain's greatest export, and the latest season, Adventures from Mossy Bottom is as fun as the show has ever been. A collection of claymation shorts, we follow the titular Shaun in a variety of wacky adventures that serve as a way to introduce younger audiences to the kind of wordless animation from the early days of the medium. Unlike other animated shows, Shaun the Sheep relies on pure visual storytelling, but don't worry, the shorts easily grab your attention and don't let go, with witty humor that appeals to both kids and the adults that will get the pop-culture references. Watch on Netflix
There's been a new wave in recent years of shows for kids that blend storytelling of middle-grade chapter books with a deeper emotional growth and a sense of responsibility towards your community. Like Adventure Time, and Steven Universe, Hilda is more than what first meets the eye. The titular character, Hilda, lives in a version of Scandinavia that looks as if it was designed by Hayao Miyazaki. She's been living in the wilderness with her mother, having adventures with all sorts of magical creatures, but has a difficult time coping when they move to the magic-less, but human-filled city of Trollberg. The show is absolutely gorgeous, yet its story is also deeply melancholic, as we follow Hilda's path towards learning to consider other perspectives, and find the magic in a new place she is initially suspicious of. Watch on Netflix
The first thing to notice about Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is how incredible it looks. Animated by the folks from Studio Mir (The Legend of Korra) everything about the world of the show looks grand, lush and full of color. Though not as heavy on action as Korra, there are still some thrilling scenes that are animated with excruciating detail and fluidity of movement. The story follows a young girl who emerges from her underground city to embark on a journey to find her family, while trying to survive a fantastical post-apocalyptic Earth full of giant, sentient, mutant animals. It's funny, it's entertaining, it features a great supporting voice cast (including Sterling K. Brown and Dan Stevens), one very cool soundtrack (from the guy behind Into the Spider-Verse), plus it features one of the best portrayals of queerness in a TV show. If you've ever wanted to see a band of lumberjack cats, or a rock band made of snakes, or what an EDM Wasp is, this is the show for you. Watch on Netflix
High-fantasy has a tendency of being male-centric and excluding female characters, but that is not the case with the visually exciting, hilarious and emotional She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. The animated show puts women front and center on both sides of the camera, while also giving us some very powerful queer representation that blows any other show out of the water. That this is aimed at kids doesn't mean the show is all bright and safe, however. As Dave Trumbore said in his review of season 4, if the show were Harry Potter, it just had Cedric face Voldemort. She-Ra has a cheerful sense of humor, fleshed-out characters kids can identify themselves with, and an empowering story that results in an outstanding reboot of the 1985 series. With the fifth and last season of the show premiering soon, now is the perfect time to dive into the world of She-Ra. Watch on Netflix
The '90s was a golden age of kid-friendly horror shows. From Are You Afraid of the Dark, to Tales from the Cryptkeeper, to Courage the Cowardly Dog, there was no shortage of spooky tales to give kids a good scare before bedtime, but among them, Goosebumps reigned supreme. From the moment the creepy theme song starts playing over the opening credits and the dog's eyes light up, you instantly know you in for a scary time (kid-friendly, of course). The show treated kids as grown-ups, knowing they were capable of understanding the stakes of each of the stories in this anthology show, while still making sure there was a moral message or resolution at the end. Goosebumps is a great way of introducing kids to the horror genre, as the stories are self-contained and revolve around all kinds of classic story tropes. Watch on Netflix
While the 2004 adaptation of Lemony Snicket's popular book series A Series of Unfortunate Events garnered decent reviews from critics, it ended up underwhelming at the box office, thus leaving the story of the orphaned Baudelaire children unfinished on the big screen, as the film only covered the first three of 13 books. Fortunately, Netflix and director Barry Sonnenfield gave fans who grew up with the gothic book series the ultimate treat with a rebooted television series with Neil Patrick Harris taking on the role of the nefarious Count Olaf. A Series of Unfortunate Events is the perfect example of a television series that both kids and adults can enjoy. The show has been acclaimed for its Wes Anderson-esque style of zaniness and production design, as well as for remaining faithful to the source material and giving fans the satisfying ending that they wanted from the first on-screen go-around. - Nate RichardWatch on Netflix
What if you could have a story that mixes fantasy with science fiction and even horror, that appealed to kids but had the love of genre that comes when you have Guillermo del Toro as a creator? You get the epic, moving, and just plain fun that is Trollhunters. With a style of humor that's funnier than most kid-friendly comedies, yet with the same gravitas del Toro brings to his live-action dark fantasy and horror movies, Trollhunters is the first chapter in the Tales of Arcadia saga that spanned two spin-offs and a movie. We follow Jim, your average kid who is also a chosen one to defend trollkind from evil, as he tries to balance a double life as a student and a hero. The series has an ever-expanding mythology, a fantastic and diverse cast of characters, and a story that takes many twists and turns and also a big heart. Watch on Netflix
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