Look, I'm going to be honest: I was skeptical about yet another Peanuts reboot. But these shows are genuinely delightful. Snoopy in Space takes our favorite beagle to NASA (yes, really), while The Snoopy Show delivers classic Peanuts vibes with modern animation.

What makes them work: They're gentle without being boring, funny without being manic, and they maintain the sweet melancholy that made the original Peanuts specials so special. Your kids won't learn coding or Spanish, but they'll see kindness, imagination, and the occasional failure—which honestly might be more valuable.

This is a reboot of the '90s PBS show, and it's way better than it has any right to be. Ghostwriter follows a group of Brooklyn kids who release a ghost from a bookstore that communicates through text and messes with stories.

The show is genuinely engaging (even for adults half-watching while folding laundry), celebrates literacy without being preachy about it, and features a diverse cast of kids who feel like actual kids. Each arc involves a different literary work—from Alice in Wonderland to Frankenstein—which means your kids might actually ask to read the books afterward. Wild concept, I know.

Stillwater is based on the Zen Shorts books, featuring a giant panda who helps neighborhood kids work through everyday problems using Zen stories and gentle wisdom. Before you roll your eyes: this show is a vibe.

It's slow, contemplative, and beautifully animated. If your kids are used to the sensory assault of most children's programming, they might need a few episodes to adjust. But once they do, Stillwater becomes that rare show that actually calms kids down instead of winding them up. It's basically the anti-Cocomelon, and I mean that as the highest compliment.

From the folks who make Sesame Street, Helpsters is about a team of monsters who solve problems using basic coding and computational thinking concepts. It's educational without feeling like homework, and the songs are actually catchy (sorry in advance).

The show teaches problem-solving, sequencing, and debugging in ways that don't require a screen to practice—kids can apply these concepts to real life, which is kind of the whole point of educational TV, right?

Doug Unplugs is about a robot who sneaks away from his charging station to explore the real world with his human friend Emma. The meta-irony of a show about a robot learning to appreciate offline experiences, delivered via streaming service, is not lost on me.

But it works. The show is sweet, genuinely funny, and the animation style (part puppet, part CGI) is unique enough to stand out. Plus, the underlying message about balance between digital and physical worlds is pretty on-brand for what we're all trying to figure out as parents.

Wolfboy and the Everything Factory is visually stunning—like, really gorgeous animation. The story follows a kid who discovers a magical factory where everything in the world is created.

Here's the thing: it's weird. Beautifully weird, but weird. Some kids will be absolutely entranced by the imaginative world-building. Others will be confused by the abstract concepts and surreal visuals. Watch the first episode together and see where your kid lands.

Pretzel and the Puppies is fine. It's perfectly fine. It teaches social-emotional skills, the puppies are cute, and it won't make you want to throw the remote through the TV.

But it's also pretty forgettable. If your younger kids need something gentle and positive on in the background, this works. If you're looking for something you'll actually enjoy watching with them, look elsewhere on this list.

The content is genuinely curated for quality. Unlike platforms that seem to greenlight anything with bright colors and loud noises, Apple TV+ has been selective about its kids' programming. You're not going to find weird knock-off content or those bizarre YouTube-style shows that feel like fever dreams.

No ads, but also no massive library. Your kids can't endlessly scroll through hundreds of options (which, honestly, might be a feature not a bug). The downside is that if your kids burn through the shows they like, there isn't an endless supply of new content.

The parental controls are solid. You can set up Kids profiles that only show age-appropriate content, require a password for purchases, and restrict certain ratings. Learn more about Apple TV+ parental controls if you want to lock things down.

Consider it as part of the Apple ecosystem. If you're already deep in Apple devices, the integration is seamless. If you're not, you'll need an app on your smart TV or streaming device, which works fine but isn't as magical as Apple would like you to believe.

Ages 3-5: Start with Helpsters, Snoopy, or Stillwater. These are gentle, educational without being boring, and short enough for limited attention spans.

Ages 6-8: Doug Unplugs and Ghostwriter (on the older end) are solid choices. Wolfboy if your kid skews toward imaginative and weird.

Ages 9-12: Ghostwriter is the standout here. It's one of the few shows on any platform that treats this age group like actual humans with developing critical thinking skills.

Is Apple TV+ worth it solely for kids' content? Probably not, unless you have young kids who will watch Snoopy and Stillwater on repeat (which, fair, they might).

But if you're already considering the service for the adult content (Ted Lasso, Severance, etc.), the kids' programming is a genuinely strong bonus. The quality is consistently high, the content isn't designed to turn your children into screen-addicted zombies, and you won't feel like you need a shower after watching with them.

The real question: Does your family need another streaming service? That's between you, your budget, and your sanity. But if you're going to have one, Apple TV+ is doing kids' content better than most.

And if you're trying to figure out how much screen time is reasonable for your family, or whether your kids' viewing habits are typical for their age, Screenwise can help you understand your family's digital habits in context with your community.