Behaviour

Positive self talk

Positive self talk is the quiet voice a child uses when something goes wrong: whether it becomes 'I can try again' or 'I always mess up'. Young children borrow that voice from the people and stories around them, long before they can produce it themselves. A calm, well-made series can model out loud what encouragement sounds like, giving a child words to reach for when a tower falls or a friend says no.

For 3-year-olds

At three, a child feels frustration in the whole body before there are words for it. Self talk at this age is mostly external: a child repeats what a trusted grown-up says, out loud, while doing something hard. Look for series where characters name a feeling simply and try again without drama, and where the encouraging phrase is short enough to be copied. Repetition helps here; a line that returns in every story is one your child can carry into their own play.

Brightly Storytime

Worry Detective

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 2

On the first day at Wildwood Elementary, Hattie Harmony, who calls herself a 'worry detective', helps her friends handle their nerves. She gives Pearl a way to shake off belly butterflies, hands Seymour a squishy ball to ease class jitters, and teaches Duncan to breathe slowly when he cannot find his bus. Along the way Hattie faces her own fear at the top of the big slide and talks herself through it. The two authors open and close the read-aloud with a short message about managing worries.

S01 E02

Dragon Tales

The Forest of Darkness

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 2

Siblings Emmy and Max use a magic scale to travel to Dragon Land, where their friend Ord is given the job of finding a star seed deep in the Forest of Darkness. Ord is afraid of the dark, so the friends help him by playing music, using dragon fire breath as a light, and encouraging him to keep trying. They discover the star seed only appears once the light is switched off, and Ord collects it despite his fear. The episode ends back home that night, when Ord receives his own star in the sky as a surprise.

See all Positive self talk shows for 3-year-olds

Browse all Positive self talk shows

Explore more

Viewing guides Age 2 guide Age 3 guide Age 4 guide Age 5 guide Age 6 guide

Top lists by age 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 years

Keep exploring Browse by topic All platforms

Positive self talk

For 3-year-olds

Brightly Storytime

Dragon Tales

Explore more

Just launched: free lifetime premium for the first 1,000 members to activate their account.