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Role models

Role models are the people young children watch and want to be like: someone brave, someone kind, someone who keeps trying when a task gets hard. Children borrow behaviour long before they can explain it, so the figures they admire on screen quietly shape how they treat others and handle setbacks. A calm, well-made series can offer characters worth copying, shown in situations a child recognises from their own day.

For 4-year-olds

At four, admiration is concrete and physical. A child copies what a character does, the helping, the sharing, the standing up for a friend, rather than reasoning about why it was right. Look for a series where the admirable choice is visible in the action itself and the outcome follows straight away. Characters close to a child's own size and world land better than distant heroes, and one clear act of courage or kindness per story is plenty to carry home.

S01 E04

Simon

I Don't Want To Go To The Pool

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 3

Simon refuses to go to the pool with his class, telling his father 'no way, never, ever'. The next day his teacher leads the children to the pool, where Simon finds his friend Lou is just as scared. Simon decides to help Lou into the cold water, and together they learn to float, kick, jump in, and ride the slide with the instructor. The episode closes with Simon offering to teach his little brother Gaspard, who replies 'never ever'.

See all Role models shows for 4-year-olds

For 5-year-olds

Five-year-olds start noticing effort behind the outcome. They can follow a character who asks questions, tries something, gets it wrong and adjusts, and they begin to separate being capable from being loud. This is a good age for series built around real skills and real work: someone who researches, listens to elders, or takes responsibility for a decision. Watch that the admired character also shows uncertainty, since a figure who never struggles gives a child nothing to practise.

S03 E08

Molly of Denali

Big Dreams And Blue Skies

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 2

Molly, an Alaska Native girl, hears how a pilot named Ellen Peniak inspired her mother to fly. When the library's books leave women pilots out, Molly digs deeper online and through Auntie Midge's stories, then flies along on a mail run where her mom lands safely by reading the wind off a lake. Together they write a booklet about Ellen and two other women pilots and leave it at the library so others can learn about them.

SciShow Kids

The Scientist Who Studied Bug Brains

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 2

Two hosts and their robot rat Squeaks watch honey bees in a garden and then tell the true story of Dr. Charles Henry Turner, a scientist who proved that bugs can learn and remember. The episode explains his colored-box experiment, which showed bees can see color and return to where they found food, and notes that he was refused a university job because he was Black. It closes with the hosts wondering about their own bee questions and inviting children to experiment. Real bee footage and simple animations illustrate the science and Turner's life throughout.

S01 E06

Elena of Avalor

Prince Too Charming

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 4

Crown Princess Elena travels to the neighbouring kingdom of Cordoba to choose a site for a new bridge alongside the boastful Prince Alonzo. When the workers dig up dirt mounds that turn out to be the homes of small owl-like buhitos, they awaken the Yakali, a giant wooden guardian who marches on the palace. Elena studies an old tapestry, realizes the giant is protecting the creatures, and builds new burrows to relocate them safely. The buhitos get a protected meadow, the Yakali departs in peace, and Alonzo is set to work helping build the bridge.

See all Role models shows for 5-year-olds

For 6-year-olds

By six a child can hold a person's whole story in mind, including who they were before they became known for anything. Real historical figures land now, because six-year-olds grasp that someone once failed repeatedly and continued anyway. Look for series that name the difficulty honestly and connect it back to a problem in the child's own life, a friendship, a fear, a task that feels too big. Values become discussable at this age, so the character choices are worth talking about afterwards.

S01 E05

Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum

I Am George Washington

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 4

Xavier, Yadina, and Brad use a secret museum to travel back to 1743 Virginia, where Yadina hopes a young George Washington can teach her to be a good leader for her troop hike. Watching George guide his group politely, helpfully, and with encouragement, and after a few mistakes with her whistle and an upside-down map, Yadina learns that a leader takes care of their team. Back home she confidently leads her friends to build a mini Mount Rushmore. The episode closes with a short segment about a character racing in the Wright brothers' first airplane.

See all Role models shows for 6-year-olds

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Role models

For 4-year-olds

Simon

For 5-year-olds

Molly of Denali

SciShow Kids

Elena of Avalor

For 6-year-olds

Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum

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