Noelle was first introduced to Dora the Explorer shortly after she turned 2, and she immediately fell head over heels for it.  Even now, as a 3.5 year old, it is still her show of choice!  She only gets to watch TV on weekends, so as soon as Saturday morning rolls around she’ll say, “Today is Saturday!  Dora today???” with this look of anticipation and excitement on her face.


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Here are 8 reasons why I give it my stamp of approval:

1.  Dora is consistent – There is a similar recipe to every episode, so you always know what you’re going to get!  I don’t like shows that sideline me with their antagonism (i.e. My Little Pony).  This show is simple – it involves a girl, her sidekick Boots, a problem, and a map that helps guide her on her journey as she tries to work through the problem at hand.

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2.  Dora is a problem-solver – She sees a problem, analyzes it, and finds a way to resolve it.  She always has a clearly defined goal, and uses analytical reasoning to figure out the best approach to get there. These are great life skills my kids can glean a lot from.

3.  Dora is repetitive – If you’ve ever seen an episode, you’ll notice that she usually repeats things 3 times.  When she’s counting steps, or number of items, it is always done in sets of 3. Repetition is a great, effective way to teach children their numbers, alphabets, colors, and more.

4.  Dora is interactive, both physically and mentally – Dora invites children to “jump, jump, jump” or “run, run, run” (notice the pattern of 3 here?) as she goes on her adventure, so not only is there a mental benefit, but a physical one as well. When Noelle watches, she’ll jump along and invite me to jump too… and before I know it, we’re having a little dance party in our living room to Dora’s theme song!  “C’mon vamanos… everybody let’s go!  C’mon let’s get to it, I know that we can do it!”.

5.  Dora is empowering – Not only is the central character a girl, but she is an independent, self-sufficient, strong-minded girl who is bold, thoughtful, and intelligent. I wouldn’t mind my daughter modeling those qualities, and I’d love for my son to see that women and men are equal and capable in every way.

6.  Dora teaches her Spanish – I remember reeling in shock the first time Noelle fell down and said, “Ayúdame!” (help me!).  Then another time, we were walking down the stairs when out came, “Abajo!” (down!). Good thing I took Spanish in high school and still remember a few basics, but I was pretty impressed that she picked up some Spanish from the show.  She really is absorbing and soaking in the information she’s learning from Dora.

7.  Dora does not put anyone down – From what I’ve seen, there is no whining, complaining, bullying, or putting anyone else down in Dora.  Even the “bad guy” isn’t that bad. Swiper is a fox that usually comes along towards the end of the show and tries to “swipe” something, but it’s quickly put to bed by a simple, “Swiper no swiping!”  He says, “Oh maaaan!” and goes on his way.  There are some episodes where Dora and Boots partner with Swiper or help him out too, so there is a camaraderie there despite his attempts to swipe Dora’s things. When things don’t go Noelle’s way, sometimes she’ll say, “Oh maan!” – wonder where she got that one from.  ;)

8.  Dora celebrates successes – At the end of every episode there is a celebratory song and dance to, “We did it!” once they resolve their problem.  They ask the viewer, “what was YOUR favorite part of the adventure?”, and do a  brief recap of what they went through.

Overall, Dora is a show that promotes discovery, problem-solving, teamwork, and conflict-resolution while maintaining a positive attitude throughout.  It gets a two thumbs up from this mom!

Has your child benefited from any TV shows?  Are you a fan of Dora the Explorer?