Article author:
Alexandra Zinchenko is a speech therapist and correctional practitioner of the first category. Founder of the Alexandra Zinchenko Speech Therapy Center in Kyiv. Co-founder of the Association of Speech Therapists of Ukraine.
Watching cartoons is an integral part of a child’s life. But let’s take a closer look at how cartoons affect a child’s speech.
There are different kinds of cartoons for our choice – entertaining, educational, informative and many others.
But absolutely all cartoons should be watched in doses.
You should not choose cartoons where the characters communicate in diminutive words, because a young child imitates the behavior and speech of the characters. Later it will lead to speech and pronunciation disorders.
Cartoons where the characters communicate in tracing words, or change the words, also have a negative impact on the development of the child’s speech processes.
If cartoon characters communicate with correct grammatical constructions, in this case, the child can enrich his or her vocabulary.
All the cartoons that your child watches should be watched by yourself first. You should keep track of what emotions the cartoon arouses in you. We can not forbid a child to watch cartoons, and it makes no sense. But everything should be done in doses.
Cartoons also affect the development of mental processes as they have a dynamic change of images.
A series where there is a constant change of images can provoke excessive excitability of the nervous system, leading to uncontrollable behavior of the child.
Cartoons with implausible characters can form false ideas about phenomena and objects in a child. (Developing Imagination)
Series where the characters behave aggressively toward others, mocking them, can cause aggression in the child. And the child will make a countertransference of the favorite character’s behavior to life. (Behavioral traits.)
Excessive consumption of cartoon content slows down the development of thinking and imagination, because the child does not need to think and make logical connections. After all, the plot of the cartoon will do everything for the child.
Distorted statements and loud, harsh sounds can negatively affect the formation of a child’s phonemic processes.
We cannot completely forbid a child from watching cartoons. And this should not be done. If we ban watching cartoons, it will lead to the opposite. The child will have an even greater desire to watch them. He (she) will try to get enough. Viewing should be no more than 15-20 minutes per day for children aged 2-3 years. Choose calm series and cartoons where there is no aggressive behavior of the characters towards others.
When choosing a cartoon, pay attention to which images are used. Choose the most believable ones. Be sure to talk to the child about the behavior of the characters and the cartoon itself. Do not watch cartoons while eating. In the case when children watch cartoons while eating, the concentration of attention goes specifically to the cartoon. In this way, improper eating behavior is formed. Do not watch cartoons at least 3 hours before bedtime. After all, the dynamic change of the image affects the nervous system of the child and can cause difficulties with sleep.The RIGHT cartoons will pay off!
✔️ From the characters, children adopt manners of behavior, their ability to act with the surrounding world, etc.
✔️ While viewing extraordinary pictures, imagination and creative thinking work.
✔️ Through cartoons, a child gains knowledge about phenomena and objects, develops memory, attention, perception, and the ability to generalize what is perceived.
✔️ Can learn to count, read, learn geometric shapes and colors, etc.
✔️ Cartoons develop the emotional sphere – they teach to love, be friends, help, empathize, share, teach moral norms of kindness, rules of etiquette.
But this is possible only if the cartoons are selected correctly!
As a conclusion, I recommend you some cartoons for general development:
1. “Baby Einstein” (Baby Einstein)
2. “Paw Patrol” (Paw Patrol)
3. “Zoo” (Zoo Mix)
4. “Dora the Explorer” (Dora the Explorer)
5. “Incredible investigations of Huckle the kitten” (Hurray for Huckle!)
6. “Sid is a little scientist”
7. “Buba”
8. “The Fixies”
Yours ,
Alexandra Zinchenko
