Sorry if there's already a post like this.
I don't watch many movies or shows, but in case any of you or your kids do, here is a thread for recommending them.

PS: Has anyone seen The Road to El Dorado? What did you think of it?

My older two saw The Road to El Dorado in the theater. They were 3 and 5 at the time. They were fine with the film but some 3 and 5 year olds would be frightened by a few scenes. I think by 6/7 most kids would enjoy it. It remains one of their favorites and they still watch it with their younger sister.

I can ask them which movies are their favorites, but I know my middle kid really likes The Prestige. Middle kid would likely have a bunch of suggestions as she is interested in film - she took the two film analysis courses that the high school offers.

Linking to an old thread on the TV show Master Chef Junior, as a number of posters seemed to enjoy/recommend it.

ds15 just came home and said he watched 'west side story', the 61 version, and just really dug all the color. for any kids out there interested in movies, direction and cinematography.

(critical thinking).
he has been enjoying the classic japanese movies such as Seven Samurai, and Kirosawa in general (loves his work).

Getting a lot of good ideas about critical thinking from this guy, Tony Zhou on youtube. really extremely thoughtful videos.

https://www.youtube.com/user/everyframeapainting -- dh and I are really loving these videos as well.

Thanks, everyone. I'd like to recommend a cartoon (yes, you read that right!) called Steven Universe.

It's hard to explain it, but the show is appropriate for kids while still getting a wide teen and adult fan base (I'm one of the fans, obviously).

It's incredibly diverse and addresses big issues in an accessible but not cheesy way, while still appealing to, like I said, every age group.

Oh, and for something more educational, try Alton Brown's "Good Eats"! I even got my younger sister into it, and we usually don't have the same taste in television. :p

It seems this thread didn't get much traction, but I'd love to get good recommendations for tv shows or documentaries that are educational but also fun for kids around ages 6-8. There are times when we don't mind allowing a bit of screen time but would prefer that it be educational.

Over the years, DS7 and DS5 have loved Dinosaur Train (which teaches a surprising amount about geological periods, climate, etc.), Magic School Bus and Wild Kratts. They've pretty much outgrown those, but are not yet ready for documentaries that are aimed at an adult audience. Is there anything in between?

We found a few great SciQ DVDs at the library but couldn't find more. We tried Bill Nye, but I think they found it too cheesy.

My ten year old boys (and I) love all the Miyazaki animated movies from Japan. They have been redone w/ English dialogue but are even better in the original w/ subtitles. Stunning animation and nice themes. Very non-Disney although the English versions are distributed by Disney.

For children with an adventurous bent, the Netflix hosted show "The Deep" chronicles the adventures of a family of undersea explorers who live aboard a submarine and travel the world's oceans. There's a strong emphasis on taking calculated risks, inventing, and doing work you love. I can't recommend the show enough for its prosocial messages and the characters' evident self-efficacy.

Dh and dd7 have been watching the episodes of Planet Earth series and dd really loves them- the videography is amazing, the narration is thoughtful and it is just thrilling to watch on a big screen tv.

Yes, this series is excellent!

10 year old DS loves Cosmos. I could see some of it perhaps being a little scary for some children, but he's been enthralled and it's led to some great discussions. He has his own copy now.

DS8 and I enjoyed watching "The Code" with mathematician Marcus du Sautoy

It explains some interesting math concepts, connecting them to things in the real world. DS enjoyed it - although he found the music a bit creepy and didn't like how they tried to make everything 'mysterious'...

Also looking forward to being able to watch the new Planet Earth series, which isn't available here yet!

Thank you all for the great suggestions.

Unfortunately though, it strikes me that most of these are regular documentaries that may not interest our boys quite yet (particularly DS5). They love learning about science, but still prefer it to be "fun". SciQ was perfect (learning about the science of movie special effects, etc.), so I was hoping there'd be something else like it out there.

We've tried Life of Mammals and they got restless pretty quickly. We may have to wait a bit longer for regular documentaries.

We watch Brain Games, I think through Netflix, which is fairly short episodes about how perception and the brain work. Both kids (8 and 12) are really engaged by it, and I think younger ones would also enjoy and understand it.