Finding kid-friendly shows for tweens is a challenge! They think a lot of kids shows are ‘babyish” while many of the shows they hear about on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are still too mature for the average 10-year-old. For parents who want to make sure their tween is watching age-appropriate media, it’s often difficult to find that delicate balance while still allowing kids to explore their interests.
We’ve rounded up some of the best TV shows for 10-year-olds, with safety, entertainment, and education in mind. Whether your tween is into fantasy, adventure, comedy, drama, or reality shows, we’ve included a little bit of everything to satisfy kids with all different kinds of preferences and interests. Most importantly, they’ve all been vetted and approved by our Sensical child-development experts, so you can breathe a sigh of relief!
If you’re tired of all the tasteless, run-of-the-mill cartoons for 10-year-olds that lack educational value and seem like a mindless waste of time, here are our top picks for big kids and tweens.
Bakugan is an adventure series featuring a group of kids who partner with creatures from another dimension to save earth. For older kids who love anime, this show has it all: great stories, excellent art, fantastic music, and exciting action. However, the action isn’t too intense to be of any concern for parents.
The Bakugan anime series also offers plenty of great lessons modeling important values like friendship and loyalty. As the kids team up with their otherworldly friends to face unique challenges and defeat villains, they experience losses, and the show emphasizes positive messages like emotional regulation, camaraderie, and integrity. Overall, Bakugan is a great option for the anime-loving 10-year-old.
For older kids interested in coding, Code Along videos are excellent resources and a ton of fun! Code Along features step-by-step coding projects for kids to try out on their own at home. These videos even include guides and tutorials so tweens can easily follow along and push themselves to take on new challenges.
Code Along is an excellent way to boost their confidence, encourage creativity, and develop life skills. With countless opportunities to develop their problem-solving capabilities, Code Along videos are a worthy way for tweens to spend their screen time.
Whether your tween is into sports, break dancing, magic tricks, or another skill you’ve only recently heard of, Skillicious offers them the chance to watch incredible demonstrations by pros who have mastered it. This masterclass for kids, featuring a 200-member studio audience, showcases amazing activities demonstrated by extremely talented individuals who teach and motivate kids all around the world.
This show is great entertainment for 10-year-olds because it inspires them to be creative and try something new. Each episode also pushes tweens to get active and learn a new skill while showing them what’s possible. If your tween loves competitive or talent-based reality shows, Skillicious is sure to be a hit in your household.
Scrappy Robots is ideal for young tweens who like to create, build, and dream. In each online episode, the quirky and fun show host, Simone Giertz, shares kid-friendly versions of her amazing robot inventions. Not only does she show off her inventions, but she also includes links to how-to videos so kids can explore the nitty gritty of the build process and create the same robots themselves!
Scrappy Robots gives tweens all the tools and inspiration they need to complete fun projects and challenge themselves while they learn all about the building and coding process. A fun and entertaining way to help 10-year-olds develop their engineering skills, Scrappy Robots is a gem and an excellent option for screen time on weekends and weeknights.
If your big kid has a knack for solving everyday problems with creative solutions, they’ll love Joseph’s Machines. Host Joseph Herscher uses regular, household items found around his apartment to create fascinating chain-reaction machines that can make life just a little bit easier for everyone. Full of humor and comedy that tweens will love, this show inspires big kids to use their imaginations and think outside the box to solve problems.
While Joseph’s Machines is a popular choice among tweens because it is so fun to watch, it’s also chock full of positive messages, exposure to science concepts, and encourages problem-solving and creativity, which parents love! Joseph also creates some machine instructional videos for kids who want to try their hand at creating his chain-reaction machines in their own homes.
Spy School features two spies in training who complete challenges to develop their spy skills. As they work their way through the physical and psychological puzzles, these rookie spies must rely on their teamwork, communication, and problem-solving abilities to get the job done.
Spy School inspires kids to create and complete their own spy kid challenges at home too, while they work to develop their own skills of the trade. Full of positive messages, science themes, and problem-solving examples, this show is perfect for tweens who have a sense of adventure and enjoy competitive reality-based TV shows.
Max Steel is a regular teen who happens to have superhuman powers. He bands together with his friends to heroically protect the world and save its occupants from cruel bullies and supervillains. The Max Steel animated movies are packed with action, adventure, and fun as “Team Turbo” works together to defend the planet from evil.
Max Steel delights by providing great, wholesome entertainment for tweens who enjoy action-packed shows and want to root for the classic justice-seeking band of superheroes. Tweens and parents alike will love this show for its exciting plots, positive values, and themes of teamwork, integrity, and positivity.
We know how hard it is to find high-quality entertainment and TV shows for older kids that they want to watch. Fortunately, Sensical makes things easier. Sensical is the safest free streaming app for kids. Backed by the experts at Common Sense Media, all the shows and videos on Sensical are certified to be safe and age-appropriate for your child.
In addition to our commitment to safety, we provide parents and kids with engaging content that’s both educational and fun. With TV shows and videos exploring every topic under the sun, your 10-year-old is bound to find something they enjoy and you feel comfortable letting them watch. Sign up for free with Sensical today!
The top kid-friendly TV shows for big kids. Every video on Sensical is expert-approved to be kid-safe and age-appropriate.
