The Best Educational Shows (and Movies) Now Streaming On Disney+

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The Disney+ platform is full of content! At the risk of sounding cliche, there is literally something for everybody. Feeling nostalgic? Your favorite Disney Channel Original Movie is probably there. Want to explore the MCU? Easy! Whatever type of Disney mood you are in, Disney+ provides. With families transitioning to spending more time at home with e-learning (or whatever type of home learning), screen time is likely to go up. But there is a ton of educational content on various platforms that will make screen time learning time. Here are some of the best educational shows (and movies) on Disney+.

Educational Shows on Disney+ For Preschoolers

• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto star in the series, which focuses on interacting with the viewer to stimulate problem solving. Disney says that each episode has the characters help children “solve a specific age-appropriate problem utilizing basic skills, such as identifying shapes and counting through ten.”
• Handy Manny – The show features Wilmer Valderrama who plays Manny Garcia, a bilingual Hispanic handyman, and his anthropomorphic tools. It also teaches young children the beginnings of Spanish and the importance of cultural diversity.
• Out of the Box – Aimed at kids ages 3 to 6, Out of the Box is like a 30-minute kindergarten class that’s divided into segments: music time, craft time, and story time. Hosts Tony James and Vivian Bayabuy lead the kids through activities based on the day’s theme and constantly direct their attention toward the camera, encouraging viewers to take part.
• Little Einsteins – Each episode begins with an introduction to a specific piece of art and musical accompaniment. Along with photography of nature, big cities, and famous structures, these art forms serve as backdrops for the adventures of Leo, June, Annie, and Quincy, four young animated friends. Each has a unique musical skill but together they always ask for the help of the viewer to successfully accomplish a mission. Kids learn that special talents are fun, challenging, require practice, and in this case, can be used to solve problems.
• T.O.T.S – Pip and Freddy are the perfect pair and until they came along, T.O.T.S. was a storks-only industry. This necessitates some creative problem-solving, a lot of self-confidence, perseverance, and help from those who do believe in them. These sweet stories surrounding a unique friendship have much to teach preschoolers about the importance of thinking outside the box and recognizing potential.
• Forky Asks a Question – Now that he’s past his identity crisis, Forky’s all about finding out what he doesn’t know, from the basics of how things work in the world to the more complex matters of emotions and relationships.
• Jake and the Neverland Pirates – The series focuses on a band of young pirates consisting of Jake, Izzy, Cubby, their parrot Skully, and Bucky, their living pirate ship, who continuously spend their days competing against Captain Hook and Mr. Smee for treasure. This shows follows much of the problem solving skills that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse does.

Educational Shows on Disney+ for Elementary School

• One Day at Disney – ONE DAY AT DISNEY tells the stories of more than 50 employees of the Walt Disney Company. It shows how their work contributes to the corporation’s extensive offerings on screen, on stage, in vacation destinations, and in merchandising.
• The Imagineering Story – The Imagineery Story is a documentary series that offers an inside look at how the Walt Disney Company continues to push the boundaries of human ingenuity and imagination. Narrated by Angela Bassett, it shows how teams of artists, engineers, machinists, and other creatives, known as “Imagineers,” worked together to create Disneyland, Walt Disney’s first theme park. It also shows how the Imagineering Company has gone on to build more theme parks around the world, and highlights the endless work that goes into creating new, fun attractions for each one.
• Shop Class – A new competition series featuring teams of young builders, who are tasked with designing, building, and testing unique creations. In each episode, a panel of experts will evaluate and test their work based on design creativity, and build functionality.
• Brain Games – The Emmy® Award nominated Brain Games features interactive games and experiments designed to mess with your mind and reveal the inner-workings of your brain, exploring the science of perception, memory, attention, illusion, stress, morality, attraction, anger, and much more
• One Strange Rock – One Strange Rock reveals the magical twists of fate that have allowed life to thrive only on Earth. It’s an extraordinary story brought into perspective by the only people to have left it behind — astronauts.

Honorable Mentions: DisneyNature films, National Geographic collection.While some of the Nat Geo collection is listed below for Tweens/Teens, I think the educational component of both of these collections are self explanatory.

Educational Shows on Disney+ for Tweens and Teens

• The World According to Jeff Goldblum – In The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Jeff takes us on an entertaining, insightful and playful ride. In each episode of this 12-part series, he pulls on the thread of a deceptively familiar object to unravel a world of astonishing connections and fascinating science and history.
• Paris to Pittsburg – Paris to Pittsburgh brings to life the impassioned efforts of individuals who are battling the most severe threats of climate change in their own backyards.
• Marvel’s Hero Project – Marvel’s Hero Project reveals the remarkable, positive change several young, real life heroes are making in their own communities. These inspiring, driven and engaging kids have dedicated their lives to selfless acts of bravery and kindness. These young heroes are finding creative solutions to tackle big issues such as protecting our environment, ending hunger, championing inclusivity, and many more.
• Hostile Planet – Hosted by survivalist and adventurer Bear Grylls, Hostile Planet zooms in on the world’s most extreme environments to reveal the animal kingdom’s epic stories of survival on this fast-changing and continuously evolving planet.
• Drain the Oceans – Drain the Oceans delivers penetrating new insights into the epic history of human civilization and the deep history of the Earth itself, exposing sunken cities, shipwrecks and the amazing natural wonders of the deep.
• Waking Sleeping Beauty – Through extensive use of archival clips, documentarian Don Hahn explores how Walt Disney Animation Studios broke out of their mid-1980s box-office slump. The film focuses on the group of young, ambitious animators and filmmakers, such as Tim Burton and “Toy Story” director John Lasseter, who struggled against outside competition and old-guard studio executives within the company to reclaim Disney’s legacy as a producer of world-class animated entertainment.

Don’t have Disney+? Check out these educational shows now streaming on Netflix.