age-appropriate 'characters' for little boys

OK, here's my thing. I have made the conscious decision to keep my 2 and 4 year old boys away from certain cartoons and 'characters'. My kids pretty much are happy to discover things on their own. They did this with Cars, they did it with some of the Disney movies, etc. I didn't want to introduce them to Batman and Spiderman until later. I don't really know why, except to say I just felt like that was 'older kid' stuff. But if the t-shirts and all that are anything to go by, I'm obviously missing something. There's certainly plenty of Spiderman tees and pjs and all sorts for 2 year olds, let alone 4 year olds.

TBH, I'm not even sure what boys who like this are watching. My kids watch Nick Jr, Disney, and Children's Public Television. Where are the superhero cartoons showing? They aren't on those channels (yes, I'm in the US).

I know I'm rambling a bit, but am I being silly? My kids love cars, trucks, trains, and animals. I guess I feel like once they get into the superheros, all that will fade away. It's been years since I watched any of the superhero stuff, so maybe it's not as violent or 'big kid' as I think it is? I'm thinking age 5 or 6?

Anyway, do you think I'm just prolonging the inevitable, and that it's ok for their ages, or is it ok to be a bit stubborn about this? The only reason I'm even thinking about this is because someone bought them some Batman dishes and Spiderman tees and I suddenly realized I didn't know enough about the shows like I do the other onces they watch!

My 6 yo nephew loves Spiderman and he's never seen a Spiderman movie or cartoon. I agree that they're a bit scary for that age still. And I'm fairly certain his love of all things motorized will never go away. Do you know who hard it is to find monster trucks in Ireland??  I know it surprised my sister how much they like some of those characters since they had never seen them on TV, but it's really that they find the look of the character on clothes, toys, etc to be cool. Similarly, my other nephew knew who Nemo was and he never saw that movie. I think it's okay if they like the character, but you shouldn't feel obliged to show them the movie or cartoon. If you're at a shop, look for a book and if it doesn't look too scary you could pick one up. It's really the look of the characters (and the fact that Spiderman can shoot a web from his wrist!) that they're interested in at that age.

DSS just turned 4 and he is mostly getting into Star Wars (though he calls it The Aliens or Darth Vader - too cute), Scooby Doo, and other live action movies at the minute rather than cartoons (though he likes the Scooby Doo cartoons, as well). Toy Story, Finding Nemo and other Disney stuff seems to be phasing out already. The only cartoons he regularly watches anymore (besides Scooby Doo, which as you can tell is his current obsession - we watched those movies about 20 times last weekend!) is Tom and Jerry, which surprises me since it's so old school, and Thomas the Tank Engine. I think he would like the Spiderman films, but we haven't bought those for him yet. He does have a Spiderman bike, which is what he chose when we took him shopping, even though I don't think he has ever watched Spiderman.

He doesn't get scared easily, in fact he seems to like movies that have a scary element to them. Other movies he really likes right now are Lord of the Rings, James and the Giant Peach and Corpse Bride. He also loves watching shows like You've Been Framed and Harry Hill, he thinks its hilarious. And he loves playing Sonic the Hedgehog on the PS3, so he is into Sonic at the moment, too (though he calls him Sonnit.. hehe).

Bmore, I get what you're saying so that makes some sense. I guess I've tried to make an effort to keep the toys/clothes they have with characters on them related to what they have actually watched and I didn't really realize how much I did that!

Jewlz, I think maybe the scare factor and language comprehension issue may make the difference for me then. Sammy *is* prone to being a bit scared of some portions of movies. Not nightmare inducing, but he gets very 'concerned' and lately will use the word scared. I think with his language comprehension delay, he'd rapidly lose interest in most of the things you listed.

Hmmmmm.

Oh, and if anything, they have grown out of the superhero stage fairly young. My 10 year old nephew has zero interest in wearing a Spiderman shirt now. He's more into science experiments which makes his aunt very happy!   

Mine is 5 and he's 'graduated' from Spiderman.    

It was not a complete permanent abandonment like it was with Thomas the Tank Engine and Dora the Explorer, but Spidey has worn off.

He still likes Lightning McQueen.  And oddly, yes I would say very oddly, he remains fond of Peppa Pig.

I see no reason to hold children back from learning about Spiderman and Batman.  The broader knowledge they have about popular culture helps them socialize and network with their friends at school. 

I see no reason to hold children back from learning about Spiderman and Batman.  The broader knowledge they have about popular culture helps them socialize and network with their friends at school. 

I think I'm more concerned about the violence and adult concepts that certainly the movies are full of.

I think I'm more concerned about the violence and adult concepts that certainly the movies are full of.

Spiderman and Batman are bigger than the movies though the live action stuff is just generic Hollywood stuff with a silly suit thrown in. There's loads of different iterations of these characters for different markets, noir, graphic, cartoon etc.

Spiderman for instance has many different iterations for people of all ages, in all sorts of time zones like Spiderman of the future, 40s, etc depending on what you're into.

Maybe take a look at the "Marvel Adventures" series, which are specifically aimed at younger audiences with less adult themes. Here's a wiki link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Adventures_Spider-Man

All Marvel adventure series - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Adventures

Other things you might consider which I think are really more age appropriate versions of popular characters (and some new cool stuff) -

Owly - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owly Is gorgeous and cute and about a nice owl who makes lots of friends in the woods.
Teen titans - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Titans_(TV_series) (comic and TV series)
Amelia Rules - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Rules! (This has won best title for a younger audience, and has dealt with some interesting issues such as how the Iraq war affects families)
Batman Strikes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Batman_(TV_series)
Amazing Spider Girl or Spiderman loves Mary Jane, are both quite romantic and fun, maybe more suitable for like tween girls, but something to bare in mind.
The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Super_Heroes_(TV_series)

Hope that helps!There's a place for superheroes and for trains, cars, trucks definitely!

Thanks so much for those links! I hope I'm not coming off as a stick-in-the-mud... I watched the old Batman series on TV, loved Spiderman, and read a lot of comics as a child. But I was also older - at least 6 and probably more likely 7 or 8. My memory is shocking!

As a graphic designer and design historian I'm also pretty aware of the really interesting history and iterations of superheros... somehow, though, I don't think Walmart is thinking about those when they flog their Spidey tees!

But as the parent, I need to take control so thanks for the links again. I've seen some of those but not all... off to browse!

Thanks so much for those links! I hope I'm not coming off as a stick-in-the-mud... I watched the old Batman series on TV, loved Spiderman, and read a lot of comics as a child. But I was also older - at least 6 and probably more likely 7 or 8. My memory is shocking!

As a graphic designer and design historian I'm also pretty aware of the really interesting history and iterations of superheros... somehow, though, I don't think Walmart is thinking about those when they flog their Spidey tees!

But as the parent, I need to take control so thanks for the links again. I've seen some of those but not all... off to browse!

I don't think you're coming off as a stick in the mud! I think you're coming off as someone who doesn't want their kids to get swept up in pre-made superhero characters and instead wants them to be more focused on imagination/aspiration based play.

That's no bad thing - Let's face it a lot of that Hollywood super hero comic adaptation stuff is crap or just way too adult for someone who's four!

I wouldn't let my just-7 year old niece watch Spiderman the movie, we watched Monsters Inc instead and she still needed a cuddle during the scary bits (she said she didn't of course)
I'm a games producer and spent a happy morning stringing people up by gargoyles and snapping their necks playing Batman:Arkham Asylum, but I would never think it would be good for a child, no matter how cool the box is.

But there is loads of cool interesting stuff out there in the comic book genre for all ages which isn't that pre-made superhero mold, including some interesting series on cartoon network which would be more appropriate for your boys ( I think Teen Titans is a good series) and even if they didn't get all of it, it would grow with them for the next few years. Most of that Marvel Adventures stuff is more action based (they race across town and everything is frenetic, they trap the bad guy in a safe room at a bank) than violence based and involves younger superheros learning who they are, dealing with their real lives etc, which can fire the imagination still.

Owly might be really great for your little ones (it's  gorgeous and very sweet) and something like Amelia Rules would be a good conversations starter as they get older.

Balmerhon - I just wanted to say that I don't think you're a stick in the mud.  I've made similar choices with my 4.5 yo son.  I think the violence is confusing for them at that age when you're constantly talking about keeping hands to yourself and no hitting/kicking/biting.

My son goes to a Montessori school here in the US, which made it a lot easier, as they don't support any "screen time" for kids until the age of 5-6.  The concept is that kids below the age of 5-6 are still completely enthralled by rather concrete things in our world (plants, animals, machines, etc.) and why fill them up with fake characters when they are happy to read books about manufacturing boxes.  Apparently this changes developmentally somewhere around 5-6yrs old, when they are more able to distinguish the "real" world, from the "pretend" world.  And then Montessori is fairy tales and imagination galore (although still pretty anti-screen time).    I've tried to play down the middle without  being too strict.

All that to say I think these issues are important and it's good to follow your own instinct on it!

My son goes to a Montessori school here in the US, which made it a lot easier, as they don't support any "screen time" for kids until the age of 5-6. 

My life was full of imaginary friends and make believe places between the ages of 2 and 4.   I can still tell you about some of them to this day.

I would be a very different person if I spent those years focusing on concrete things.

I love Owly.  I a stuffed Owly on my bookcase at home. 

I think it really depends on the child. My stepson can watch things like Star Wars and it doesn't scare him at all. And I think it introduces him into more complex story lines and characters. But another child who is easily frightened may be different.