Dad turns his toddler’s questions into calming cartoons but it’s the adults who can’t stop watching

Sometimes, a child’s point of view is what an adult needs to dial down the high-frequency media and digital noise. Probably that’s why millions of adults can’t stop watching the animated videos of Australia-based creator Cosmo (@familyfunwithcosmo). Cosmo, the viral dad, animates his daughter’s innocent questions into 3D Blender animation videos while adding the voiceover of their dialogues. From dragonflies to cats, from lightning to mailboxes, and from falcons to emus, the videos are packed with plenty of fun and educational content. For instance, a June 26 video about why cats are so sleepy has been viewed nearly 7 million times.

From innocent questions to educational animations

“Hey Cosmo, why are cats so sleepy?” “Hey Cosmo, what are the dragonflies doing?” “Hey Cosmo, what is lightning?” The toddler asks questions like these in her cute, babyish voice. In response to his daughter’s questions, Cosmo creates videos combining real-world footage with two animated characters, one in purple and one in pink. The purple character is bigger in size and seems to answer the questions of the pink, the smaller character. 

Kaleidoscope of reactions

Sometimes, his daughter expresses surprise. For instance, in a video about “why the cats are like being up high,” Cosmo answered, “mostly for safety, from getting eaten.” At this response, the girl exclaimed loudly, “Whaattt?!” In one video, his daughter can be heard watching a reptile and exclaiming, “That’s a snake.” Cosmo corrects her and says it’s actually a blue-tongued lizard basking in the sun.

In another video about why the cats are so sleepy, she cross-questioned Cosmo about whether the cat is going to eat her if she goes hunting. He coolly replied, “She’s not going to eat you. We feed her ourselves. She’s our pet, so she doesn’t hunt.” 

In many videos, she refers to something she already knows or has read somewhere about the topic being discussed. For instance, in one video, she sang a song in response to her father’s explanation. She had read the song in her bird book.

Art is the way.

In a 2019 study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, researchers studied 6,209 individuals to study the effect of art on a child’s psychological well-being. Music, drawing or making things, and reading for enjoyment were associated with higher self-esteem at age 11. The association was stronger when children regularly participated with their parents.

Likewise, an evidence review by the Education Endowment Foundation estimated that arts participation produced an average of three additional months of progress in other academic subjects.

'This should be a TV show.'

Meanwhile, viewers can’t help swooning over the father-daughter duo’s creative imagination. @desi_lu17 commented, “I need a husband like this if I’m giving him kids.” @zee_angelfae said, “They should turn this into a kids show!” @joywiththecurl echoed the suggestion: “This should actually be a TV program for kids, and it should be called The Tiny Fuzzy Family Show; it would be really cute, and kids learn at the same time. This warms my heart.”

You can follow Cosmo (@familyfunwithcosmo) on Instagram for more knowledgeable animated videos.

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