"Turn on the cartons, or turn on some cartoons" Otherwise it's fine.

It's reasonably natural as it is. I ran it through my mind ('my mind's voice' if there is such a thing - like 'my mind's eye', only verbal!) and instinctively added a 'just' before 'turn on', but otherwise it sounds fine.

You are welcome, Iris, and, yes 'switch on' works fine.

Thank you very much, Rachel. I like your suggestions.In Russian we could say "turn on cartoons" without any doubt. I wasn't sure if it works in English for the reason you've mentioned.By the way, would the verb "switch on" work here?

Hi Iris, I agree that this is a good sentence, and it doesn't need changing. However, I'd have written 'turn on the TV, as we do 'turn on' the machine, and that's sufficient to get your point across, or I'd have used 'let them watch cartoons', or 'sit them in front of the TV'. However, these are only suggestions, and I wouldn't have changed yours, if you hadn't asked :)