Some time ago I learned who created The Backyardigans. I love the show. I used to put it on for my toddler to watch but I ended up watching it while he was busy doing something else. He’s more into Caillou, Bo on the Go, Super Why, Mighty Machines and other shows.
I liked The Backyardigans because of its premise–friends coming together and having adventures by using their imaginations. The show teaches kids how to be creative.
I read an interview of the show’s creator, Janice Burgess. She went from being corporate to creative and the ideas for the show came from unlikely sources–action movies.
I know this is going to sound very strange, but the things I really draw upon are action films. I like “Die Hard,” “Star Wars,” the Tolkien movies. I’m really quite a refined person, but there’s nothing I like more than cops and robbers and gun fights and crazy driving and fast and furiousness.
When you think in terms of little kids, you don’t want to scare them, and I’m not in favor of showing any kind of violence or aggression, but you can certainly have a big adventure even if you’re 3. I thought it would be fun to take kids on that big adventure.
The thing is to give them something to take away, and one of the things I wanted to give them was the idea that you can play imaginatively — you can be a bandito or a princess or an airplane pilot.
Janice’s reason for creating Backyardigans is simple: It was to fill the void she saw in children’s TV programs. Most of them, she said, “want to teach you how to spell, make sure you can count. My feeling is that, in general, kids should have more time to relax and play and have things that are created especially for them and that are really for their enjoyment. Not that learning isn’t enjoyable, but it’s nice also to have something that’s just for fun.” Read more: http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/06281/727734-237.stm#ixzz1FNkIiXO0
Kudos to Janice for wanting to let kids be kids. Backyardigans helps them to use their minds not in instructive ways but in imaginative ways. Learning is fun but singing, dancing and imagining themselves on adventures can loads of fun too.
We’ve got the whole wide world in our yard to explore.
We always find things we’ve never seen before.
That’s why every day we’re back for more
With your friends, the Backyardigans.
Notes to Women 