How Does Barney Help Teach Children?

Who is Barney

Barney is a people-sized purple dinosaur that's been teaching children for years. He appears on PBS television stations and on the Internet. He was created by Sheryl Leach in 1987 to be educational and appeal to young children. She began with home videos that were called "Barney and the Backyard Gang."

Barney became a huge success when PBS picked it up and aired it as "Barney and Friends" in 1992. The friends that were added to Barney are BJ, Baby Bop and Riff. Barney is still on the air today and has since aired in other countries as well.

What Barney Teaches Children

Barney and friends teach many preschool and kindergarten lessons. He teaches on love, family and manners which is a great start to a child's education. One of the biggest lessons Barney teaches is to use your imagination. He teaches children to accept themselves and their differences from other children. There are lessons on art, beginning alphabet and numbers. He even gets into bugs and trees. Just about anything you would find in any preschool--and a little bit more--is taught on his show and Website. Kids just can't get enough of him.

How Does Barney Teach

Many of the lessons Barney teaches children are in song. When a child sings something, he tends to remember it better. Almost every subject has a series of songs attached to it. He also teaches through love and acceptance. He praises the children on the show for having good ideas, guesses and imagination. The children aren't afraid to answer a question and be wrong. That's because he still praises them for trying, and that builds their self-esteem.

Resources

• Find Barney and His Friends
• Barney's Website