Okay, I have heard that many adults dislike the big cheerful purple dinosaur that bounces around day to day on the television screen while singing to the kids. I on the other hand, have a rather different view of Barney.
Stop and Notice
When my daughter was only around a year old, we were introduced to this lovable character through a relative of mine who had a small child that loved him. My daughter, even at such a young age was glued to the video being shown with this strange looking purple dinosaur telling them to say “thank you very much” and “no thank you”, as well as teaching them manners and many other important social skills.
From the get go, this giant dinosaur kept my daughters attention and daily offered up a generous helping of songs, dancing and lessons on everything from math to manners to nutrition.
Skills Learned
My daughter learned at an early age that people came in all sorts of sizes, shapes and colors from this wonderful dinosaur. She also learned about sharing, what is appropriate for indoor behavior and what is only appropriate for outdoor behavior as well as how wonderful the power of imagination can be.
Facing Facts
For me the most important issue is not how much I like or dislike Barney, it is what quality is the show, magazine and computer software that my daughter chooses to watch, read and interact with. I can tune it out, and go to another room or do something else. If the truth be known, I give a lot of credit to Barney for helping make it easy to teach my daughter at such a young age as well as helping her learn her alphabet and numbers before she was even two. By two she was reading small words. Now at six, she does not watch Barney and has given up the magazine as well as the robotic purple dinosaur and its computer program because she has outgrown him in many ways, but still enjoys his songs and dancing on video once in a while.
In Closing
Barney is a very useful tool in helping to develop your child in a well rounded way.