Play School, Bluey, Trash Truck top list for kids

I like that there’s a consistent focus on community and creativity, as well as segments that are explicitly educational. And I also appreciate that every so often an insanely famous celebrity will get roped in to hang out with Elmo and entertain me. Sadly, we’ve lost a lot of the pop-culture parodies the show embraced in the 2000s and early 2010s. I guess kids didn’t know who Sopranos star James Gandolfini was or appreciate why it was funny for him to talk about hugging his

teddy bear when he gets scared. But the most recent season did include Miley Cyrus singing inside an animated submarine. Play School (ABC iview) We may not get Miley Cyrus on the ABC but hey, a recent episode of Play School did feature Tim Minchin. It’s not nothing! This institution of Australian television – three years older than Sesame Street – is still running strong today. Yes, it has all the old comforts (the opening song alone is worth its place on this list). But

in an age of YouTube and AI slop, I love Play School’s handcrafted and largely analogue sensibility. Trusted presenters make crafts, cook food and produce science experiments with actual Australian children. We must protect it at all costs. Trash Truck (Netflix) There is no greater celebrity to a toddler than a rubbish truck, so god bless Max Keane for making a TV show about one. This gentle animated series follows a little American boy called Hank who spends his days roaming around his rural hometown

with a kind-eyed and largely non-verbal rubbish truck, a bear voiced by Kevin from The Office (Brian Baumgartner), a raccoon and a maternal Australian rat (Jackie Loeb). Why are his parents cool with this arrangement? It’s not really addressed. Each 10-15 minute episode, however, is a total delight. It’s all about friendship and adventure, in really simple terms. The motley crew either solve a problem or complete a task each episode, often with a real sense of humour (the episode where they each get accidentally

addicted to Hank’s dad’s phone is especially relatable). And the music is sweet and unobtrusive, with a theme song you can happily whistle all day. Good news for existing devotees: the show’s just been renewed for its long-anticipated third season! Bluey (ABC iview) No one is doing it better. This smart, sweet and exceptionally well-crafted little Australian series about a Brisbane family of blue heelers has set the benchmark for children’s entertainment worldwide. Granted, it’s occasionally a difficult watch for tired mums and dads. (How

do Bandit and Chilli constantly commit to this level of hands-on play? This is an absolute stitch-up). But I also appreciate the time the show takes to make Bluey and Bandit real parents: mums who’ve survived sleep deprivation and mothers’ group, and lost their minds in the eternity it takes getting kids out the door; dads who are defeated by duck cakes from The Australian Woman’s Weekly Cookbook. I like to think it will teach my toddlers empathy, but I’m yet to see real results.

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Play School, Trash Truck, Bluey, kids TV, ABC iview, Netflix, Miley Cyrus, James Gandolfini, Sesame Street