I participated in this program on behalf of The Fred Rogers Company and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.
A few months ago I was scoping out new kids’ shows on Netflix, and I stumbled upon a show that immediately intrigued me: Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.
I had never heard of it, and even though the girls were not in the same room, I went ahead and clicked play.
The spin off of the original “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” the red sweater, the shows, the trolley and versions of all my old favorite Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood characters all came to life again in this new animated show!
I decided right then and there that if the show were anything like the original Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood that I had grown up watching, that I would most definitely be introducing it to my girls!
I soon found out that Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is actually owned by The Fred Rogers Company! I recently was invited to participate in a briefing from the company on the show. Since I had already become a fan of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, I was super excited about this opportunity!
I found out that when the creators developed the show, it was very important to the producers to maintain the nostalgia from the original series as they re-imagined it for today’s audience: Both shows open with the characters put on signature red sweaters and shoes and miniature models from Mr. Roger’s Land of Make Believe are seen in the background of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.
Much like the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood many of us grew up watching, every half hour episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is focused one theme that will apply to a child’s everyday life.
These include situations like going to the doctor, going to school and working through relationship conflict.
A favorite song of my girls’ that we learned from Daniel the Tiger is: “When I feel so mad that I want to roar, take a deep breath…and count to 4!”
It’s really catchy, and we say it a lot if the girls start to get aggravated with each other. 😉 We also love his song on sharing.
There are also some fun toys based on Daniel the Tiger’s Neighborhood.
The toys are made to encourage imagination and open-ended play. My girls absolutely love taking Daniel the Tiger on adventures that last far beyond the TV show. And that’s the point, right?
Have you discovered Daniel the Tiger’s Neighborhood on PBS or Netflix? Did you watch Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood as a kid?
Esther
I love this show. I often want to watch it when my nephews aren’t at my house. I love the song and the lessons. It is so much like Mister Roger’s Neighborhood and that was my all time favorite show when I was little. Well that and Batman.
We are adopting a baby and I can’t wait to get him some Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood toys. 🙂
Mariah
I especially liked the episode dealing with separation when Daniel Tiger gets left at daycare by his parents. It really resonated with my then 2 year old and we could sing the song, “Grown Ups Come Back,” in order to ease the anxiety.
Ashley W
We LOVE this show at our house! My husband was actually the one who discovered it on Netflix for our 2 year old. I was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner when I heard the familiar, but slightly different, theme of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. I came out of the kitchen and said, “Man, someone ripped off the theme from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, I can’t believe they let them do that!”. My husband informed me that it was more of a spin-off than a rip-off and it’s been a favorite ever since. I love the lessons in each episode and those songs are so catchy that my husband and I find ourselves singing them throughout the day. For example the other day I wanted to borrow the laptop while my husband was using it and he sang, “You can take a turn, and then I’ll get it back”. I can’t wait for Christmas when we plan to get our little guy a couple of the toys, he’s going to go crazy!
Emily Phillips
Oh, that’s my 16 month old daughter’s favorite! She requests it by name (“Deh-deh, deh-deh!”) daily, and would probably be content to watch it all day if we’d allow it. Of course we don’t. 🙂 Television really captures her interest, and I don’t love that, but if she must watch something occasionally, I’m happy for it to be something as age-appropriate and wholesome as DTN. I’ll have to tell “Santa” about the Daniel toys…great idea. 🙂
Susan
My kids love Daniel Tiger. I am thankful for his “flush and wash and be on your way.” It helped my children learn to remember to wash their hands. I also hear them sing “you can take a turn and then I’ll get it back” often when they are playing. Cute show with catchy little songs!
Kayla K
Our kids love Daniel Tiger! Our oldest, E, is 4, and he sings that song to help himself calm down and occasionally sings it to me if I’m upset. 🙂 The show also encourages our kids to try fresh foods! Love it!
Anjanette
We watched this show today and enjoyed it!! 🙂
Ashleigh
We do love it, but beware of the episodes where Daniel Tiger is afraid of thunder. Now my child is afraid of thunder… :-/ That said, we really do love it. I just read episode descriptions now to make sure there’s nothing about Daniel being afraid so little one doesn’t mimic that…
Erin
Thanks for the episode tip!!
Jamie Larrison
My 2 year old and his cousin both LOVE Daniel Tiger. I use to just turn it on for him but now I read the description first. There was an episode on vaccinations we didn’t agree with, we see vaccines as poisonous, so I turned that one off. But overall I love the nostalgia and the lessons!
Erin
Thanks for that tip on the vax episode!
Lisa
I used to love this show until I saw an episode about “going potty” which seemed harmless. But in the end one of the little boys was wearing nail polish…..seriously? Is it not enough that we live in a gender neutral society and does that need to subtly be shoved down my 2year old’s throat? Come on, leave well enough alone! Does every single show out there really NEED to be “politically correct”. Geezzz…..
katelyn
there is nothing wrong with a little boy wearing nail polish, I am sorry you are so full of hatred, and may your children never wish to express themselves because I’m sure you will not let them.
Cody
Actually I found that to be a bit odd and creepy too. Not to mention his bathroom looked like an abandoned truck stop.
The point is, why? Of the millions of kids/bathroom why this kid and this bathroom. No matter how liberal we have gotten, boys wearing dresses or painting their nails is not the norm. So why have it on a kids show?
That was the last time we watched the show.
Victoria Collins
I just noticed it this morning and googled to see if I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing. I know boys also like to play dress up etc. but it did seem very purposeful on the part of PBS to show this boy washing his hands with nail polish on. I just don’t like to have some kind of agenda being pushed down my throat. I will keep watching the show because my baby loves the music but play to preview the episodes to make sure they aren’t pushing other agendas that I don’t agree with.
Nick
I’m just starting to notice this stuff too, typical pbs. Check out their Christmas episode “snowflake day”
Jelismit
Thanks for the heads up! I’d like to find this episode and show it to my daughter. It’s an opportunity to reinforce our family values. We embrace diversity, celebrate self expression, and we always try to remember not to judge people for silly superficial things like what they are wearing!
Katie
Most likely your children won’t even notice but as an adult you are being so judgemental. I admit, I noticed it but I thought maybe he had dirt on his thumbnail but then I noticed all of them were painted. My son has asked me to paint his nails when he sees me pairing mine because he doesn’t understand gender roles quite yet. I don’t think he is girly because of that. I think he likes paint and he thinks painting is fun so… Why not paint my nails? Children do not and should not notice those kinds of things yet. The only reason they do is when parents force it upon the child. As for the bathroom, maybe that was his bathroom. Maybe he is living in poverty or visiting a store. Who knows? The lesson was showing a real child using the potty and washing his hands. Some child viewers need to see that to understand the process. That was the point. Get past the superficial stuff and learn the lesson.
Nick
I like the show but being on pbs I was skeptical as to whether or not it would have a liberal spin on it. It’s usually a good show but the Christmas episode was a joke. It was called “snowflake day”, they had lights on there houses, snowflake day songs and even a snowflake day play. I know it seems petty but I’m sick of this politically correct bs everywhere I go. Just a heads up, Mr. Rodgers is dead and they’re using his name to convince us that what they are selling is a wholesome product.
Lisa
My granddaughters love this show! The count to 4 has helped my 4 yr old granddaughter many times. Now, she’s teaching her 2 yr old sister.
Bran
That’s cool. But the rest of the world is going to judge him. There are acceptable ideas and not acceptable ideas. When you say free expression. You only mean diversity and expression deemed worthy by liberal views. Would you let your child dress like Hitler and draw a natzi mustache on his lip? Of course not and rightly so in this case. However your not allowing g free expression. Only expression defined by the left.