educational - 2/2 - Retroland

Captain Kangaroo

Every morning, he opened the door to his Treasure House and invited kids to share an easygoing hour of laughter and learning. He wore a jacket with giant pockets, and thus came his name, Captain Kangaroo. He had the longest running children’s program in network television history. (Only Public TV’s Sesame Street can beat the record.) Let's take a look back at this beloved show.

Speak & Spell

See ‘n Say

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This toy talks. It talks. It’s an inanimate object and it talks. Imagine the delight and awe of the average toddler in the 1960s who received a See ‘n Say. It was like having a little minion that imitated all sorts of sounds at your command. Pretty heady stuff for a 4-year old.

Magic Sand

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Few natural substances are as appealing to kids as sand and water – each offering a seemingly endless supply of playtime potential. Well, as long as you don’t try to mix them. Water can not only reduce the structural integrity of any sand sculpture in the blink of an eye, but wet sand sticks to just about everything, becoming a gloppy pile of unusable mud. Imagine a world where sand and water didn’t mix, imagine the endless possibilities never before imagined. Imagine how much fun it would be. Why couldn’t science tackle this age-old dilemma and make everything right in the world? Why couldn’t a special type of sand be devised that was so impervious to water that one could even sculpt underwater structures with ease. (And if it isn’t asking too much, could you make it available in the three different bright colors?)

Bill Nye the Science Guy

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After decades of teaching kids about the ways of science, the 90s saw the Bunsen-burner torch passed from Mr. Wizard to a new guy with his own quirky method for making learning fun, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Reminiscent of that high school science teacher that every kid hoped they would get, his off-kilter (and often high-speed) approach kept the attention of every tyke that ever tuned in.

Sesame Street

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Since 1969, just about every kid with access to a television can tell you "how to get, how to get to Sesame Street." Filled with all sorts of interesting people and lovable critters, this urban city block has been entertaining kids for decades while sneakily introducing them to all those letters and numbers long before they ever set foot on a school bus. Let's take a look back at the iconic educational program that still resonates in the hearts of anyone who ever watched.

Barney and Friends

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A reptilian role model for three year olds, target practice for the older kids, the purple prehistoric pal named Barney has made quite an impression around the world, a benevolent behemoth who, above all else, loves you. Come regress into your childhood with us as we remember what all the fuss was about.

A Trip To The Neighborhood

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Back in 1968, a gentle and soft-spoken man named Fred Rogers introduced a generation of youngsters to his neighborhood - filled with puppets, imagination, jazz music, and valuable lessons that many of them would carry through their adult life. He would continue to do so for the next 33 years, on the beloved series we [...]

Popular Science Archive

3-2-1 Contact

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With an immensely catchy opening theme and the cool ways they incorporated science into everyday situations, the 3-2-1 Contact crew became a staple in after school TV viewing. Most fans can still sing along to the theme song and all remember the show with nostalgic fondness. A few may even credit the series with instilling an early interest in science. All in all, the consensus is that they don’t make ‘em like they used to anymore.