Play School is an Australian educational television show for children produced by the educational department of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), based on the original British version created by Joy Whitby, with many of the presenters former school teachers, whilst others being a mix of well known stage and screen actors and musicians. It is the longest-running children's show in Australia and the second-longest-running children's show worldwide after British series Blue Peter.
An estimated 80% of pre-school children under six watch the program at least once a week. It is screened three times each weekday on ABC Kids, at 9 am, 11:30 am and 3:30 pm (from 7 July 2014) and twice daily each weekend at 9 am and 3:30 pm.
Play School was admitted to the Logies' Hall of Fame in 2006, the program's 40th anniversary year. It is one of only five Australian television programs to be inducted.
History
Play School premiered on 18 July 1966, with the first episode and was based on the British program of the same name. (The British version started in 1964 and ended in 1988; the show's format was then sold to Australia.) The first episode began transmitting that day, as the program was originally transmitted live. It has been produced continuously from this time. It has also launched the careers of several Australian actors and television presenters. It was admitted to the Logies' Hall of Fame on its 40th anniversary in 2006, in recognition of the strong influence the show has had on at least three generations of Australian children.
Play School was the third show to enter the Logies' Hall of Fame in its own right, after Four Corners (1992) and Neighbours (2005). It was also the first children's show inducted into the hall of fame.
During the 2006 Logie Awards, a package showing memorable scenes from the show throughout its history was shown, before notable presenters (from past and present) came onto the stage with some of the favourite toys from the show. After these presenters accepted the award, the audience then joined them for a stirring rendition of the Play School theme.
In 1992, a through-the-windows segment featured an early performance by the Australian children's musical group the Wiggles performing the songs "Get Ready to Wiggle" and "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear" at a day care centre.
On Monday 4 July 2011, Play School updated its opening titles using a combination of stop motion and computer animation with a new arrangement of the theme song sung by presenters Jay Laga'aia and Justine Clarke.
50th anniversary
In 2016, Play School celebrated 50 years on the air and had a month of celebrations.
To mark its 50th anniversary, from 4 July the program presented a series of cover songs called Play School Celebrity Covers.
List of covers
On 18 July at 6:30 pm, ABC also broadcast a special 50th anniversary Play School celebrity covers special that featured Hamish & Andy singing "There's a Hole in My Bucket"; John Hamblin, "I'm a Little Teapot"; Dan Sultan, "The Wheels on the Bus"; Molly Meldrum and Charlie Pickering, "Nursery Rhyme News"; Delta Goodrem, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" & "Moon Moon"; Benita Collings & Don Spencer, "Teddy Bears Picnic"; Josh Thomas, "Ning Nang Nong"; Annabell Crabb and Leigh Sales, "Singing in the Kitchen"; Guy Sebastian, "Singing in the Rain"; Magda Szubanski, "Old Mother Hubbard"; and You Am I, "One Potato, Two Potato". In 2020, all of the existing Celebrity Covers episodes were rebranded as part of a new spin-off series Play School Show Time, which features new celebrities singing covers of songs from the series.
On 8 July 2019, Aboriginal presenters Luke Carroll, Miranda Tapsell and Hunter Page-Lochard hosted a special episode featuring an Acknowledgement of Country celebrating Australia's first people, sharing knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and highlighting the importance of caring for Country together. A new doll, "Kiya", was introduced to the program. Matthew Doyle played a digeridoo.
Spin offs
There have also been various spin-offs from Play School which have been played on ABC Kids, typically much shorter in duration. These include Little Ted's Big Adventure, Jemima's Big Adventure, Big Ted's Big Adventure, Humpty's Big Adventure, Maurice's Big Adventure, Joey's Big Adventure, Play School Story Time, Play School Art Time, Play School Nursery Rhyme News Time, Play School Art Crew, Play School Song Time, Play School Science Time, Play School Show Time and Play School Story Time: Languages.