Play School
Logo since 2011
Genre	Children's television
Created by	Joy Whitby
Written by	Henrietta Clark
Directed by	Jennie McKenzie
Presented by	SeePresenters
Theme music composer	Richard Connolly (lyrics by Rosemary Milne)
Opening theme	"There's a Bear in There"
Ending theme	"There's a Bear in There" (instrumental)
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	49
No. of episodes	2,670 episodes as at November 2025(approx.)[1]
Production
Executive producers	Claire Henderson Henrietta Clark (1968–1984, 1990–1999)[2] John Fox Virginia Lumsden Jan Stradling Allan Kendall Nicole Cheek Lyndal Mebberson
Producers	Allan Kendall Henrietta Clark Ros Lawson John Fox Tracey Ellison Wendy Gray Sophie Emtage Sarah Dabro Bryson Hall Natalie Martin
Production location	Australian Broadcasting Corporation Studios
Running time	25–30 minutes
Production company	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Original release
Network	ABC Television
Release	18 July 1966 (1966-07-18) – present

Play School is an Australian preschool learning program, which has been produced by theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation since 1966.^[3][4] Its presenters include a mix of former school teachers as well as well-known stage and screen actors and musicians.^[2] The program has also helped launch the careers of numerous Australian actors and television presenters.^[5][6]

The toy family, which has changed over the decades, includes Big Ted^[7], Little Ted, Jemima, Humpty,^[8] Henny Penny, Daisy the cow, Korean twins Kim & Lisa,^[9][10] Banana, Kiya fromNoongar country^[11], Diddle the cat, Scrap the dog and more.^[12]

In 2003, it was estimated that 80% of Australian pre-school children under six watched the program at least once a week.^[13] In 2015, more than 10 million preschoolers tuned in to watchPlay School onABC iview. The program’s two apps had over 90 million sessions and 550 million screen views.^[14] Although audience reach is one indicator of success, the program’s primary aim since its earliest episodes has been to connect with children in ways that resonate with their everyday experiences.^[15][4]

It is the longest-running children's show in Australia^[16] and the second-longest-running children's show worldwide after British seriesBlue Peter which has broadcast since October 1958^[17][15]

Play School premiered on 18 July 1966 at 10.05am inNSW andVictoria only, but soon was broadcast around the country. The first episode was originally transmitted live^[5] and the first presenters on air were Diane Dorgan andAlister Smart.^[5]

In December that same year,Play School began afternoon transmissions as well as mornings, a practice that continues to this day.^[15] For the first decade,Play School was broadcast in black and white with the first colour episode broadcasting on June 28, 1976.^[18]

The show is based on theoriginal British version created byJoy Whitby, which started in 1964 and ended in 1988.^[5] The show's format was sold to the ABC early in the BBC version's run.

Play School was the third show to enter the Logies' Hall of Fame in its own right, afterFour Corners (1992) andNeighbours (2005). It was also the first children's show inducted into the hall of fame.^[19] During theLogie Awards of 2006, 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 thePlay School theme.

In 1992, a through-the-windows segment featured an early performance by the Australian children's musical groupthe Wiggles performing the songs "Get Ready to Wiggle" and "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear" at a day care centre.^[20]

On Monday 4 July 2011,Play School updated its opening titles using a combination ofstop motion andcomputer animation with a new arrangement of the theme song sung by presentersJay Laga'aia andJustine Clarke.^[21]

The Play School team make nine series each year, which includes 45-50 episodes. Each series takes around 17 weeks to make.^[5][22]

In 1987Play School had a mild makeover for its 21st anniversary on air; there was a mild cosmetic revamp to the set, with a new set of opening and closing titles with a new version of the theme song sung by presenters,Philip Quast andJennifer Ludlam.

The windows also changed to look like the ones used on the British version of the show, but this change was not well received and the windows reverted to their old style by 1988, which remained until the major 2000 revamp.

In 2006, after four decades since the first episode was recorded, 1,781 episodes ofPlay School had been made and over one million children were viewing the show each week.^[15] To commemorate the birthday, there was a freePlay School concert onThursday Island in theTorres Strait.^[23]

Play School was admitted to theLogie Hall of Fame in 2006,^[2] the program's 40th anniversary year. It is one of only five Australian television programs to be inducted.

In 2016,Play School celebrated 50 years on the air and had a month of celebrations.^[24] By the time of the anniversary, 2,250 episodes had been made and there were 1,821 songs in the Play School inventory.^[25][26] To mark its 50th anniversary, from 4 July the program presented a series of cover songs calledPlay School Celebrity Covers.^[27]

There have also been various spin-offs fromPlay School which have been played onABC Kids, typically much shorter in duration. These includeLittle 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,Play School Story Time: Languages,Play School What's Cooking,Play School When I Grow Up,Play School Down At The Beach,Play School World By Night,Play School Dinosaur Roar,Play School Interesting Insects, andPlay School Playtime With Pets.

The format of the show is activities, songs and games with either host passing back to each other at the end of their segment, and frequently joining each other in activities. Each day the presenters look at the calendar to find out which day of the week it is, read a story, and look through the windows.

From 1976 to 2000, they had a clock shaped like a rocket, and from 1966 to 2000, a clock shaped like a flower. The rocket clock was a popular addition toPlay School in 1976 with its distinctive space and band music and the lights under the clock with colourful stars covered flashing and rotation to see what's behind the clock and reveal the diorama of the day. The coloured timbered Flower Clock appeared in 1975 with its two flower shapes and the pot under the clock going round and round. It was more vibrant than the originalPerspex model and it was introduced along with the other changes to thePlay School set to make most of thecolour television which arrived in Australia the previous year.

The windows looked almost exactly like their British counterparts with a few slight differences. They changed the background behind the windows from black to white at the end of 1967 and they then changed it to light blue in 1985.

In 1992 there was a set revamp with new shelving and coloured tree shapes in the background; this change was done about midway through the 1992 production season, with earlier 1992 episodes retaining the older 1980s set.

Every week there is a common theme running through the program that the actors reflect upon during the episode; themes include Dinosaurs, Opposites, Zoo Animals, Food, Clothes, Games, Art, Hair, Hats, Shapes, Road Safety and vehicles. Each theme (or block of five episodes) were repeated twice a year on average for a period of six to seven years, before it was recycled and reused in new episodes. As funding was limited, only 45 new episodes were made each year, which means that nine weekly blocks shown each year were new episodes, the rest repeats.

In 2000, the show had a considerable revamp, with the rocket and flower clocks and the three windows put in storage^[28][29][30] in favour of a newer-stylePlay School. The clocks and windows were subsequently sent to theNational Museum of Australia. The main clock was now simply called the Play School Clock, which was controlled by one of the presenters standing at the top of the clock and turning a winding device, which caused the clue to the story on the trolley to slide down a slippery dip from 2000 to 2003, some episodes include the toys inside the trolley along with a book.

Then came the Hickory Dickory Clock which made its debut in 2001 featured clockwork resembling the "Hickory Dickory" nursery rhyme with a cat and the mouse running around the clock and then the mouse re-appearances as the little red doors under the clock opens. The train clock made its debut appearance in 2005 which resembles a train station with a clock above it and the train comes out of the tunnel and pulls up at the station with a clue to the story on the back of the train.

In 2017, the rocket clock made a comeback, featuring sliding doors with a clue to the story. The windows were also heavily changed. They were now built into a large rotating prop which was built underneath the clock (shown one themed week "Messy") and 'controlled' by one of the presenters pulling a lever back and forwards. The windows (now including a diamond window) would spin around and would slowly be eliminated as the window they would look through until they got to the fourth window and the camera would slowly zoom in and fade out into the fill. That was soon replaced by windows with animation where Jemima stands next to the round window; Little Ted stands next to the square window, Big Ted stands next to the diamond window, Humpty stands next to the arched window, and the window chosen goes through to pre-recorded footage. That was replaced by CGI craft-like animation where each window shakes with assorted theme tunes for the windows.

The program has historically had a musical director, who served as a pianist who played live music to accompany the presenters on each episode. Occasionally the pianist would make an on-camera appearance, one of the more well known beingWarren Carr who served as musical director for over 20 years.

The pianists who have worked onPlay School are:

ThePlay School theme song, "There's a Bear in There", was composed by Australian composerRichard Connolly, with lyrics by Rosemary Milne.

There's a bear in there,
  and a chair as well.
There are people with games
  and stories to tell.
Open wide, come inside;
  it's Play School.

In 2016, the song was remixed by Andre Butterworth aka Copycatt as the winner of theTriple J Play School remix competition which, along with two other remixes byKLP and Jondrette Den respectively, appeared on thePlay School albumFamous Friends: Celebrating 50 Years of Play School.^[31]

In 2017, "There's a Bear in There" was inducted into theNational Film and Sound Archive'sSounds of Australia registry.

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally asAIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

From the inception of the program, the producers ofPlay School have made efforts to promote equality, playful education, and a love of learning in its audience. Working onPlay School has come to be considered an unusually demanding and important job for some actors,^[39] because they feel they are becoming part of a generation of children's lives and providing a foundation for learning things that will last for life.

Play School's stated philosophy is to encourage a child "to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine".^[40] The duo (sometimes a trio when joined byhearing impaired actress Sofya Gollan) of presenters (now almost always a male-female pairing, but sometimes two females or two males) address the child directly and personally, so that every child watching the show feels that they are spending time with two people they know and can trust. Into this relationship are woven the stories, songs and activities that form the fabric of Australian children's culture.^[41]

On 31 May 2004, a "through the windows" segment narrated byBrenna Harding^[42] featured the sentence "My Mums are taking me and my friend Merryn to an amusement park". The clip was raised as controversial by sections of the media, and three federal ministers expressed dislike over the screening of the clip. The ABC responded, however, by saying that "Play School aims to reflect the diversity of Australian children, embracing all manner of race, religions and family situations". The producers of the segment also said the segment showed the girl being accompanied by her birth mother and her step mother (hence "two mums") and they believed most people would automatically assume the same. What was shown was taken by the public to be two lesbians taking their child and her friend to an amusement park.

A 2013 episode showedAlex Papps constructing some kind of contraption which involved a straw inserted through the side of a plastic bottle, which was then filled with hot water, accidentally resembling abong. This controversy arose again when the episode was replayed in 2015.^[43]

In October 2022,Courtney Act appeared on an episode of spin-offPlay School Story Time, where she readThe Spectacular Suit by Kat Patrick.^[44] Her appearance generated considerable media attention when SenatorAlex Antic took issue with the ABC inviting a drag queen to read a book to children about a girl who favoured wearing pants instead of a dress, which he described in aSenate Estimates hearing as "grooming".^[45] Questioning ABC managing directorDavid Anderson, Antic asked why the ABC was "grooming Australian children with this sort of adult content" and asking Anderson whether such content was contributing to a "gender dysphoria problem".^[45] Anderson denied this, while Greens senatorSarah Hanson-Young accused Antic of using "deeply offensive" language.^[46] Act defended her appearance onPlay School Story Time in an opinion piece she wrote inThe Sydney Morning Herald and during an appearance onThe Project.^[47][48]

Australian musicianDon Spencer is a noted presence on the program, having not only been a presenter for some 28 years but also releasing several related tie-in records. He also appeared with Diana Dorgan, the only presenter to appear on both the Australian and British versions. (AlthoughLorraine Bayly briefly appeared on the British version in 1972 as a storyteller)

Play School has had many presenters, however several remained (or remain) with the series for a long period. Australian actressBenita Collings (30 years and over 400 episodes) and British-Australian actorJohn Hamblin (29 years and over 350 episodes) are the longest-serving.^[49]

The program's long-term hosts have also included: Sofya Gollan (28 years),Simon Burke (26 years),Karen Pang (25 years),Andrew McFarlane,Justine Clarke (both 24 years) andNoni Hazlehurst (23 years).^[50]

On 8 July 2019, Aboriginal presenters Luke Carroll,Miranda Tapsell andHunter Page-Lochard hosted a special episode featuring anAcknowledgement of Country celebrating Australia's first people, sharing knowledge ofAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and highlighting the importance ofcaring for Country together. A new doll, "Kiya", was introduced to the program.^[51] Matthew Doyle played adidgeridoo.^[52]

While the show is written by preschool education experts, the presenters are all well-known actors or musicians who can connect well with the target audience.

This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2024)

The cast of numerous presenters, has featured the who's who of actors of stage and screen and musicians.^[50]

• List of Australian television series
• List of programs broadcast by ABC (Australian TV network)
• List of longest-running Australian television series
• Sesame Street
• Captain Kangaroo
• Play School (British TV series)
• Play School (New Zealand TV series)
• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
• Polka Dot Door
• Play Away
• Playdays
• Tikkabilla
• Zoom

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPlay School (Australian TV series).

• Play School atIMDb 

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