Hey Duggee
Season 1, Episode 42: "The Birdwatching Badge" (7 minutes)
UK: Studio Aka
CBeebies, Thursday 23 November, 15:50
After the eldritch horrors of Baby Jake, I was much relieved to see the adorable Hey Duggee.
Duggee is the leader of The Squirrel Club, a copyright-friendly version of the Scouts. From what I can gather from this one episode, each episode revolves around the children earning a new badge. It's presented in a lovely, appealing children's-book-illlustration style, and although the animation is in a modern style, in a way the program harkens back to an older era: it's gentle, it's well-paced, it's quiet, and it doesn't mind taking a breath every now and then.
All of the characters are animals, but it's notable that the main character, Duggee, cannot talk. Instead he barks; however it doesn't impede his ability to communicate. I wonder about the reasoning behind this; perhaps he represents people with disabilities who can't speak? It is a very inclusive show: I understand that there is a gay couple of crabs in some episodes, and the crocodile in the scout group has an elephant parent, and the showrunners have confirmed that he is adopted.
Birdwatching badge
The episode begins with Duggee looking through a pair of binoculars. The narrator (expertly voiced by Alexander Armstrong) questions what he is doing: Duggee shows that he is birdwatching. The narrator asks whether it is fun, to which Duggee nods. The narrator continues to comment like this throughout the episode, questioning how the characters are thinking and feeling, helping the young viewers to understand what is going on.
The Squirrels (the children in the scout group: crocodile, octopus, mouse, hippo and piglet) watch what Duggee is doing, and get excited: "A BIRD!" This makes the bird fly away. The narrator explains that "if you want to go birdwatching, then you have to be very quiet." The children look through the binoculars and find a chicken; they forget to be quiet, the chicken lays an egg out of shock, and the narrator reminds them again to be quiet, because noise frightens the birds.
On the third occasion, it is only the piglet who forgets and accidentally shouts out. He remembers the rule about being quiet, and says "sorry".
Finally, they observe some birds building a nest; however, Duggee sneezes, which destroys the nest. This makes Mr Bird angry, and Mrs Bird upset. Duggee apologises and offers to build a replacement nest; and the Squirrels say that they will help. The narrator asks the children what would be a suitable material for the nest (which is an important part of the science and design and technology elements of the KS1 curriculum). The children decide on twigs, and quickly build a large, luxury nest for the birds. The birds are grateful, and in exchange they let Duggee and the children use them as subjects for their birdwatching. Duggee awards the children a birdwatching badge each, the children hug him, and the narrator congratulates them. Finally, the children's parents arrive to pick them up, and the narrator says goodbye.
Enquiring minds
I think this episode does a good job at encouraging children to have enquiring minds, and also encourages observation, which is are the two key elements of scientific thinking which are encouraged by the curriculum. I think it's a perfect example of what the BBC call "education with a small e": educating children without being explicit about it. I think this is what I want to aim for with my own programme, as it makes for a much more entertaining programme, and I believe that children might learn better via this type of method rather than shoving facts down their throats (which they get enough of at school!).
There are also some lovely social elements such as diversity (represented by different animal species), taking account of the feelings of others, apologizing when you have made a mistake, and so on.
Absolutely fantastic, and I will definitely be watching more of this.
Available to watch online until 23 December 2017
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