Here's Humphrey

YMA recommendation

Approved as non-violent media

Most suitable age range:

2-4

Availability

At time of review, screening on DVD.

Many items on the list of non-violent media may be available for either purchase or hire. Click here for some ideas of where to look for them.

About the program

Year of production	1965-ongoing
Classification advice
Rating	G
Consumer advice lines	None
Duration	30 minutes

Other information
Country of origin	Australia
Production Company	Banksia productions

Synopsis

Humphrey is a friendly, mute bear who loves children and lives in a vibrant tree house in the “magic forest”. Humphrey is joined by an adult friend who narrates his adventures, offers suggestions and advice and is always on hand for a song and dance.

Points to consider

Words of caution

None

Positive aspects

uses interaction and song to help kids learn to tell the time
enhances educational concepts through the use of repetition
promotes early maths concepts through counting, games and identifying differences
demonstrates good manners in a variety of situations as Humphrey and his friends are always courteous and polite
encourages the arts through singing, dancing and daily activities.

Questions to ask

The show provides parents with multiple avenues to extend their children’s knowledge and development in a variety of areas such as talking with them about different aspects of time and creating their own simple clocks to help reinforce the concepts.
Through play children learn about the world around them and parents can give children further insights by discussing with them certain elements of the community or by setting up a “shop” like Humphrey did, to get a behind the scenes idea of how businesses work.