Teamwork makes the dream work (by Ian)

 When my sisters were younger, they had an incredible imagination. They used to picture different scenarios taking place at home or at the park, and they interpreted a big variety of roles to play. I remember my parents hiding secret gifts all around the house for my sisters and I to discover. We played detectives and celebrated by sharing the hidden presents after finding them. We were curious, creative and free. We learnt that sharing and playing all together as a team was important to develop a good relationship. Nevertheless, it was not an easy task for my parents to provide such good values to us.

There are plenty of methods for parents to use in order to transmit good values to children, and animated TV shows seem to be one of the most popular methods so far. Since their creation, most animated TV shows have taken the job of providing entertainment while implicitly transmitting values to children, and 2004 Backyardigans makes the work seem effortless. The popular show is a CGI-animated musical adventure about their protagonists Uniqua, Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha and Austin. The characters rely on their imaginations in order to picture different scenarios in their backyard and to embark on different adventures in each episode. Of course, singing is also involved during these escapades. The show does such a great job at providing good values to children that only one episode can be enough for parents to be convinced of allowing their kids to watch the programme. Throughout its first episode titled ‘Pirate Treasure’, Backyardigans showcases the power of good values to children, such as teamwork and sharing.

The episode begins with Uniqua and Austin playing the roles of pirates in their shared backyard. Uniqua calls herself the ‘patchy-eyed’ pirate while Austin has a hook for a hand. Both protagonists use their imagination to transport themselves into a ship called ‘Jolly Roger’ and to start their adventure by navigating on sea with half a map of a pirate treasure. While navigating, Uniqua and Austin cross paths with other pirates: Tyrone and Pablo. After both duos land on a deserted island and meet with bittersweet feelings against each other, they find out that they have the same goal and that their halves of a map align perfectly. Austin comes up with the idea of forming a group of pirates and sharing their halves of the map in order to find the treasure quickly. The values of teamwork and sharing are explicitly presented to children in this key moment of the episode. Children will be able to learn that working with other kids as a team in order to solve obstacles gets the work done in a more practical way while also having fun. Moreover, children will get to know that sharing their toys with other kids can bring them the opportunity to make new friends too.

Throughout the development of the episode, the group of pirates find a huge ‘X’ on the deserted island and eventually discover the buried treasure: a huge diamond. In a matter of seconds, they find themselves in another complication. How on earth could they break a diamond into fair pieces for each member of the pirate group? Austin proposes not to break the diamond. Instead, they can share it as it is in order to keep its original value. All the members of the group agree as they can become the richest pirates in the world by keeping the diamond in its initial form. Making decisions by taking into account the opinions of every member of the group is also a great example of teamwork, and children will be able to recognize that example in this conclusive moment of the episode. The pirates finally agree to keep the diamond, to share it between all members of the team and to bury it again on the island through a democratic method: saying ‘Arr!’ all together.

Backyardigans’ first episode ‘Pirate Treasure’ ends up being an incredible solution to parents for the transmission of good values to children. Kids can get the opportunity to recognise the power of sharing with their friends and the importance of teamwork in order to achieve life goals with the very first episode of this show.