Richard Scarry's Best Busy People Video Ever!
Educational DVD to Teach About Community Workers
Jun 29, 2009
One in the series of Richard Scarry videos adapted by Random House from his classic Busytown books, Richard Scarry's Best Busy People Video Ever! introduces preschoolers to the many jobs that community workers can hold. Young viewers will learn that they can choose between many kinds of work to do when they grow up and that if they try hard enough, they can become anything that they want.
Richard Scarry's Best Busy People Video Ever! Plot
This educational video adapts several stories from the classic children's picture book Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? [Random House, 1968]. A plot about the students in Miss Honey's class considering what they would like to do when they grow up ties the different segments together.
By showing the children playing at jobs before imagining themselves grown-up and working at these jobs (for example, the boy who wants to be a baker is making mud pies), this preschool DVD models how an interest a child viewer has today can develop into an actual career later. Then, while presenting each job, the video teaches science and social studies content such as how people make bread and how the postal system works.
Teach About Community Workers with Richard Scarry Video
This preschool video covers a full range of jobs and avoids gender stereotyping by showing girls taking active positions like pilot and house builder. Just as in the original Richard Scarry books, each segment of this educational video teaches and entertains kids through simple explanations and humor.
The job information presented to the preschool audience answers questions such as:
- What does a baker do? Freddie Fox stars in a segment inspired by the "Where Bread Comes From" story from Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? and imagines himself as a grown-up baker. Young viewers will learn step-by-step instructions for making bread and what yeast does.
- What does a truck driver or delivery person do? Rhonda Raccoon imagines what it would be like to be a truck driver and picks up a pie to deliver from Baker Freddie Fox. This illustrates for kids how different jobs relate to one another.
- What does a fire fighter do? In a segment inspired by "Firemen to the Rescue," Ralph Pig models the work of a fire fighter, checking his fire fighting equipment to make sure it is working properly and then putting out a fire. Again this preschool video shows how community workers help each other by having Ralph put out a fire at Baker Freddie Fox's bakery.
- What does a farmer do? In a segment inspired by "Everyone Is a Worker" and "The Story of Seeds and How They Grow," Gary Goat thinks about what it would be like to be a farmer. This story teaches kids both science content (what plants need to grow) and simple economics (Farmer Goat eats some of the crop and sells the rest at market for money).
- What does a grocer do? The following segment, also inspired by "Everyone Is a Worker," continues the story of what happens to crops. Huckle Cat imagines what it would be like to be a grocer and teaches children how marketplace economics work by buying Farmer Goat's corn and then selling it to Mrs. Bunny.
- What does a house builder do? In a segment inspired by "Building a New House," Lily Bunny imagines herself as a general contractor overseeing the construction of a house, aided by workers such as Jason the Mason, Jake the Plumber, Angela the Electrician, Drew the Drywaller, and Peter Painter.
- What does a doctor do? A segment inspired by "A Visit to the Hospital" describes Dr. Larry Lion's busy day and what happens at the doctor's office.
- What do postal workers do? Olive Owl stars in a segment based on "Mailing a Letter" that shows the work the employees of the postal service do to carry letters to people.
- What do travel agents and pilots do? Sally Cat stars in a segment about being a travel agent like her mother, while Hilda Hippo dreams of piloting a plane.
- What does a ship's captain do? In the final story, Bruno Bear thinks about the work it takes to captain a huge ship across the ocean.
Richard Scarry Books About Jobs in a Community
Along with What Do People Do All Day?, other Richard Scarry books can also supplement the material presented in this preschool DVD. For example, Lowly Worm models how to perform a different job in each of the stories collected in Richard Scarry's Busiest People Ever [Random House, 1976], and Busy Busy Town by Richard Scarry [Golden Book, 1994] organizes explanations of different kinds of community work in subsections with headings such as "Woodworkers" and "At the Service Station."
Used together, the educational video Richard Scarry's Best Busy People Video Ever! and Richard Scarry's Busytown books can help children understand in a fun and comprehensive way the kinds of work people in a community do.
Preschoolers that enjoy this Richard Scarry video will also enjoy animated television series based on Richard Scarry's books, such as The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Busytown Mysteries (Hurray for Huckle!), as well as other educational Richard Scarry DVDs, such as Richard Scarry's Best Learning Songs Ever!
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