The Best TV Shows on PBS Kids

Growing up can be confusing! When Zach and Annie face difficulties in their lives, they go to special place called Plato’s Peak. There, Plato—a talking buffalo!—and his friends are always willing to lend a helping hand.

Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated cartoon that teaches nature and basic science concepts to preschoolers. The main characters include a yellow baby chick named Peep and his friends Quack, a teenaged blue drake, and Chirp, a baby red robin with pink eyelids. The current show, narrated by Joan Cusack is based on a National Film Board of Canada cartoon short of the same name, created in 1988 by Kaj Pindal and narrated by Peter Ustinov, and another short, "The Peep Show", from 1962. The original short comprised three 10-minute films featuring Peep, Quack, and Chirp as they meet a cat, a ladybug, a turtle and a frog who speaks from both sides of his mouth. The show is produced by WGBH in Boston and 9 Story Entertainment in Toronto, Canada. In the US, this show formerly aired on Discovery Kids as part of its commercial-free and sponsor-free "Ready, Set, Learn!" programming block. It now airs nationally in the United States on public television, distributed by American Public Television. In Canada, it airs on TVOntario. DVDs and books are also available for purchase. Peep and the Big Wide World is currently sponsored by the National Science Foundation in conjunction with WGBH-TV as part of an education and outreach program. The principal investigator is Kate Taylor, also of the ZOOM block. The National Science Foundation is the only permanent sponsor of the show. Northrop Grumman, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Toyota funded the show for only season two. The Discovery Kids Foundation funded the show for only season one. In 1999, the show was produced by Clumsy PriStar Television. The VHS copies are produced from Clumsy Pristar's home viewings.

Wishbone is a children's television show. The show's title character is a Jack Russell Terrier of the same name. Wishbone lives with his owner Joe Talbot in the fictional modern town of Oakdale, Texas. He daydreams about being the lead character of stories from classic literature He was known as "the little dog with a big imagination". Only the viewers and the characters in his daydreams can hear Wishbone speak. The characters from his daydreams see Wishbone as whatever famous character he is currently portraying and not as a dog.

The Cat in the Hat is back -- and this time, he's teaching Sally and her brother, Nick, some awfully nifty things to think about!

An eccentric schoolteacher takes her class on wondrous educational field trips with the help of a magical school bus.

Cyberchase is an American/Canadian television series for children ages 7-13. The series takes place in Cyberspace, a virtual world, and chronicles the adventures of three children, Jackie, Inez, and Matt, as they use math and problem solving skills to save Cyberspace and its leader, Motherboard, from The Hacker, the villain. Cyberchase has received generally positive reviews and won numerous awards. Thirteen/WNET New York and Nelvana produced the first five seasons, while Thirteen, in association with Title Entertainment, Inc. and WNET.ORG, produced seasons six through eight. The show airs on Public Broadcasting Service and PBS Kids GO! in the United States. All episodes have been released free on the Cyberchase Website. Since July 2010, Cyberchase has been put on hiatus, but was announced that starting in November, Cyberchase will be revived and start airing new episodes with its 9th season.

Luna the moon guides three friends -- a wombat, a butterfly and a frog -- as they visit new places around the world with their parents' traveling performance troupe.

On a special inner city street, the inhabitants—human and muppet—teach preschoolers basic educational and social concepts using comedy, cartoons, games, and songs.

The life of 4-year-old Daniel Tiger and his friends as they learn fun and practical strategies and skills necessary for growing and learning.

Ghostwriter is an American television program created by Liz Nealon and produced by the Children's Television Workshop and BBC One. It began airing on PBS on October 4, 1992, and the final episode aired on February 13, 1995. The series revolves around a close knit circle of friends from Brooklyn who solve neighborhood crimes and mysteries as a team of young detectives with the help of an invisible ghost named Ghostwriter. Ghostwriter can communicate with the kids only by manipulating whatever text and letters he can find and using them to form words and sentences. The series was filmed on location in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

The adventures of a larger-than-life red dog on Bridwell Island.

Clifford's Puppy Days is a short-lived animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS Kids from 15 September 2003 to 13 October 2004. A spin-off of the original Clifford the Big Red Dog, it is set before the original series, and features the adventures of Clifford during his puppy days before he grew. The series was cancelled in 2004 following low ratings. Reruns aired regularly following the cancellation, though they were halted in 2006. Since then, occasional reruns continue to air. In the UK the show aired on CBeebies.

Anne: The Animated Series was a half-hour animated television show produced by Sullivan Entertainment and created by writer/director/producer Kevin Sullivan. The series was developed for PBS and each episode contained an educational aspect. Each show had a problem for one or more of the show’s characters to face and solve. In conjunction with these problems, PBS “Ready-to-Learn” guides were created for teachers in America to use in the classrooms. The educational objectives of the show support a child’s development of his/her identity, reinforced through lateral thinking and the use of a child’s magnitude to absorb daily challenges, and it also appeared on some VHS tapes from Lyrick Studios, HiT Entertainment and Nest Family Entertainment. More recently, Sullivan Entertainment has re-written the “Ready-to-Learn” educational guides for the not-for-profit organization Free the Children. Free the Children will implement these Anne Lesson Plans in the Kenyan Schools they have built and hope to take them to other countries they work in around the world.

Join Buddy, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and his adoptive Pteranodon family on a whimsical voyage through prehistoric jungles, swamps, volcanoes and oceans, as they unearth basic concepts in life science, natural history and paleontology.

Barney & Friends is an American children's television series aimed at children from ages 2 to 5. The series, which first aired on April 6, 1992, features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus rex who conveys educational messages through songs and small dance routines with a friendly, optimistic attitude.

Nature Cat can’t wait to get outside for a day of backyard nature excursions and bravery! But there’s one problem; he’s still a house cat with no real instincts for nature. That doesn’t stop this passionate and curious feline, who loves learning and experiencing all he can about nature.

The adventures of 4-year-old Chloe with her friends and toys who go on magical adventures in Chloe's closet. Along the way, kids learns lessons about such topics as friends, cooperation and sharing.

Full of endless energy, Malik, Zadie and Zeke run, bounce, roll and romp, always on the lookout for interesting Treeborhood problems to solve. Malik is thoughtful, considerate and sometimes set in his ways (which can be a good thing when you’re problem-solving). His speedy, adventurous younger sister, Zadie, is a brainstormer extraordinaire, with ideas that range from silly to very smart. Zeke is the youngest sibling — a funny, curious cuddle-bug who loves to play and explore. Super, their grandmother, is the Superintendent and unofficial “Mayor” of the Treeborhood.

Inspired by Manzano’s own childhood, ALMA’S WAY centers on 6-year-old Alma Rivera, a proud, confident Puerto Rican girl who lives in the Bronx with her family among a diverse group of close-knit friends and community members. Infused with Manzano’s humor and grounded in a social and emotional curriculum, the series will give children ages 4-6 the tools to find their own answers, express what they think and feel, and recognize and respect the unique perspective of others.

Earth science and astronomy take center stage in this animated series. Two neighborhood kids -- Sean and Sydney -- befriend the new kid on the block, Jet Propulsion, who just happens to be an alien from planet Bortron 7. Together they explore the solar system and how it affects the planet, while also learning about friendship and teamwork.