Just launched: free lifetime premium for the first 1,000 members to activate their account.

Log in Start free

Behaviour

Using tools

Using tools is how young children discover that their hands can change the world. A spoon, a hammer, a magnifying glass, a paintbrush: each one turns an idea into an action. A calm, well-made series about tools shows the whole sequence, picking the right thing, holding it properly, and seeing what happens, so a child can follow the logic instead of just the outcome.

For 2-year-olds

At two, a child is still learning what their hands can do. Tools mean the everyday ones: a spoon, a brush, a watering can, a toy hammer. Look for a series that shows one object at a time, used slowly and clearly, with plenty of room to watch a hand grip and move before anything else happens. Repetition helps enormously here; seeing the same action again is what makes it stick.

Bing

Bing

Voo Voo

recommended age co-watching from 2

At breakfast, Bing's toy car knocks over a box of Krispos and spills them across the kitchen floor. With his carer Flop, Bing uses the vacuum cleaner Voo Voo to clear the mess, but the car gets sucked up along with the cereal. Flop opens a hatch in Voo Voo to retrieve the car and reminds Bing that accidents happen and to be careful what gets cleaned up. Bing recaps the morning to the viewer at the end.

Get Rolling with Otis

Get Rolling with Otis

Jumping Daisy

recommended age co-watching from 2

On a dairy farm's hot competition day, a young calf named Daisy is determined to enter the high-jump contest. When the heat overwhelms her and then a stuck barn door traps her inside, her friend Otis the tractor fetches water and works through several tools to free her in time. Daisy reaches the ring and clears the high jump, becoming the first cow ever to win, cheered on by her mother and friends. The episode closes with the whole farm celebrating and the reminder that everyone there helps each other.

See all Using tools shows for 2-year-olds

For 3-year-olds

Three-year-olds start to connect a tool to a purpose. They notice that a shovel is for digging and a lid is for closing, and they want to try it themselves. Helpful series at this age name the tool out loud and show a small, complete job from start to finish. A little trial and error is good, as long as the character keeps going and the fix stays simple enough to follow.

Phoebe & Jay

Phoebe & Jay

The Green Pepper

recommended age co-watching from 2

Grandma trusts Phoebe and Jay to look after the community garden's first bell pepper until it ripens from green to orange. Using a moisture meter, a watering can and plenty of patience, the children keep the soil just right through sun and rain while shooing a hungry squirrel named Harold. When they realize Harold only wants the pepper because his own food got soaked, they build him a dry home for his acorns. The pepper ripens, they pick it, and share a salad with a neighbor.

Curious George

Curious George

Up a Tree

recommended age co-watching from 3

In this episode, George decides he wants his own home in a tree and sets out to build a treehouse near the country house. He sketches a plan, tests materials, and gathers wood and nails from neighbours, working through problems with the floor, walls and roof largely on his own. When the Man with the Yellow Hat and the neighbours realise George borrowed a wall and nails without asking, George has to take the house apart and give everything back. He then rebuilds it properly and finally gets to make his own house rules.

Phoebe & Jay

Phoebe & Jay

Paper Rocketship

recommended age co-watching from 2

Siblings Phoebe and Jay are set to watch a real rocket launch from their apartment building, but rain cancels it. Their neighbour Mr. Gurley shows them his record paper airplane that flew twenty feet, and teaches them to measure distance in feet. The children fold and launch their own paper rockets again and again, measuring each flight and adjusting the design. After several short attempts they finally fly one thirty-two feet, setting a new building record and earning a spot in the showcase.

Pat & Mat

Pat & Mat

Bees

recommended age co-watching from 2

Two neighbors are about to enjoy bread with honey when a swarm of bees appears in the garden. They take turns trying to chase the swarm away, first with a sheet, then with a butterfly net, then with makeshift beekeeper veils, getting stung in the process. After regrouping, they decide to build a proper wooden beehive from scratch, bait it with honey, and lure the bees inside. They retreat into the house and finally sit down together to eat their bread and honey.

Alma's Way

Alma's Way

Alma's Rescue Repair

recommended age co-watching from 2

Alma, a girl from the Bronx, watches her Papi head off to rescue a squirrel and decides to start her own service, 'Alma's Rescue Repair.' She fixes a friend's wind-blown music stand and a neighbour's tomato tower, but hauling her tools back and forth is tiring and they keep falling off her wagon. After seeing how Mr. Ramirez keeps all his tools in his shoe shop, Alma sets up her repair service at home so people come to her. The episode ends with her helping again from her organised home base.

Handy Manny

Handy Manny

Stretch's Cookies

recommended age co-watching from 2

Manny and his team of talking tools drive through their town and stop to help Mrs. Portillo, whose new oven is too big to fit through her door. She needs it working to bake her ombligos cookies for the town baking contest. The group tries several approaches, the front door, a window, cutting the doorway, and the garage, learning from each failure before measuring the oven and removing a set of doors to wheel it into the kitchen. The episode ends with the oven installed and everyone sharing Mrs. Portillo's cookies.

Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show

Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show

Jack's Surprise for Mr. Prickles

recommended age co-watching from 3

In the town of Clover Grove, cheerful host Jack learns that his new neighbor Mr. Prickles is homesick and misses the garden at his old home. Jack teams up with his friend Bibi, Chef and a young helper named Hugo to secretly plant a new garden full of tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini, plus a painted rock gnome named Terry. Songs about kindness thread through the gardening, all set in a bright cafe and backyard. At the reveal Mr. Prickles is delighted and says his house finally feels like a home.

Do, Re & Mi

Do, Re & Mi

Curious Birdious

recommended age co-watching from 3

Do, an owl who cannot fly, is woken by a banging, popping beat coming from the top of his tree and decides he has to find out what is making it. He turns down offers from his friends Re and Mi to fly up and look, builds a catapult and then a rope lift in his workshop, and tests both. When the lift leaves him stuck on a branch, he asks his friends for help and they carry him the rest of the way. At the top he finds Conga and Bongo building a treetop roller coaster, and everyone joins in to finish it.

Curious George

Curious George

Hoop Dupe

recommended age co-watching from 3

George wants to join the big hoop-a-thon at Luke and Ada's, but he cannot get the hang of hooping and his hoop rolls away across the countryside. He chases it past a pond and a farm, meeting a squirrel, a duck, Leslie the cow and Bo the sheepdog along the way. Each stop leads George to a new way to use the hoop, from reaching with a broom to riding waves to making music. He finally reaches the hoop-a-thon and shows that there is more than one way to hoop.

Curious George

Curious George

George Gets Slimed

recommended age co-watching from 3

George the monkey finds a slug on the wall and, curious about how its slime lets it stick, sets out with his friend Steve to make slime of their own. They follow a recipe with glue, water and borax, then test whether the slime can stick them to the ceiling, stretch across the room, or do anything useful. Each experiment fails or leads somewhere unexpected, and slime ends up spread across the apartment. When the Man with the Yellow Hat comes home and joins in, George realises slime is simply for having fun.

See all Using tools shows for 3-year-olds

For 4-year-olds

By four, children plan before they act. They choose a tool because they have a goal in mind, and they can hold that goal while working. Look for stories where a character faces a real problem, thinks about what would help, and adjusts when the first attempt does not work. This is also the age where safety and care register: putting things back, handling sharp or heavy items with an adult nearby.

Tumble Leaf

Tumble Leaf

Fig Finds A Shadow

recommended age co-watching from 2

Fig, a young blue fox, finds a flashlight and notices a shadow he does not understand. With a hedgehog friend he heads into a dark cave to explore, shining the light to make shadows grow, shrink, and change shape. They pass glowing crystals and try making different shadow figures along the way. By the end, Fig works out that the mysterious shape is simply his own shadow.

Tumble Leaf

Tumble Leaf

Springy Surprise

recommended age co-watching from 2

Fig, a small blue fox, lives in a colourful forest world of tall mossy trees and a beached blue ship. After finding a coiled spring in his finding tree, he spends the episode discovering how it bounces and stretches through playful experiments. He then uses what he learns to help his friends gather and carry their harvest of fruits and vegetables. The episode ends with a cheerful celebration among the forest friends.

Tumble Leaf

Tumble Leaf

Popcorn Picture Show

recommended age co-watching from 2

Fig, a young fox, finds a long loopy tube and joins his friend Maple and his companion Stick to gather popcorn for the evening picture show. At Popcorn Canyon the sun pops the kernels, but the light popcorn floats away whenever Fig tries to toss it down to the bowls below. After watching a mother cuckoo carry popcorn through the tree to feed her chicks, Fig realises he can use his tube to send the popcorn straight into the bowls. With the bowls full, everyone heads home for the firefly-lit picture show.

Tumble Leaf

Tumble Leaf

Beat Of The Drumsticks

recommended age co-watching from 2

Fig, a small blue fox, discovers a pair of drumsticks at his home on a beached ship and sets out to find things to drum on. He travels through the garden and into the woods, tapping rocks, logs, pots and other objects to hear the different sounds they make. Friends join him along the way and add their own sounds to the mix. The episode ends with the group drumming out a beat together.

Tumble Leaf

Tumble Leaf

Missing Muffin

recommended age co-watching from 2

Fig, a blue fox, discovers that a muffin has gone missing from his home, an old ship beached on a wooded island. With a magnifying glass in hand he turns detective and follows a trail of pink crumbs across sandy dunes and mossy forest clearings. Along the way he examines clues up close and gets help from his friends. The search ends happily when the muffin is found and the friends come together.

Llama Llama

Llama Llama

Last Day of Summer

recommended age co-watching from 2

On the last day of summer vacation, a young llama plans to fly kites in the park with his friends Nellie, Luna and Euclid. When his kite rips he repairs it, and when rain arrives the group invents indoor summer with an indoor beach, indoor kite flying and a homemade sunset. Mama helps Llama Llama see that a changed plan can still be a good day. The sun returns, and everyone flies kites and watches the real sunset together from Grandpa and Graham's boat.

Zerby Derby

Zerby Derby

Sand Slide

recommended age co-watching from 3

Two toy cars, Zack and Rex, want to play in the Zerby Town sand pit, but it is too small, so they set out to haul sand back from a larger pit deep in the forest. When carrying it turns out to be hard, they keep inventing new methods, including a bark scoop, until the pit is big enough. In the second story, Lily blocks the trail to stop cars from crushing a flower, and the friends test a rock and then a dirt mound until they find a way to keep both the flower and the path clear. Both stories end with the problems solved through repeated tries.

Doc McStuffins

Doc McStuffins

Rescue Ronda, Ready for Take-off

recommended age co-watching from 2

Doc's toys are playing basketball in the backyard when Chili the snowman gets stuck up in the hoop and the rescue helicopter Rhonda crashes trying to help. Doc examines Rhonda, and after seeing Luca's mother remove a splinter from his finger, she realizes a twig from the same bush is jamming Rhonda's propellers. Doc removes the twig and reassures the nervous helicopter, who then flies up and rescues Chili. The episode ends with the toys celebrating the successful rescue and the repaired helicopter.

Doc McStuffins

Doc McStuffins

A Bad Case of the Pricklethorns

recommended age co-watching from 2

Doc McStuffins runs her pretend clinic in the backyard, where the boys' inflatable toy Boppy keeps springing leaks. After patching and pumping him up once, Doc retraces what happened, realises the rose bush thorns are to blame, and diagnoses a 'bad case of the prickle thorns.' She explains how the thorns cause the holes and advises everyone to keep away from sharp things. The episode ends with Will and Donnie happily playing with a repaired Boppy well away from the roses.

Helpsters

Helpsters

Musical Mabels

recommended age co-watching from 3

Cody and the Helpsters, monsters who love to solve problems, run a shop where a band called the Mabels arrives in a panic after a black hole swallows their instruments before a concert. The Helpsters make a plan, work out what each member plays, and build a washtub bass and bucket drums from everyday objects. When the singer loses his voice, a young fan named Scatter overcomes his nerves and sings in his place. The episode ends with the whole group performing together at the concert.

See all Using tools shows for 4-year-olds

For 5-year-olds

Five-year-olds enjoy tools that extend their senses and reach, like measuring tapes, magnifying glasses, maps and simple machines. They can follow multi-step work and understand that some tools need practice before they feel easy. Series that reward patience serve this age well, showing a character improving over time rather than succeeding instantly. Explanations of how something works are welcome now, not too much for them.

Molly of Denali

Molly of Denali

Steam Bath Ch'oondaii

recommended age co-watching from 2

Molly, an Alaska Native girl, wants to help her mother recover from a cold so she can pass the annual medical exam she needs to keep flying. With advice from Auntie Midge and her mom, Molly and her friend set out to build a traditional steam bath, first trying shop-style instructions, then realising those don't fit their village or their age and returning to Auntie Midge for the traditional willow-frame method. They gather volcanic rocks with Grandpa Nat's help, build the bath in clear steps, and the warm steam helps mom breathe and feel close to her own mother. The episode closes with a short 'Ask Molly' segment exploring real Alaska Native houses at a heritage center.

Molly of Denali

Molly of Denali

Big Dreams And Blue Skies

recommended age co-watching from 2

Molly, an Alaska Native girl, hears how a pilot named Ellen Peniak inspired her mother to fly. When the library's books leave women pilots out, Molly digs deeper online and through Auntie Midge's stories, then flies along on a mail run where her mom lands safely by reading the wind off a lake. Together they write a booklet about Ellen and two other women pilots and leave it at the library so others can learn about them.

Molly of Denali

Molly of Denali

Tusk, Tusk, and More Tusk

recommended age co-watching from 2

Molly and her friends Tooey and Trini discover a large tusk buried in the mud near the river in their Alaska village. Grandpa Nat and an archaeologist named Olin Benedict identify it as a woolly mammoth tusk and explain the Ice Age, permafrost, and how the warming climate erodes the riverbank. The children help free the tusk through trial and error, measure it, photograph it, and give it the Gwich'in name 'Trilzok', meaning gentle. The episode ends with a separate live-action segment where children visit a museum to learn whether dinosaurs once lived in Alaska.

Molly of Denali

Molly of Denali

The Qyah Ice Classic

recommended age co-watching from 2

In a small Alaskan village, Molly and her friends start their own Ice Classic, setting up a tripod on the frozen river and guessing when the spring ice will break and topple it. Each child uses a different method, looking up past dates, measuring the ice, watching for signs of spring, and building a model, while their friend Oscar helps everyone without entering himself. In the end Oscar wins by combining all the information his friends gathered, and they share the ice cream prize together. A closing live-action segment shows real children in Nenana explaining the real Ice Classic tradition.

Molly of Denali

Molly of Denali

Sticker Shock

recommended age co-watching from 2

In the Alaskan village, Tui borrows his older brother's label maker and starts naming all his belongings, then labels seats at the shared picnic table so friends know where to sit. When Molly is left with nowhere to sit, the labelling causes a falling out, and the device jams and breaks. The children fix it by following the troubleshooting steps in the instruction manual, and Jay explains that shared spaces belong to everyone. The episode closes with Molly answering a viewer's question and a live-action trip where children go dog sledding.

Doc McStuffins

Doc McStuffins

Engine Nine, Feelin' Fine!

recommended age co-watching from 2

Doc runs a pretend clinic for toys with her friends Lambie, Stuffy and Hallie. When her brother Donnie's fire engine, Lenny, keeps running out of water and gets set aside, Doc gives him a checkup and works out that he is dehydrated from the heat. She teaches that drinking enough water keeps you healthy, and Lenny perks up. Donnie is thrilled to find his favorite toy working again, and the siblings play together.

Doc McStuffins

Doc McStuffins

Out of the Box

recommended age co-watching from 2

Doc McStuffins runs her pretend clinic where toys come to life. When Little Jack, a jack-in-the-box, can no longer pop up, Doc gives him a checkup while his father Big Jack and friends Lambie and Stuffy stay close. She discovers his clothes are stuck in his music box, frees them, and he pops again. The episode ends with Doc surprising her friend Emmy by showing the repaired toy.

Sago Mini Friends

Sago Mini Friends

Follow That Squeak

recommended age co-watching from 2

Harvey the dog is ready to play T-ball but cannot find his favorite squeaky ball. With his friends, he follows squeak after squeak around town, discovering each one belongs to something else, like Hugbot's arms or Blueberry's bike wheel. When he fears the ball is gone forever, a friend spots it stuck high in a tree. The friends combine a bike wheel, knitting needles, and teamwork to get it down, and everyone celebrates with a thank-you song.

Gigantosaurus

Gigantosaurus

Saving Ayati

recommended age co-watching from 4

In a prehistoric jungle, a group of young dinosaur friends is playing games when their giant long-necked friend Ayati topples over and cannot get back up. Led by the inventive Mazu, they try one plan after another, tickling her, pulling with vines, and levering a boulder off a cliff, each of which fails. In the end they lure the enormous Gigantosaurus with a walnut, and he knocks the boulder loose in a way that finally lifts Ayati to her feet. The friends celebrate as Ayati heads home to the jungle before nightfall.

Doug Unplugs

Doug Unplugs

X Marks the Bot

recommended age co-watching from 2

A young robot named Doug joins his friend Emma, who is playing Pirate Captain, for a treasure hunt that moves from her attic bedroom to a sandy beach. Together with Emma's dad they dig through the sand, turning up shells, broken binoculars and a buried surfboard instead of gold. When Emma feels defeated, the children realize the litter they collected can be rebuilt at the Rebots booth into a spyglass, compass and treasure chest. The episode ends with Doug giving Emma a shell he shaped himself and both agreeing they had a treasure of a day.

See all Using tools shows for 5-year-olds

For 6-year-olds

At six, children can build, invent and adapt. They combine tools, repurpose objects, and take genuine pride in making something that works. Look for stories with real projects, shared problem solving, and characters who disagree about the best method and talk it through. Failure handled calmly matters most at this age; seeing something break, get examined and get fixed teaches more than a smooth success ever could.

Craig of the Creek

Craig of the Creek

Monster in the Garden

recommended age co-watching from 4

Craig and his siblings spend a weekend at their grandparents' house, where granddad's vegetable garden is being mysteriously eaten. Craig teams up with granddad to build a fence and set traps, imagining the culprit is a shapeshifting monster. After each plan fails, he patiently watches the garden at night and discovers the real thief is a deer slipping through a hole in the fence. Grandma, a city councilwoman, calls to have the fence holes patched, and the mystery is solved.

Pinecone & Pony

Pinecone & Pony

This Calls for Courage

recommended age co-watching from 4

Pinecone, a young warrior, sets out on her first solo mission with her pony to gather wild vegetables, refusing the Help Me Horn her dad offers so she can prove her independence. After getting lost, the pair tumble into an underground burrow where a large troll named Lichen seems ready to eat them, but he turns out to be lonely and kind, hiding away out of shame for needing help himself. Pinecone realises she should have called for help sooner, and the troll's booming bellow finally summons her dad, mom, and Lichen's own friends. Everyone reunites safely and heads off to share a salad, with the troll rejoining his community.

Doc McStuffins

Doc McStuffins

Blast Off!

recommended age co-watching from 2

Doc McStuffins fixes Star Blazer Zero, a toy alien astronaut who falls apart when his rocket crashes in the backyard. She reattaches his parts and gives him a checkup at her clinic, but he breaks again during a test flight. Remembering how the family wore seatbelts in the car, Doc builds Zero a seatbelt so he can fly safely. Zero blasts off without falling apart and returns to Carlos ready to fly home.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Captain Mouse

recommended age co-watching from 3

A small mouse decides he wants a bath, and one idea leads to another until he becomes Captain Mouse setting off on a boat adventure with his friends Cat and Pig. They paddle across a lake, discover an island, and share a picnic, then find their boat has floated away. Working together, they build a raft and rig a picnic blanket as a sail to get themselves home. Oliver, the boy, returns from school to find they solved it on their own, and the story circles back to a bubble bath.

Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show

Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show

Jack and the Fur-Ever Home Finders

recommended age co-watching from 3

Host Jack and his friend Sonia run a pet adoption fair in the town of Clover Grove, aiming to find forever homes for every animal there. Working as the self-named Forever Home Finders, they move the pets to a busy cafe, cook treats, and make signs so neighbours will come to adopt. One by one a fish, hamster, bunny, cat and dogs go home with townsfolk. The episode ends with Jack adopting the last puppy himself and naming him Happy, followed by a closing kindness song.

Doc McStuffins

Doc McStuffins

One Note Wonder

recommended age co-watching from 2

Doc and her friends form a backyard band, but Alma's xylophone sounds wrong because a key is broken. Doc takes it to her clinic, where the toy version, Xyla, comes to life and is diagnosed with a loose key. When Stuffy accidentally knocks the key loose and it is lost, Doc comforts Xyla with the story of losing her own baby tooth, then finds a matching key and repairs her. The instrument is returned to Alma and the band happily plays 'Twinkle, Twinkle' again.

Mira, Royal Detective

Mira, Royal Detective

The Case of the Vanishing Vessels

recommended age co-watching from 2

Mira, a royal detective, and her friends race handmade toy boats down a mountain stream in the kingdom of Jalpur when all the boats suddenly disappear. With her father Papa and her mongoose companions, Mira follows clues into a network of secret underground tunnels, reads an old map, and rides a raft through a whirlpool and over a waterfall. She works out that a repeated elephant crest links the tunnels to the palace, and the group heads there. The boats are found spouting from the palace fountain, and the case is closed.

Pinecone & Pony

Pinecone & Pony

Lance or Not

recommended age co-watching from 4

Pinecone accidentally breaks the lance she built with her mom, Queen Kimya, just before the craft fair. With her companion Pony, she sets off on a quest through the town, visiting a lance shop and a wizard to secretly replace it before her mother notices. Each attempt falls short, and the magical copy never quite matches the original. At the fair Pinecone tells the truth, and her mom responds with a hug and the promise that they can make new lances together.

Curious George

Curious George

Camp George

recommended age co-watching from 3

When Marco misses summer camp after catching a cold, George decides to recreate the whole experience on the apartment building's roof. He remembers each activity Marco described, shops and gathers materials, and builds a camp with horseback riding, tetherball and a fishing pond. Marco arrives to a surprise camp, catches a pretend fish, and gets to sleep over by the campfire. Even the grumpy dog Hundley and the doorman join in by the end of the night.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Animal Band

recommended age co-watching from 3

A curious Mouse finds a stick in Oliver's yard and starts tapping out rhythms, which grows into an animal band with a dog, cat, pig and moose. Together they write a silly song and perform for Esme Louise's tea party. When the party ends they gather again and stage a dance party so they have an audience. The day closes with a family dinner and a final band performance.

See all Using tools shows for 6-year-olds

Browse all Using tools shows

Explore more

Viewing guides Age 2 guide Age 3 guide Age 4 guide Age 5 guide Age 6 guide

Top lists by age 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 years

Keep exploring Browse by topic All platforms

Just launched: free lifetime premium for the first 1,000 members to activate their account.

Create your account

We use functional cookies and Google Analytics to improve our site. Learn more