Fun on the Farm with Barney is an educational software for children ages 2 and up. This was the first children’s software that I bought for my then 3-year-old son. My son also had the Actimates Barney doll and PC Pack, but the software is fine by itself. My son is now 4 ½ and has a 3-year-old brother. With all the different children’s software they now have, Barney is still a favorite.

There are 6 different activities within this software, with 3 different difficulty levels (1-easy, 2-medium, 3-hard), and an explore mode. This software helps children with their memory and matching skills and introduces numbers, counting, animals and their sounds, the 4 seasons, and different kinds of fruits and vegetables. The cursor icon used is a red arrow. When the cursor passes over an object that can be clicked, the arrow becomes larger. After the child has correctly completed 3 questions within an activity, Barney and the other characters will sing a song.

Baby Bop’s Chicken Coop
Baby Bop and Barney are in a chicken coop. The goal is to copy the pattern of clucks that are made by the chickens. Depending on the level, the pattern is 2 to 4 clucks. When the child correctly copies the pattern, the hens lay eggs. My kids like watching the eggs hatch. In the explore mode, the child can compose short tunes using baby and adult animal sounds. The thing I don’t like about this activity is if the child prematurely clicks the mouse before Baby Bop shows the pattern, the pattern doesn’t get shown. Neither Baby Bop nor Barney repeats the pattern.

BJ’s Pig Pen
BJ and Barney are in a pigpen. The goal is to choose the object or clothing that either goes or doesn’t go with the given season. After 3 questions, BJ feeds the pigs the same number of corn as the child has answered questions correctly. In the explore mode, the child has the choice of 10 different computer coloring pages with 6 different colors. My kids LOVE painting the pictures on the computer screen. At least it isn’t as messy as crayons, pencils, pens, or paint. Barney tells the child what color they have selected.

Hootin’ Annie’s Barn
Hootin’ Annie and Barney are in a barn. The goal is to match the farm animal to the picture that Hootin’ Annie is holding. Depending on the level, the child matches the animal using a matching picture or the matching sound that the animal makes. In the explore mode, the child can mix and match the different farm animal parts and sounds. My kids liked the different animal sounds because real farm animal sounds are used.

Grandpa Tractor’s Garden
Grandpa Tractor and Barney are in a garden. The goal is to match the fruit or vegetable to either it’s shadow, plant, or prepared form. When the child correctly matches all three foods, Grandpa Tractor bulldozers the food. This was the first activity my son enjoyed. It helped him learn how to "Click and drag" objects on the computer screen. In the explore mode, the child can plant their own garden using different fruits, vegetables, or flowers. Barney names the plants when they are chosen. The child can also feed the pig at the bottom left of the screen. The kids get a laugh out of this because the pig makes a loud snort and chomps on whatever it is given.

Professor Tinkerputt's Duck Pond
Professor Tinkerputt and Barney are at a pond. The goal is to count up to 10 frogs as is asked by Professor Tinkerputt or match the group of frogs to the correct number. In the explore mode, the child can place lily pads, rocks, and frogs in a pond. When the child presses a “Go” button, the frogs will leap onto whatever the child has placed in its way and eventually plop into the pond. My kids like this activity.

Video Farm House
There is a video screen in the middle of a room. The child can play different clips from the actual Barney TV shows as pertaining to life on a farm. This activity teaches children the VCR symbols for play, stop, and repeat (rewind). There are no difficulty levels or explore mode in this activity. This is a good starting point for learning how to use the mouse.


This is great starter software for toddlers. When the Barney actimates doll is used, Barney will help your child with the answer or sing whenever the correct answer is given. When the Actimates doll is used, Barney will no longer be seen on the screen. In the explore mode, if Barney’s hand is squeezed, Barney will place objects on whatever explore screen is shown. This shows the child what he/she can do on the page. My children can play for HOURS with any Barney software if I would let them. They always ask to play with Barney on the computer. If your child likes the Barney TV shows, they will DEFINITELY LOVE Fun on the Farm with Barney software.


Recommended: Yes