Throughout the pandemic, Magnolia veteran and father Shawn Croat has been watching the children's show Blippi with his young children.
In the show, the character "Blippi" explains and explores exciting things like fire trucks, zoos, animals, garbage trucks, space and tractors while teaching kids numbers, colors, shapes, words and more.
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Despite the wholesome and educational content of the program, "Blippi's" energetic nature can sometimes drive him and his wife, Brandie, insane.
The other fathers in his father's group felt the same way. From his desire to present wholesome and educational content that will entertain toddlers and their parents, the Croatian character Farmer Red was born.
"My goal was to create a character that would be a little more bearable for parents," said Shawn, 38.
Farmer Red wears his signature dungarees, red shirt and cowboy hat in the videos. The character is a nod to Shawn's red hair and past as a farmer.
He was born in Tomball and graduated from Magnolia High School in 2001. In his youth he drove tractors, cut hay and washed animals.
He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Sam Houston State University and served four years in the US Army from 2010 to 2014.
Most recently, she was a mortgage maker but wanted to spend more time with her children, Nicholas, 4, and Savannah, 2.
While everyone at home was watching "Blippi" during the pandemic, Shawn thought of another way to keep the kids entertained.
"We're both very concerned about what our kids are seeing," Shawn said.
His first video was posted on July 21 and received 109,000 views.
Create instructional videos about fire engines, lifeguards, pet shops, lawn equipment, tractors and more.
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"Everything here is 100% mom approved," she said. "It's good, wholesome content, so parents don't have to worry about their kids seeing something inappropriate."
The channel is called Farmer Red – Funny and Educational Videos for Kids on YouTube.
Both bring ideas to the project and often spend their "couple time" researching new places to photograph.
Brandie (36) records the videos with a Go Pro and Shawn uses a lapel microphone for the recordings.
Shawn says the editing process takes the most time because they want to make sure they are producing quality content.
They try to post a new video every two weeks. Each video is approximately 10 minutes long and is designed to roughly fit a preschooler's attention span.
Brandie said it was fun watching her husband go from introvert to Farmer Red.
"He often came out of his shell," he said. "He's a whole new person."
She calls her kids her beta testers when her kids make changes to the videos they like.
"It's good to see Shawn grow as a husband and father and it helps build our relationship," Brandie said.
They said that they were just getting started and that they had several ideas for carrying out the family project. Then they want to incorporate catchy songs into their videos.
Also check out Farmer Red: Fun & Educational Videos for Kids on Facebook.