After fixing a gymnast stick toy, Mister Rogers visits a young gymnast who performs on the pommel horse, parallel bars, high bar, and does a floor exercise to music. He talks about practicing 4 or 5 hours a day, and how important it is to begin learning by first doing easier activities like somersaults. In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, King Friday and Neighbor Aber are talking about Aber’s puppet, H.J. Elephant. The King tells Chuck that in the Museum-Go-Round is a toy elephant that turns somersaults. Mr. McFeely delivers a Lady Elaine ladder toy to the museum. He, Lady Elaine, and Neighbor. Aber enjoy playing with it. Neighbor. Aber asks Lady Elaine about the toy elephant and she tells him that no one, not even herself, is allowed to see the elephant since it was put in a locked room by the NPR (National Playthings Reserve). Mr. McFeely shows Mister Rogers some large letters of the alphabet (O, X, I, and H) which look the same upside down as they do right side up. Mister Rogers says it feels good when you are able to find people who like to play the kinds of things you like to play, and that playing together helps people become friends.
Mister Rogers visits a toy factory and watches a toddler’s wagon being made from plastic. In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, a package containing a bicycle arrives for Prince Tuesday. H.J. Elephant asks King Friday for a key that will open any door. He wants to give it to Neighbor. Aber as a present. The King asks H.J. to deliver the message, “Life is good,” to Prince Tuesday at school. In the classroom, Neighbor Aber shows Ana, Prince, and Daniel different kinds of toys. He explains that in Make-Believe anything is possible, and toys can be real. H.J. Arrives and delivers the message. Tuesday thinks that it must have something to do with the bicycle he has been wanting. Ella Jenkins shows Mister Rogers some tops from her collection. Mister Rogers says that life is good when you can visit with people you love and have a good time with them.
Mister Rogers demonstrates selecting the right size key to open a box that contains the fragile model of an old-fashioned airplane. He talks about things that look like toys, but really are not. He makes a balsa wood toy plane and plays with it, then shows a video of Mr. McFeely’s visit to an air-traffic control tower. Mister Rogers emphasizes how important it is to play to develop ideas.In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, H.J. Elephant and Handyman Negri are searching for a master make-believe key by looking for a key that will fly. Queen Sara Saturday gives Tuesday a bicycle. When he rides it, he falls off. A key is found under the bicycle that turns out to be the master make-believe key. Mister Rogers talks about how hard it is to learn some things, but there is time for learning when one is a child. He talks about the length of time it took to construct the delicate model airplane that he showed earlier. Mister Rogers makes a paper airplane and sails it across the room. He sings “I like to take my time.”
Mister Rogers shows a child’s bench and piano and talks about the importance of both persistence and play in learning. He makes a model of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe out of empty containers. In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Lady Aberlin and X the Owl prove that the key is the master Make-Believe key by opening doors with it. Ana Platypus is crying because Prince Tuesday received the same kind of bicycle that she wants. Dr. Bill Platypus tries to explain to her that the family cannot afford the bicycle and that he and her mother do love her. Lady Aberlin takes Ana to the Museum-Go-Round where H.J. Elephant gives them a note from Lady Elaine Fairchilde saying that they should wait to go into the museum until her return from Southwood. They while away the time by dancing. Mister Rogers takes the toy piano back to Joe Negri’s music shop where Joe shows him some toy musical instruments: maracas, xylophone, bird call, squeeze toy, and bulb or auto horn. Then Bobby Rawsthorne shows him some percussion instruments that look like toys: guiro, shaker, train whistles, siren whistle, duck call, canary whistle, and stump-fiddle. Mister Rogers plays his own standard-sized piano and talks about the benefits of play.
Mister Rogers shows a carved wooden elephant and a video of his visit to a huge wooden elephant on a beach by the Atlantic Ocean. Mister Rogers visits a toy lending library where he sees a variety of toys and watches the children play. Mister Rogers shows pictures from a catalog of playthings and says it’s important to take time to learn to play well. Mister Rogers talks about the importance of play in growing up and about the joy one can take in sharing playthings. In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Prince Tuesday is trying to ride his bicycle, but he is discouraged because he falls; so, Handyman Negri helps him, and he is pleased. Prince Tuesday shares his bicycle with Ana Platypus so that she will know how to ride when she receives hers. With Handyman Negri’s help, Ana is able to ride. When Lady Elaine Fairchilde returns to the Museum-Go-Round, Handyman Negri and Mr. Aber open the locked door with the master Make-Believe key. All they find is an old box containing dust and a penny. When the penny is flipped in the air each person’s imagination causes him/her to see an elephant somersaulting through the air. This works with any penny that has been dipped in the dust, so Lady Aberlin, Mr. Aber, and Handyman go off to show the others.