WonderPets

I think so well of the Wonderpets children program that I am making a post about them on this blog aswell as my other theme blog Moms and Little Ones.

Wonderpets is a charming television series that features a trio of kindergarten classroom pets; Lenny the guineapig, Tuck the turtle and Ming Ming the duckling. Their adventures consist of saving baby animals all over the world while singing in almost opera-like style during the fifteen minute segment. Their are two segements to each program.

Their songs teach teamwork, problem solving and friendship and are accompanied by light ochestral music. The animation is simple but brightly colored and gracefully artistic. The kindergarten classroom setting is always cleverly decorated according to the theme of the episode. Even the animal cages have objects that relate to the theme. For example, during the Save the Sea Turtle episode set in Japan, images of turtles and japanese culture were all over the classroom and in the cages.

The clue to how to solve the problem in the episode is usually presented at the beginning when the Wonderpets are still in the classroom. For example, the Wonderpets know how to rescue the Beetles band from seaweed that is wrapped around the Beetles' submarine because first they had to disentangle their Flyboat from a mobile in the classroom.

The Wonderpets sing the same three specific songs each episode that mix in with changing dialogue per episode: What's Gonna Work? Team Work, The Phone Is Ringing and The Wonderpets Saved the Day.

The benefits of this kind of visual and auditory learning are obvious. I like the social skills and multicultural aspect of the lessons. My daughter is learning to appreciate lovely music, how to play well with others and how to solve problems. I even find myself humming the bars of some of these upbeat, cheerful songs sometimes.

I am also impressed with how the music is stylized to fit the theme of the episode. "Save the Bengal" has Indian music and "Save the Beetles" has music inspired by the Beetles.

Playing Water

As the summer heat set in, I thought about getting a little toddler pool for my daughter. But my mother came up with a better idea. She filled a bucket with water, put out two small plastic basins, a watering can and several small plastic cups of various sizes and let my daughter have fun pouring water from one container to another. My daughter really enjoys this game and she gets soaked in the process. Sometimes she grabs her duckies and plays with them in the bucket of water too.

Developmentally, children subconsciously learn about the basic properties of water when they pour it from one container to another, spill it on the concrete and push toys into it. They learn about volume, conservation of mass, adhesion and cohesion. Though, to them it is just fun playtime. I wish college classes were like that.