You can do wonders with a bit of sticky back plastic! (Top Ten Children's Programmes)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	Top Ten Children's Programmes
Date:	21/01/07 (351 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: high quality programmes

Disadvantages: none

As a mum of two young girls, this review is going to be mainly looking at today's children's programmes (which I hope might be useful for other parents) but there will also be one or two blasts from the past thrown in for good measure! Also, I have to say that my little ones are very content to restrict their viewing to Cbeebies, for which I am very grateful, because it does mean, that as yet, they are not falling prey to the power of advertising! Also, I am not sure that the list will reach ten but here goes starting with the present day ones...

1. Charlie and Lola
Charlie and Lola are the creation of author Lauren Child and they are brilliant! Charlie is Lola's older and much more sensible brother. In each episode, Charlie normally has to sort out some misunderstanding from Lola and talks a lot of common sense! The characters are animated and are very simple line drawings but they have such expressive faces! I don't know who does the voices, but they are very distinctive. The script is also very funny particularly Lola's oh so serious expressions such as 'It's my favourite and my best!' The stories are very simple, always with happy endings, but interestingly you never see the parents! It's definitely a must for my two girls!

2. Big Cook Little Cook
This is another excellent programme and also pretty educational too. Big Cook Ben and Little Cook Small run a cafe, and in each programme they have to cook for a different customer. For each customer there is a story and then they have to decide what they are going to cook for that character - and it's always thematic! For example, if their customer is a mermaid they will cook something fishy! So 'it's time to look in Big Cook's cookery Book!'. Having decided on the recipe they collect the ingredient and then Big Cook flies off on his wooden spoon to find out how one of them is made. This is the bit that I love as it's really interesting and even as an adult I have find out a lot of things about food that I didn't know! You then see them make the food and then at the end they always have to clean and put away - a good habit to instill in small children! There are also lots of catchy songs in the programme that it's fun to sing along with!

3. It's Our Planet
This programme deals with nature and features wonderful films of animals from all around the world. It is informative with lots of facts but also fun to watch the animals doing interesting things. It also makes a nice change from all the stories that are on the Cbeebies channel!

4. Something Special
This programme features a wonderful person called Justin Fletcher who pops up all over the place on the Cbeebies Channel, but I think this programme stands out because he teaches children very basic sign language in a fun way. My three year old loves to copy the different signs for things like tree and flower along with a host of others. Justin also has an alter ego called Mr Tumble who has the appearance of a clown. He is always doing very silly things which make my girls laugh. So this programme has a good mix of humour and education led by a very talented presenter!

5. Boogiebeebies
Just when you were beginning to think that my children were couch potatoes I thought I should mention Boogiebeebies. In this programme, over the course of a week, children learn all the moves to a dance. Each day they go over what they have learned, and a little bit more of the routine is added. At first, I felt a bit short changed by the makers, as so much of the programme is the same each day but it works. By the end of the week, my girls have learned and enjoyed a new dance. The movements are pretty simple too so even my 'almost' two year old can join in!

Now a couple of blasts from my past...

6. Blue Peter
Anyone of a certain age or above surely couldn't have failed to watch Blue Peter as a child. I grew up to John Noakes, Peter Purves and Valerie Singleton as presenters (showing my age now!) and it almost felt like they were family at the time. I loved all the animals and was always transfixed when seeing things made with sticky back plastic! I even tried one or two creations myself but you could never replicate the real thing! I also remember the Blue Peter appeals each year, and amongst many, collecting used stamps and old teaspoons. My one aim in life was to earn a Blue Peter badge but alas it was never to be! I'm not even sure whether Blue Peter still exists, but I do think it was at it's best in the early days.

7. Magic Roundabout
How I loved this programme. It started with the whirligig music of the roundabout and then the characters of Brian, Florence, Ermentrude etc. Not forgetting the immortal words 'It's time for Bed!' said Zebedee! A simple five minute story just before bedtime - what more could you want!

8. Jackanory
I love books and I love reading, and I'm sure I owe this love partly to Jackanory. Each week there was a different story read by a different actor told in five parts. No particular story sticks out for me, just the memory of the anticipation - I just couldn't wait for the next bit! Jackanory has just been reintroduced by the BBC and I hope they will make it just as good so that my girls will also enjoy this love of story - coupled of course with all the reading we do with them! I hope they resist the temptation to make it too high tech and computerised and just let the story speak for itself!

So that's it - I know there's only eight in my list but I like to think I'm a discerning viewer. TV viewing has changed so much in the last thirty years and there is so much more choice. I think it is particularly hard as a parent to guide your child's TV watching, but if they are under five I would definitely recommend Cbeebies - particularly the above programmes. A good story, a bit of cooking, some nature facts, sign language all rounded off with a bit of physical exercise - it's not bad is it? And I hope you enjoyed my reminiscing too!

Summary: A little viewing is not a bad thing!