Give Me Five!!! (Hi 5 (DVD))

Member Name: belfin

Product:	Hi 5 (DVD)
Date:	09/02/06 (548 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Educational and fun for children

Disadvantages: Drives parents mad

Hi-5 has been a regular visitor in our house in the last few years thanks to Channel 5's Milkshake, which is an everyday morning slot for young children from 6.00 - 9.25.

It is on at the moment Monday to Friday at 6.50am which is just what you need to get you jumping out of bed and getting lively - well I think that's the plan anyway, doesn't always work for me. My 3 year old son loves this program so when my mum and dad saw the DVD game of it they knew they were on to a winner.

***The Background***

Hi-5 are made up of 5 cast members - Tim Harding, Charli Robinson, Nathan Foley, Kellie Hoggart and Kathleen De Leon - from Australia and features learning through music, movement, colours, stories and lots and lots of singing. As well as the members themselves there are 2 lovable puppets which play a part in both the show and this game called Chats - who loves to be with Kellie and Jup Jup - a mischievous puppet who plays tricks on Kathleen.

The TV program has been on the go since 1999 and was created by Helena Harris and Posie Graeme-Evans who are the people behind the company Kids Like Us. The aim is that on the show each character specialises in a different form of learning.

***The Members of the Show***

Tim - He is the musical one of the group and teaches children all about different rhythms, tones and melodies though a host of different instruments.

Charli - She loves to dance and mime to whatever the subject of the program is whether it is imitating a bird or pretending to be a balloon floating in the sky. This is to encourage children to get of their chairs and dance and stretch with her.

Nathan - Colours, shapes and patterns are his speciality and he uses various everyday items such as boxes or covers to create different objects.

Kellie & Chatterbox - Together they explore words through rhyming, stories and songs. This has helped our son learn about words that sound the same but with different meanings, words that mean the same and words that rhyme.

Kathleen & Jup Jup - Jup Jup loves to play tricks on Kathleen and swap objects around for her. Together they teach children about simple maths and problem solving such as learning about big and small or how many fruit are left after Jup Jup has whisked an item away.

***The Game***

The DVD game is played by using your remote control to move the highlight on to the presenter of your choice who will then give you a chance to play one of two games.

This is easy to do but for the under 5's I would suggest a parent be around throughout the playing of these games as sometimes you have to press buttons in the middle of the games to say when 1 player is left or if all the players are out. Each game is explained on screen as well as on the instruction leaflet inside the game.

The other items that are included with this game are the 20 play mats which are divided into 4 sections - Shapes, Instruments, Animals and Members of the Hi-5 team. Each section is made up of 5 different pictured, vinyl mats of 5 different colours - Red, Yellow, Green, Orange and Purple. When playing one of the 10 games on the dvd these mats need to be placed out on the floor as the presenters tell you.

***Tim's Games***

Odd Colour Out - In this game the children move from mat to mat until the music stops when the stop on the mat they are on. If Tim calls out the colour you are standing on - then you are out of the game.

Obstacles - Tim will tell you a mat to avoid and you dance round on the mats avoiding the mat. If you step on it you are out.

***Charli's games***

Mirror Mirror - You have to move and dance the same way as Charli or you are out of the game.

Twist and Turn - This is a bit like Twister where Charli will tell you which mat to put your foot or hand on. Of course it could be a colour or a section.

***Nathan's games***

Statues - You have to either hop, skip, jump or dance round the mats like Nathan but when the music stops you stay as still as a statue. If you move you are out.

Stepping Stones - This time the mats are set out in a circle and you jump from one to another until the music stops, when you must stand on one leg til it starts again. If your foot touches the floor or you fall off the mat you are out.

***Kellie's Games***

Kellie Says - This is like Simon Says but with Kellie giving the instructions instead. If you do something you shouldn't you are out of the game.

Shape Up - Kellie and Chats encourage you to jump or dance around on the mats but when the music stops you go to a shape mat and if it is called out you are out of the game.

***Kathleen's Games***

Memory - Turn all the mats upside down and when Kathleen calls out a picture then each player turns over a mat. If you pick the right one then you keep the mat but if not turn it over again and hope that she calls out on of them next time. The one with the most is the winner.

Pass the Remote - This is like pass the parcel but with the remote and if you are caught with it when the music stops you are out of the game.

***My Thoughts***

The game is aimed at age 3 plus and is for 2 or more players which is great but some of the games are a little bit complicated for our son at the moment - such as the Twist and Turn game which is actually more fun for drunken adults as with the original Twister.

Odd Colour Out and Mirror Mirror are great for tiring your little darlings out though and Pass the Remote is a good one to calm them down at the end. We substitute the remote for something else though to avoid breakages and when the music stops the adult just selects the required button.

The games are a lot of fun for the young ones and are great if you have few young kids around with loads of energy to burn off or if you have a party and want to keep them amused in a different way. Perhaps you could have a themed Hi-5 party to go with it if your child is a fan.

What we really like about this game is that at the end of any of the games the winner or winners are Hi-5 Heroes and you get to celebrate with a special song and dance something which our son really enjoys.

The games are well presented on the dvd and easy to navigate around although if you select the wrong game by mistake you can't easily get back to the menu from there and have to wait til the games has finished to exit to the correct one.

The mats are sturdy and don't look as if they will be easily torn which is ideal for young kids although there is a warning not to wear footwear with slippery soles when using them as this could be pretty dangerous. We have found clean bare feet to be best.

***Price and Availability***

This dvd varies in price dramatically between stores and is sold in Woolworths for £20 - however my mum managed to find it (with some help from me) at Bensons World.com for £13.29 with no postage costs so it's worth shopping around.

***And Finally***

I think this is a great idea to get children up and dancing as they watch the telly. What better way to get them to exercise at that age.

Summary: Great fun - but tiring for us oldies.