Watching, playing, making, dancing - something for every child! (CBeebies)

Member Name: kingfisher111

Product:	CBeebies
Date:	27/02/08 (682 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent children's programmes

Disadvantages: none!

When I first had my children, I, probably like many other parents, thought that I would hardly let them watch television at all. But then reality struck, and I realised that there are certain times of the day that a little television is actually quite a good thing, especially if I am to get anything done around the house and retain a little sanity as well.

I do usually suggest watching a bit of TV for quiet times such as just after lunch or when I am trying to get tea ready. Sometimes my daughters choose to watch a DVD at this time instead, but I generally can guarantee that if we switch Cbeebies (a digital channel which cn be found on Freeview 71) on there will be something that they will enjoy. In fact, I haven;t really found any programmes on this channel tht I don't like or that I can't see my daughters getting something out of. I'm not going to go through all of the programmes that you might find, but just say about some of our favourite ones.

Our absolute favourite and our best has to be the wonderful Charlie and Lola series. Even if you don't have any children it's worth trying to catch this programme for the two wonderful characters who say and do lots of lovely funny things. Charlie is the older more sensible brother and Lola is his little sister, full of strange ideas and always getting into scrapes. These two animated characters are the creation of Lauren Child and they are just brilliant. The characters are animated and both have big eyes and blond straggly hair. Lola comes out with the most peculiar expressions which are just so like the sort of things that little children come out with. There is a huge amount of Charlie and Lola merchandise and my daughters have quite a few of the books in their collection!

My daughters also love an excellent programme called Something Special. I think this is mainly due to the excellent Justin Fletcher who presents this, and is also seen in other Cbeebies programmes as well. There is a lot of humour in this programme as Justin has an alter ego called Mr Tumble who is always doing daft things which crease my daughters up! However, there is a more serious element to this programme as it teaches children some of the basics of sign language. My daughter love copying the signs and now have quite a repertoire of signs that they know.

Another favourite programme of ours is Big Cook Little Cook which is a cookery programme for young children. In each programme the pair cook a meal for a character that comes into their cafe. There is always a story based around this character and then they come up with a very appropriate recipe by looking in Big Cook's cookery book. My favourite bit of the programme is when Little Cook flies off on his wooden spoon to find out where one of the ingredients in the recipe comes from. This is absolutely fascinating and even adults watching will learn a lot about how various food is produced. At the end of the programme they always make their dish and then of course they have to do all the washing up! A very good message for young children! I'm sure that it is mainly due to this programme that my eldest daughter always wants to bke cakes!

There are a number of arty programmes which give lots of ideas for art projects for young children. The main three are Smarteenies, Doodledoo and Mister Maker. All of these are packed full of art ideas but I think my daughters' favourite has to be Smarteenies. There are four different presenters all of whom seem to have different strengths. One has a pattern palace and another has a shape store giving lots of practical ideas. Our favourite though has to be Lizzie who does some wonderful thumb and finger painting. You see her doing this through glass and my girls love trying to guess what the pictures are going to be.

If we're looking for a bit of physical activitiy we can always turn on Boogiebeebies. Every week starting on the Monday, children are taught a dance routine. Each day, Pete the presenter goes over the moves already learned and then adds a little bit more so that by Friday your children will have learned a whole new dance. Both my girls love this and I really enjoy watching their efforts as well.

There are so many other programmes as well with many favourite characters - Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat, The Tweenies, Lazytown, to name such a few. These all tell very short simple stories with not a trace of violence anywhere. I'm always interested to spot the voices behind the characters - Richard Briers and Neil Morrisey are a couple who supply the voices in Bob the Builder.

There are nature programmes as well and I particularly like it when the BBC runs its Springwatch and Autumnwatch programmes that Cbeebies also run programmes on the same theme and even get Bill Oddie making a guest appearance!

The final programme that I want to mention is the rather tranquil but surreal In The Night Garden. This is pretty much the last programme shown just before Cbeebies shuts down at 7 pm and it really does have a calming effect on my two girls. They also see it as a sign that bedtime is not far off! There are many strange characters in the night garden with names such as Ickle Pickle and Macca Pacca. They are all very strange and I really can't make out if there's any story, but if you ask the parents of any young child, they will probably tell you that their child loves it!

There are four main presenters who make all the links between the programmes, and the day is split up into various parts like Big Fun Time and The Bedtime Hour. All the presenters have lots of energy and the links between the programme are very good. They also do children's birthdays where they read out birthday cards which have been sent in. The cards that they show always amaze me as they are all home made and it looks like they must have taken parents who are much more creative than me hours to make. I do tend to think though that the day your child is most likely not to be watching TV is on their birthday, and as you don't know when the cards will be read out they are actually quite likely to miss it. Also, you don't get the cards back which seems a huge shame after all the effort that must go into making them.

I think that the Cbeebies programmes are most likely to appeal to children between the ages of two and four and there is pretty much something for all interests. My older daughter who will be five in June is now preferring to watch Milkshake on Channel 5 which seems to have a slightly older appeal. My youngest, who is three next week absolutely adores all the programmes still. However, my eldest does really like the website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

There is one other thing which is worth pointing out about Cbeebies and that is because it is part of BBC programming there are NO adverts! It's one of my nightmares when they start seeing all the adverts for toys on Channel 5 and telling me what they want. So from a parent's point of view this is a real plus!

Overall, I am very impressed with the Cbeebies Channel and I don't think there is any programme I would feel unhappy about my girls watching. I think the programming is well thought out and very suitable for young children and I do think they learn quite a lot from some of them. Obviously, if they were watching it all the time I would feel concerned, but I think these programmes, in moderation, are a good thing!

Summary: Great programmes for little ones!