Musical, educational, and fun for 5 year olds! (Little Einsteins)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Little Einsteins
Date:	25/03/09 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Educational and interactive

Disadvantages: Over-repetition

My dad is a music teacher, and the other day he was talking to my son William (his grandson) about music. All of a sudden Will pipes up with 'That's staccato Grandpa!' at which my dad almost fell over in astonishment, demanding to know how his grandson was a musical genius at the age of 5.

The answer was of course Little Einsteins. This lovable little programme airs on the Playhouse Disney channel, which is 611 on Sky, and features 4 children who are friends with vivid imaginations, who go on musical missions each episode. The episodes last for around 20 minutes each, and will feature the four children as the zoom off in their Red Rocket, which converts into different forms of transport, flying them off to a foreign country or even outer space.

As they go along, the story incorporates a piece of classical music and some form of art work, and encourages the child viewer to join in with them saying how to describe different speeds of music. From allegro to moderato and of course stoccato, the children slowly, over the course of the episodes, which are repeated regularly, cover all speeds. Hence my son was able to tell my dad what he knew about music.

My dad watched an episode once he realised it existed and was surprised and impressed at how the show's producers had managed to cover some pretty complicated musical terms and made them appealing to kids. Normally, it is hard to get kids to learn about the technical side of music, and he was very impressed. Watch out: if you see some mad Music teacher trying to add Little Einsteins to the curriculum, you know who it is!

Ultimately, it is a well made cartoon, aimed at young kids, that hits the mark with its educational and interactive efforts as well. It is a far better prospect than the multitude of programmes featuring silly actors or unbelievable characters. These just use their imagination, and I find that Will comes away from an episode having enjoyed himself as well as learnt something.

Summary: Very well conceived kids' TV programme