Little Einsteins are fantastic! (Little Einsteins)

Member Name: NickyBo

Product:	Little Einsteins
Date:	25/08/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very educational, fun, entertaining

Disadvantages: Not enough episodes, we've watched the same ones many times

Little Einsteins is a cartoon show on the Playhouse Disney channel. It is aimed at pre-school age children and is just fantastic. It is so educational that it's not just my son learning when we watch together!

The action centres around four children - Leo, his little sister Annie and their friends Quincy and June. They have a rocket (Pat Pat rocket!) that they travel in to have adventures and help all sorts of creatures and objects that have problems. Each episode has a piece of art and a piece of music that they incorporate during the story. This is introduced in a very nice way, with the artist and composer being named and the child encouraged to repeat the name. At the end of the show the child is reminded of the art and music of the day.

Each episode has a different story with new secondary characters, but there is also a nice amount of repetition so children who watch a few episodes can soon start joining in. The characters talk to the audience and encourage them to join in by patting their legs to help power the rocket, by doing various movements, or by saying words aloud.

It also introduces children to musical terminology such as 'allegro' and 'presto'. Last week my 20 month old son was watching Little Einsteins when my parents visited. At one point the chracters were patting their legs really quickly and they always say 'Presto!' after. My son (who has watched many episodes) shouted 'PRESTO!' before the characters and my parents couldn't believe it. They now think he is a musical genius :)

Although the show focuses heavily on art and music, that is not where it ends. They visit many different countries looking at culture, history, animals and much more. My favourite episode was set in Egypt where they visited the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. It was so educational I thought about getting a copy for when I teach the Ancient Egypt topic to my 8 year old class!

There are Little Einsteins reading books available and I have recently seen some colouring in and sticker activity books too. There is also a Rocket toy currently in Early Learning Centre, as well as little character toys of the four children.

To anyone who hasn't seen this show, I fully recommend it. Your children will love it and they will learn a lot from it. You will love it as it's a very child friendly show with no danger of any violence or anything else inappropriate. My son watches it most days and I don't have the guilty feelings I used to have when he watched other shows, as I feel he gets so much out of this.

Summary: Highly educational pre-school show