Tweenie clock, where will it stop!?! (Tweenies)

Member Name: moog27

Product:	Tweenies
Date:	19/03/09 (387 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: colourful, entertaining, educational

Disadvantages: none

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THE TWEENIES!
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I have been watching the Tweenies for the last 5 years as my youngest brother is a huge fan. After being driven mad by the ridiculous voices of the teletubbies and the repetitive storylines I was dreading having to sit through a similar programme. HOWEVER! The moment I sat down to watch the Tweenies with him I was hooked! To my great delight they actually spoke proper English and it seemed to be a very educational program but enjoyable to. I am going to break this review into sections to make it easier to read, so here we go...

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WHAT IS THE TWEENIES?
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The Tweenies consists of 8 main characters. Bella, Fizz, Jake and Milo who are children at a playschool run by Judy and Max and there is the well loved dog called Doodles (all of the characters are adults in costume). During their day at the playgroup the Tweenies take part in various activities as well as overcoming problems and issues which are common to playschool children such as arguments, friendships etc. Tweenies is aimed at 3 - 6 year old children and uses suitable language, which children can understand, but it also helps them to learn new words and processes. Both the characters and the settings are very bright and colourful and each character has a very different personality so children can relate to them well.
The Tweenies activities are based around the 'Tweenie clock', which is like a large flower, and each petal has a different activity category. One of the tweenies presses the middle of the clock and a category is lighted up.
There is song time, messy time, story time, news time and telly time.
Song time - during song time the tweenies will sing and dance to a song which the viewers can join in with. Most of the songs are well known and well liked by the target age group.

Messy time - This is the craft time where the Tweenies make something for example, birthday cards. It shows simple and safe ways of making fun things.
Story time - The Tweenies sit down quietly together and are read a story by either Max or Judy. The stories are usually interesting and the Tweenies make comments during the book the same as a real child would and they also ask questions which are answered by whoever is reading the story.

News time - This is usually at the end of the programme and it basically summarises the Tweenies day at the playschool and goes over what they have learnt or experienced in the day.
Telly time - this is where the tweenies sit round and watch something on the telly, this is normally educational such as the process of something happening.

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THE CHARACTERS
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Bella
******
Bella is the bossiest character; she is the eldest of the children and she likes to act grownup for her age and pushes her own opinion on to the others quite often without realising. Bella has bright yellow hair and wears yellow dungarees on top of a red t-shirt and she wears red shoes.

Fizz
*****
Fizz is a gentle and girly character. She loves the colour pink and likes to dress up as a princess. Fizz is quite a sensitive character and is the one who gets most upset by the rows and fallouts. Fizz has brown braided hair with beads in the end and wears a pink dress and pink shoes.


Jake
******
Jake is the youngest and is very loveable. He loves to play action games with the others and pretend he is 'Dotman'. Being the youngest Jake sometimes finds things harder to grasp than the others and sometimes gets teased. Jake wears blue shorts and a blue top covered with large yellow spots.

Milo
*****

Milo is my favourite character, he is probably the boldest and most energetic. He is very friendly and humorous. He loves joking and he uses the word 'mate' and 'faberooney' often which amuses me!! Because of his energy Milo can sometimes get into trouble while trying to be over helpful! But he is very caring towards the others and Doodles. He has spiky hair and wears a blue top and shorts.

Max
*****

Max is one of the carers at the playschool, he is quite old and comes across as a granddad type figure who enjoys assisting the children with their crafts and reading them stories and joking with them. Max has grey hair and a bald patch and dresses smartly in a waistcoat and trousers.

Judy
******
Judy is the main carer of the children and she is probably in her 30s. She is calm and patient with the children but also encourages good behaviour and good relationships. Judy has her hair tied up and wears a pink fleece and black trousers.


Doodles
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Doodles is a large red and yellow dog who plays with the children and makes the odd amusing comment.

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CHILD DEVELOPMENT
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In my opinion the Tweenies is very good for many aspects of children's development. Now comes my slightly psychological analysis of it all which I hope doesn't bore you all to tears!!

Educational - The Tweenies enhances children's educational development, as they are constantly learning new concepts and ideas.
Language - Unlike the teletubbies and some other programmes for the preschool age group , the Tweenies encourages the children to develop their language skills. If one of the Tweenies pronounces a word wrongly they are corrected by one of their friends or one of the carers. The Tweenies are also often introduced to new words and their meanings by the adults, which children will pick up on.

Relationships - The four friends show many of the different sides to relationships, such as the trust, arguments, playfulness, consideration and problem solving. Children only learn about relationships by observation and by watching good friendships as well as the relationships with the adults (ie respect and politeness) their social development will be enhanced.
Moral - The Tweenies regularly come across moral dilemmas, which are relevant to preschool children such as not owning up to doing something etc. The consequences of such incidents are dealt with well and helps children develop a sense of morals related to issues which are relevant to them.

Emotional - Children also get to see the range of emotions expressed by both the adults and the children and what causes these emotions and how they are dealt with in the social environment and this is something which will help children understand the people around them more.

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OVERALL OPINION
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Overall I think the Tweenies is a fantastic programme and is well suited to its target age group. Each show is interesting and not repetitive which keeps the children engrossed in it. It encourages the children to interact with the characters by joining in the songs and dances. Each show contains a wide range of activities and issues, which provides a good storyline as well as the educational qualities. The characters are realistic in attitude and behaviour which enables the children to relate to them and learn from them easily. I think the design of the characters and setting is ideal and I cannot recommend this highly enough for young children! Infact I still watch it occasionally on my own (blushes!) because after 5 years of getting to know the characters I now actually quite enjoy it!!!

Summary: one of the best childrens programmes