Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Backyardigans – a wealth of learning


Spoken:
Hi, I'm Pablo.
My name's Tyrone.
I'm Uniqua.
I'm Tasha.
And my name is Austin.
And we're ...

Sung:
Your backyard friends, the Backyardigans!
Together in the backyard again,
In the place where we belong,
Where we'll prob'ly sing a song,
And we'll maybe dance along.

We've got the whole wide world in our yard to explore.
We always find things we've never seen before.
That's why every day we're back for more
With your friends, the Backyardigans.



This cartoon series always open up with this very cute theme song that I just love so much.

We came across it when we searched for DVDs that Tara could watch when she was nearly 1 year old. Turned out, not only her, but I also fell in love with it. And I think this is a wonderful cartoon for kids to watch. There are many elements that kids can learn from it: love for friends, for adventure through imagination, about different types of music, different places and habit in those places.

Visually, it is very attractive. Start from the five pals: Uniqua, Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha, and Austin. Plump little animals, each with their own visual identity. Uniqua with her pink body and dots, Pablo – the blue penguin, Tyrone – the orange deer, Tasha – the yellow hippo, and Austin – I am never really sure what animal he is but I like his thick tail and cute little ears. They look so adorable with their plump body and smiling faces.

And when they use their imagination to do different activities in different places, these places are always great to see. They ‘go’ to Egypt, South Pole, North Pole, the thick forest of Kalimantan, Inca temple, Saudi Arabia…and lots of other places. They become Vikings, gold diggers, doctors, princes and princesses, knights, kings, queens, scientists…and lots of others.

What I also find very appealing is the way these friends behave differently. Uniqua is the smart one – she knows many things and can solve any problems in a calm way. She is smart but not a geek. Tasha is very girly – she tends to have the role of a princess or queen, she just loves to be the center of attention. Pablo – the oh so panicky one who walks around and around when he is panic and usually stops when his friends shout, “Pablo!”, and he will stop and say, “Yes?”. Tyrone is the absent minded one. Maybe others don’t see him as that but to me he has a sense of absent mindedness that is actually quite cute!. Austin the shy yet very practical person. He sometimes comes across as the MacGyver of the gang. He can always come up with practical solutions to things.

With different personality attached to each of these characters, the watching experience is so different. Compared to watching The Little Einsteins – each character in that show seems to be similar to one another. Everyone is a ‘do-gooder’. And many times so unappealingly too clever and smart that I lose the sense that they should actually portray little kids, with Einstein’s brain or not. The Backyardigans are different. Each has his or her own peculiarities, which make every story so alive.

And I just love the music and songs. It helps us to introduce different kinds of music to Tara. From jazz to rock’n roll, samba to bossanova, chacha to the drama musical type of music. Various types!. I have not come across one that has a similar music type to the other series. So it is a wonderful collection of not only cartoon, but also music.

Most of all, it helps Tara to grasp the value of imagination, and of friendship. I often wish that Tara could find such friends who take the group around the world with their imagination. I really don’t mind if they wreck the whole of our house’s backyard, as long as they can have fun and learn by having fun. They will learn much more anyway when they are having fun.

And Tara learns to expand her imagination by playing out each of the story that she has seen. She clutters our living room every time she does so, but what the heck. I would rather see her doing that, than busy with a portable PS and becoming a gadget freak who does not care for anything that happens around her.



In an environment where playing in the backyard seems to be replaced by playing in Timezone in the malls, The Backyardigans bring a whiff of fresh air. It constantly reminds me that no matter how small, a backyard is the closest outdoor environment a kid can explore. And one where they can make any kinds of mess without me worrying of stains on anything.

And I hope we get to see more of these kinds of series for children, and hopefully one day, made in Indonesia.

(RIRI)

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