Tot TV Watch

Several years ago, before my son was even a thought in the back of my mind, my husband (then boyfriend) mentioned The Wiggles when he was talking to our nephew.  I played along and acted like I knew what he was talking about when I actually had no clue.  Amazingly, I had never heard of The Wiggles. 

These days, it is pretty hard for me to avoid hearing about the colorful foursome.  I tend to run with the toddler crowd and most of them get pretty excited about The Wiggles.  All of them except my own kid.  You see, I’ve never put The Wiggles on my TV.  If he has seen them, it was not at home.  It isn’t that the show or the music is bad necessarily, it is just that there are so many other great alternatives.

That’s why I got a kick out of How Not To Be a Slave To The Wiggles by Rob Conery.  He suggests using the method of distraction and replacing The Wiggles music with your own.  I guess in a way I’ve been doing this all along.  While we listen to quite a bit of kids music in the car and around the house, we also listen to my music (and a little bit of my husband’s music).  While my son prefers the sounds of Jack Johnson and KT Tunstall, he also gets his groove on to Pearl Jam and Disturbed from time to time.

So, fess up.  How many of you watch The Wiggles at home?  Do you love them or hate them?  Do you find yourself singing them when the kids aren’t even around?

Technorati Tags: The Wiggles, Rob Conery, kids, music, Jack Johnson, KT Tunstall, Pearl Jam, Disturbed

Diego is getting wet this week on Nick Jr.  All week long, Nick Jr. will be featuring Diego’s Wet and Wild Adventures.  Diego will be rescuing some underwater friends and having a little fun as well.  Catch a different water themed episode each day Monday through Thursday, then tune in for a marathon of Go, Diego, Go! on Friday from 9:00 to 12:00.  The episodes will air as follows:

• Monday, July 9 - Diego Saves the Humpback Whale
  “Aroo ah! Aroo ah!” A baby humpback whale is beached on a rocky island and can’t get back into the ocean! Diego sets off to save the humpback whale, running through a rainforest obstacle course, then swimming with Tuga the Leatherback Sea Turtle past jellyfish and sharks. When Diego reaches the baby humpback whale, he leads the other humpback whales to make really big waves to lift the beached humpback whale into the ocean and back to her mommy!

• Tuesday, July 10 - Rescue The Sea Turtles
  Diego’s whole family is at the beach cleaning up garbage so that their friend Tuga, the leatherback sea turtle can come back to lay her eggs! Mommy remembers meeting Tuga when she was just a little girl. Daddy and Alicia remember how Tuga helped them when their boat broke down. And Diego remembers riding on Tuga and keeping away from the stinging jelly fish!
• Wednesday, July 11 - Diego and Baby Humpback to the Rescue
  King Humpback Whale has tail caught under a sunken ship! Diego and Baby humpback set off on an ocean journey to rescue King Humpback Whale - by jumping over nets, splashing their tails fast to get away from the orcas, and diving down to the bottom of the ocean. Last, they must blow
  giant bubbles with their blowholes to make the ship float up, up, up, and release the trapped whale. Hooray!

• Thursday, July 12 - Giant Octopus to the Rescue!
  Diego is out exploring volcanoes when suddenly, Alicia calls him on his Video Watch and tells him underwater volcanoes are about to blow!!! There are some trapped animals we’ve gotta save before the volcanoes
  blow! Giant Octopus can help Diego find the trapped animals and volcanoes in the deep ocean! Along the way we follow Giant Octopus through an underwater ocean garden, squirt purple ink to get away from the Sperm Whales, and dig, dig, dig the animals out of the coral caves so they can swim up, up, up, just before the Ocean Volcanoes blow!!!

Go Diego Go!, Diego, Diego’s Wet and Wild Adventures, Nick Jr.

• Animation Insider - Nickelodeon International Acquires ‘Angus&Cheryl’
  Angus & Cheryl make their first ever major broadcast deal with Nickelodeon International.
• Movie Reviews: ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’
  Has Harry lost the magic? IMDB seems to think so.
• Toon Zone - Sing Ho! For the Friendship Edition DVD of a Pooh Bear
  A great review of the new Winnie the Pooh DVD release
• Cyrus sidesteps Clarkson to lead albums chart - Yahoo! News
  NIckelodeon’s Hannah Montana hits the top of the charts
• Before the Transformers movie there were the Transformers cartoons — VIDEO - TV Squad
  Take a ride down memory lane with TV Squad as they remember the Transformers of the old days
• The Disney Blog: High School Musical stage tour dates announced
  Want to check out the High School Musical tour? Check out the list of tour dates!

Since tomorrow is Independence day here in the US, I’m going to post this a little early so I can enjoy spending the day with my family. One of the best ways to get TV loving kids interested in United States history is by watching Schoolhouse Rocks clips. They may not give all the facts, but it is an entertaining way to get them thinking and introduce them to a little of our country’s history. In honor of the holiday, I thought I would post Schoolhouse Rocks “Fireworks” for your viewing pleasure.

4th of July, Independence Day, Schoolhouse Rocks, Fireworks, United States, history

If you haven’t yet introduced your kids to the Flintstones, this week just may be the right time. Boomerang, Cartoon Network’s classic animation sister network, is airing a massive Flintstones marathon beginning July 4th. The marathon will kick off at 6:00 a.m. (ET) on Wednesday, July 4th, and will finish up Saturday, July 7th at 5:00 p.m. During that time span, Boomerang will air all 166 episodes of The Flintstones in sequence, with no commercial interruption. So go on, meet the Flintstones and have a “Yabba dabba doo time!”

Flintstones, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, marathon, YouTube

PBS Kids will be launching the second season of the interactive preschool block with Miss Lori and Hooper on September 3rd, 2007.  The new season will include new curriculum themes, more original music, and kid-created content with Dot’s Story Factory.  Super Why!, a new literacy-based series, will join the content line up beside favorites Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Dragon Tales.

The new curriculum themes will be presented in a structured format such as “Music Time,” “Math Time,” “Art, Time,” and “Reading Time.”  Kids will almost feel as if they are in a preschool classroom as they learn about letters, shapes, and colors.  They will also experience familiar environmental elements such as smocks, easels, mini tables and chairs, books and more.  Topics such as sharing and healthy habits will also be explored.

Miss Lori and Hooper, PBS Kids, Dot’s Story Factory, Super Why!, Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Dragon Tales