Tag: PBS Kids

Angelina Ballerina: The Next Step Embraces Music, Dance

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Some of the fondest memories from my childhood include the years that I was enrolled in dance class.  I loved ballet and jazz so much that I took my training and lessons with me beyond high school and even danced for several years in college.  And because it’s the end of the school year, it also means that it’s recital season for many little girls (and some boys, too).

 

With recital season in full swing, coupled with my love for dance, one show that comes to mind for Music Monday is, Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps, which airs on PBS Kids.  The show is based on the award-winning children’s book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craigre.  Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps debuted this past September in full CG animation, incorporating elements of choreography from top dance organizations from American Ballet Theatre to Alvin Ailey.

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PBS Kids Launches Photo Factory App

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Always a fan of fun, free apps, the kid and I are quite excited about PBS Kids’ recently launched Photo Factory App.

With the PBS Kids’ Photo Factory App, kids can customize their photos with various PBS characters and then email, save or share so the whole world can check out their creations.  Kids can choose characters from Arthur, Caillou, Clifford, Curious George, Dinosaur Train, Dragon Tales, Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman, Sesame Street, Sid the Science Kid (my favorite!), Super Why! and Wordgirl to accent their photos; the choices are endless, really!

 

What I love about this app, other than it being free, is that it’s so user and kid friendly.  The graphics are fun, the pictures are colorful and it’s yet another way to keep my guy entertained on bus and train rides.  Oh, and we have even more ways to customize pictures to assign to my contacts in my phone!  Who wouldn’t smile at a picture of Grandpa adorned with a little Clifford?

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PBS, you guys think of everything, don’t you?

The PBS Photo Factory App is available absolutely free to download in the app store.  For more info. on all PBS apps, check out their mobile site.

 

All aboard the Dinosaur Train

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

The Dinosaur Train, a new tv series for preschoolers from the Jim Henson Company, is set to debut on September 7 on PBS Kids, just in time for the new school year. The CGI-animated series, aimed at 3-6 year olds, will combine two preschoolers’ favorites—trains and dinosaurs—while encouraging interest in science, specifically natural history and paleontology.

dtrainThe Dinosaur Train’s premise follows Buddy, who is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon, and brought to their nest to hatch at the same time as his new siblings, Tiny, Shiny and Don. The show will follow the family’s adventures as they travel around in the Dinosaur Train checking out the prehistoric world and learning about other dinosaurs along the way.

This isn’t the Jim Henson Company’s first foray with CGI animation.  In fact,buddy perhaps one of their most notable new shows, the parent and kid favorite, Sid the Science Kid, is a CGI-animated show that focuses on science, and was recently nominated for 2009 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program.
If the popularity of the Emmy-nominated Sid the Science Kid is any indication, I have a feeling that The Dinosaur Train will be a another big hit and a great natural history-focused addition in the educational media sector.

The full website is expected to launch in August, but in the meantime, be sure to meet Buddy and the gang on The Dinosaur Train’s preliminary website.

Photo credit: PBS

PBS Kids Go! and PBS Kids Celebrate Earth Day

by Jen Rabulan-Bertram

Need extra help instilling the green for the kiddie’s routine for Earth Day?  Well, good news:  PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! will celebrate Earth Day with the fourth installment of PBS Kids Share the Earth Day. A new Web-based Earth Day Channel is set to launch at pbskidsgo.org, too. New episodes of Curious George, Arthur and Cyberchase will be featured on PBS Kids in honor of the Earth Day celebration. george And that’s not all, favorites from shows like Super Why!, Sid the Science Kid and more will reflect Earth Day celebrations as well.

Online, there will be a plethora of eco-focused content on pbskidsgo.org, pbskids.org, PBS Parents and PBS Teachers.
The new PBS Kids Go! video player will host an Earth Day channel with themed content from Arthur, Design Green, The Greens and Maya & Miguel, which is geared to teach kids how to share the Earth. In addition to Web content from PBS Kids Go! TV series, Web-exclusive sites such as Eekoworld— an environment where kids create their own creatures and monitor them in the wild — and The Greens — a pbskidsgo.org series about the Green family and their exploration of sustainability, ecology and environmental care — will further explore what it means to be green.

Oh, and as if we didn’t already know, PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! programming are among the most education-rich offerings on television, according to a report released by independent research and advocacy organization Children Now.  How’s that for green and educational influence?