I am the father of young children, girl and boy 3 and 4 respectively.
And as a matter of fact we do try (key word:try) to limit TV watching to about an hour a day (except for family movie nights on Sundays).
So, we’re choosy. It goes without saying I like Dora, I dig Sid the Science Kid, but the newest addition to our kids viewing time is the quirky, awesome “Team Umizoomi.”
It is the adventures of brother and sister team Geo and Milli, and their robot friend ‘bot.’ They are the world’s tiniest superheroes, they live in Umi City and they solve problems armed only with the powers of geometry, simple math, and some cool superhero add-ons, like their sweet ride the ‘Umi Car.’
The problems are the kinds of troubles happy, loved kids have, like leaving teddy bear at the fairgrounds (No worries, Team Umizoomi is on the case). Or the nail biter where a birthday boy’s dad is stuck on the subway with the birthday cake (Oh, the humanity!). The craziest I’ve ever seen is the episode where all the city kids are going to the Natural History museum but the dinosaurs have bolted because of a local thunderstorm. The dinosaurs must be found before the museum opens or riots will certainly ensue.
It’s great stuff, made all the better by the incorporation of ‘real’ people extras walking through the animated Umi City. The city itself is a character, an idyllic walkable community (much cleaner then Sesame Street) I wish existed.
The theme song is catchy (sample lyric: “We can measure.. build it together… you can help cause you’re so clever”), so we all sing it together (one of the great joys of parenting is being able to ‘geek out’ with the kids without fear of being societally shunned).
Geo, Milli and Bot are cool characters drawn in anime’ style.
But beyond catchiness, the show is all about identifying patterns, and basic math. It is engaging and smart and has resulted in my boy finding and identifying patterns in everything. So it does the job, it entertains and educates, and I give it very high parental rating.
It is on Nick Jr. (8:30AM EST M-F) give it a try if you have kids, and see if you don’t find yourself humming the theme song from time to time. It’s one of the best shows you’re not watching.
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I am Kevin. My favorite things are being a husband, father, son, brother, and uncle. Beyond that, I read like a fiend. I play guitar, tin whistle, piano and accordion, and occasionally 'slapa de bass.' I play any video game by Blizzard... only about an hour a week. I run.
I haven't gotten enough sleep since my first kid was born in 2005. I really like my wife. I think my kids are funny. My dad is the guy I most admire. My mom was always there. I have good friends.
Most days I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet. On the other days, I keep my head down, keep moving, and count to 10 before I say anything out loud.