Spring is here! To my family this means: planting flowers, cleaning (my favorite—not so much for my two boys…), rain, picnics, and DANCING! Yes, folks I said dancing. One of our favorite activities is going to our backyard, lighting some festive lanterns, and having a mini dance party (of course there is also turkey burgers on the grill and loads of snacks... we are foodies after all.)
Children don’t care if they are getting the steps right (well... most don’t), they just want to move! My boys and I enjoy spending time together dancing to just about anything. Not only is dance a good way to get some exercise in but it is also a fantastic way to cut loose, release stress from school/homework/chores, as well as spend some quality time with your loved ones. Which brings me to dancing with our favorite monkey: Curious George!
Do your little ones love Curious George like my kids do? Do they have some crazy moves? Well, I am happy to announce that Curious George is having his very first DANCE Contest in celebration of how much the arts influence our little ones! (Can you believe that Curious George is on its sixth season on PBS KIDS®? Yikes... I am feelings a little old here...)
You can enter a video of your child/ren dancing to the Curious George theme song for a chance to be featured on a Curious George DVD…Or maybe even win a visit from George himself!
Please note (parent and guardians) that you only have until April 2, 2012 to send in videos of your child/ren (under the age of eight) to CuriousGeorgeDanceContest.com. The public will then get to vote for a winner between April 16th - April 30th. Good luck and get dancing everybody – you can Spring Clean later :)!
I had a big wish when I was little girl-- I wanted a pet. Not just any pet, I wanted a pet monkey just like "Curious George". I would sit for hours reading about all of his escapades and laugh and dream that I was right there with him, like when he painted animals on the wall of an apartment or when he helped a chef "cook" spaghetti.. he was one of my dearest childhood friends (along with Ramona Quimby .. but that is a story for another day).
That is why when I got the opportunity to write about the upcoming BRAND NEW season of Curious George that premieres on Labor Day (This Monday!!) I was very excited. I got the materials to review during the week but I have a very strict policy of no TV during the week (yes.. I know that sounds crazy .. but hey.. believe me it pays off) we hunkered down to watch the episodes yesterday.
You will not be disappointed as a parent because you already know that if it's on PBS it is educational but they have outdone themselves with these shows because they are not only educational they are exposing the children to the wonders of the arts.
He delves into an auction, goes to an opera, reads a map, becomes a detective, sculpts,and takes pictures. Also, George's Latino friend Marco is back! Those episodes are scheduled to re-air the week of September 19th in celebration of September being Hispanic Heritage Month.
Thankfully, my boys and I have always made it a point to go to museums, watched live performances online (we can't really afford to go to the opera at the moment) but man .. because we can't go to some of these things just seeing them and being exposed to them has made my kids think that they can create anything. They have some AMAZING imaginations (maybe I am bragging a little.. but I would say this even if they weren't my kids).. they have created spaceships, oceans, ships, and armies all with comforters and paper. I love shows that don't just entertain my children because I want the time that they do watch TV to feed them ideas not zap those ideas out of them.
I used to let them watch TV while I cooked and they would be like little zombies in front of the TV and when I would ask them what they just finished watching they would just talk about kids on TV hitting each other, or making jokes that I thought were kind of inappropriate, but when I drew the line was when my EIGHT YEAR OLD SON who weighs 40 pounds soaking wet said he didn't want to wear sweaters anymore because they made him look fat. I didn't want to just haul the TV out and leave it on our front door (okay.. maybe a little) but knew that I had to be more vigilant about what they were being exposed to and decided to limit the TV time they were having.
When I was growing up I loved all of the cartoons from PBS and that I learned a lot from their shows and so I had my kids watch all my old favorites. They were hesitant at first missing their old shows (I let them watch those every so often) but all in all they are in love with the PBS line up and I love that they are actually learning something.
The PBS family also wants our kids to be more involved in the arts and so sometime in February Curious George will be having their very first DANCE CONTEST!! Parents will be able to submit videos of our little ones dancing to the Curious George theme song and those videos will be posted on the Curious George website. One lucky monkey will be awarded a special prize (my boys are practicing now.. :-)
We had a ball watching the season yesterday and I believe that your kids will learn so much and maybe will be inspired to get out there and be creative just like our friend : Curious George!!
