Heave Ho, Away Let's Go!

I've been watching the new Disney Junior programming with my kids over the last week, checking out all the changes they've added to their already extensive repertoire. And I gotta concede, overall it is a winning strategy. They are providing kids with a healthy dose of engaging and immersible content while subtly giving them cues towards being more active and taking responsibility. Little things like between show jingles and clips of situations where kids have made a mess and now must clean it up, as well as Mickey Mouse showing preschoolers that exercise is good for you. Disney has even go so far as to add programing to enlighten and broaden cultural awareness with shows that introduce elements of African culture as well as other world cultures, unlike some kids programing these days that want to over focus on trying to make Spanish a mainstream element everyone needs to be fluent in. But that is another rant for another day. 

Of all their new offerings though I have found myself, crewing up with my kids to join "Jake and the Neverland Pirates!" The show details a band of 3 young Pirates and their Parrot "Skully" and their adventures dealing with the cranky and curmudgeonly Captain Hook and always well meaning side-kick Smee. At every turn these young pirates are always good and up-standing characters even being nice and attempting to help Hook even if he himself wouldn't help them or has, as he ofter does, already done something nefarious to them.

And as an added bonus to the wonderfully fun and catchy tunes the show employs every episode ends with the entertaining pirate rock shanties of a pair of live action pirates. If you ever get the chance, watch this fun new little look at Neverland. I guarantee you'll have a fun time singing along and adding gold doubloons to the team treasure chest.  Disney even offers to keep your fix available online at their website. So anchors away mates, heave ho and away let's go!

http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/jake-and-the-never-land-pirates/jake-and-the-never-land-pirates-videos-episodes/