Dora the Explorer: World Adventure

MPAA Rating: NA
Genre: Childrens educational/animated/bilingual
Runtime: DVD length is approx. 100 minutes
Target Age Group: Preschoolers

In the double-length episode, "Dora's World Adventure," (available on the Dora the Explorer: World Adventure DVD) Dora and her friends are excited to celebrate Friendship Day. They run into a problem though, when they realize that Swiper has stolen all of the friendship bracelets from around the world. The bracelets won't glow unless everyone from each of the countries around the world has them, so Dora offers to help Swiper give them back.

Dora and Swiper travel to France, Tanzania, China and Russia, learning about different cultures and customs along the way. The map helps them find each of the countries and the landmarks they must go to.

*The Dora the Explorer: World Adventure DVD also features the following Dora episodes: "Journey to the Purple Planet," and "The Golden Explorers."

"Dora's World Adventure" does a great job of introducing preschoolers to the idea of other countries around the world. As usual, the map helps Dora figure out where to go, but in this episode, the map represents the whole world. In addition to letting kids see the countries on the map, the animation often shows Dora and Swiper's travels in relation to a big globe, introducing kids to the actual shape of the earth and showing the division of land and water.

Dora and Swiper learn a little about the culture of each country, and they teach viewing children how to say "hello" in each different language. Also, they use a different mode of transportation each time they travel.

In one TV show, even a double-length one, there isn't time to cover geography or the culture of different countries in depth; however, "Dora's World Adventure" is a great introduction for kids, and parents and teachers can use kids' excitement about the show to teach them more:

• Take out a globe and show kids each of the different countries that Dora traveled to, as well as their own country, state, and city.
• Talk with kids about other languages spoken around the world. If you don't speak another language yourself, turn on the Spanish channel or another language channel and let them hear how different languages sound.
• Show kids pictures of the earth, the ocean, or the landmarks Dora visits in the video.