Target Age Group: Preschoolers
Duration: approx. 25 minute episodes
Network: The Disney Channel (check local listings for times)
Little Einsteins - Overview
A take-off of the popular Baby Einsteins videos, the Little Einsteins series was created for preschoolers and similarly incorporates classical music, art, and real world images to entertain and educate. Combining animation with the real life images, the Little Einsteins take kids on adventures that teach them about actual places and things. Sometimes, the setting of the adventure is actually an animated version of a famous work of art. Also essential to each themed show is the musical score, and the Little Einsteins incorporate musical terminology and concepts into each adventure.
In each episode the Little Einsteins – Leo, who loves to conduct; Annie, Leo’s little sister who loves to sing; June, who loves to dance; and Quincy, who loves playing musical instruments – blast off on a new mission in “Rocket,” their trusty personified rocket ship. The mission can take them anywhere from the great pyramids of Egypt to the Wild West, or even to outer space as Leo, Annie, June and Quincy work to solve a problem or help out a friend.
Little Einsteins - TV Show Curriculum
The Little Einsteins show exposes kids to a variety of places, animals, concepts and more, but the backbone of the show’s curriculum is musical in nature. Each episode has a different classical music theme. In addition, the Little Einsteins often employ musical terms, and each interactive show involves viewing children by asking them to do things such as tap to the beat, sing along, or differentiate between musical instruments or excerpts of music.
Little Einsteins - Guide Review
The musical emphasis of the Little Einsteins show is both unique and effective. The characters’ love of music is contagious, and each one expresses musical talent in different ways. As Annie makes up cute words to go along with the classical music melodies, for example, kids not only see a great example of having fun with and using music, but they also get a memory cue that helps them recognize the classical piece when they hear it again.
Other educational elements of the show, more than anything, expose kids to different things and ideas which give them a foundation of familiarity to build upon when the time comes to learn more. For example, kids can recognize works of art they may have seen in the show, or they might remember the Egyptian pyramids from one episode and want to learn more if they see the pyramids in a book or on TV. Children may even learn to understand or even use some of the big words, like “determination,” that June often says during the show.
Little Einsteins works on several different levels to educate kids, but it is the characters – their individuality and identifiable talents, and especially their musical enthusiasm – that provide the most significant value to children.
