Claire Hailwood is pleased to improve her knowledge watching this popular series on the settee with her five year old
The film/Series: Storybots
Rating: U
Running time 30 mins
Genre Educational
Overview. Storybots is an American children’s educational show which launched on YouTube but following its staggering success launched a series on Netflix – it follows five little creatures asking some big questions and getting some help along the way
What you liked
This is a genuinely educational show – from ‘how do eyes see’ to ‘what happens when you flush the toilet’ (my son’s favourite!), knowledge is shared in a way that’s accessible and engaging.
I joked about my youngest’s favourite episode but as a child who loves tools and fixing things, the episode where he learned about toilets and waste pipes was fascinating to him and genuinely led to him sharing knowledge with me that I’m not sure I had before!
It’s zany and silly at times – its colourful, fun premise meets an unusual, weird and wonderful format with special guests meaning it’s not similar to much else that I’ve watched over my years of children’s TV.
There is celebrity involvement in episodes which as an adult I enjoy although it’s completely lost on the children!
What you didn’t like
For particularly sensitive little ones it can be scary at points – there were a number of moments in a few episodes where my five year old needed me to be close. He enjoyed it, didn’t want it to be switched off, but it was enough for him to need me nearby.
Most of the time I enjoyed the different way the show approaches answering questions, I like the zany-ness but on occasions I personally found it too much and that made me disengage, although I recognise I’m not the primary audience!
Thoughts for parents:
I would recommend watching alongside your children if only to learn with them! There are loads of chances to wonder together at how awesome the human body is, how incredible people are, how fabulous it is to be able to learn. There’s a great chance to love being curious together and it’s then really easy to connect this to our creator who imagined and made it all – imagine the fun that God had making eyes and how they see!
I imagine that this won’t have the universal appeal that other shows may have and I would recommend watching with your child to see whether they appreciate and enjoy this style of show – I’m sure many will. And for those of you fortunate to have extra sensitive children, I’d stay close in case of some slightly scarier bits!
