Wonder Pets!

Ah, the Wonder Pets.

As a full-time nanny and former preschool teacher, I live in a world of Doodlebops, Wiggles, and perhaps most annoying, Barney. With the recent onslaught of painful preschool educational programming, I have found myself wondering if there are any shows left that can hold my charge's attention without driving me bonkers.

Luckily, the Wonder Pets have sailed into Nick Jr. to save the day. Here is a show that teaches valuable lessons about teamwork, sharing, the importance of asking for help, potty training, problem solving... and of course, friendship. My charge is just turning two, and she absolutely adores it. More importantly, she seems to understand the messages. Just the other day we were discussing what teamwork means, and later were picking up towels. As she picked towels up off of the floor, she exclaimed, "It's teamwork!" The songs are really well written, with music that is often very specific to the area they are visiting. I also love how the classroom is always decorated with whatever the episode's theme is. The kids who do the voices are so adorable, you can't help but smile whenever they talk or sing.

Best of all, the kid and I can snuggle on the couch and laugh our heads off together. It's nice to watch something we can both enjoy and bond over, instead of her watching something I am trying to tune out with a magazine.

Goooooooo, Wonder Pets! Yay!

I too watch this with my 4 year old. We have fun singing together. The tunes are very catchy. It also teaches to help each other & teamwork. There is also an episode that teaches sharing which most children this age need. There are many times he is humming or singing the theme song when he's playing. He loves this & so will your child. They even give your child some time to think about what they should do... kind of like Dora & Blue's Clues. He doesn't mind watching the episodes over and over. He has almost all of them memorized & they just started!!! I do hope they come up with new episodes & continue being a hit. Like one other review, they teach you to do the right thing first instead of doing the wrong thing and fixing it. This is a quality show to let them watch! It tends to catch my 9 month old's attention too!

The Wonder Pets consist of Linny, Tuck, and Ming-Ming, a guinea pig, turtle, and duckling respectively, who lead a double life as classroom pets and animal rescuers after school gets out. I have to disagree with the negative reviewers who's main criticisms seem to be that it's not educational and Ming-Ming's speech impediment. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've had to defend a children's show and I doubt it will be the last. With regards to the second complaint, Ming-Ming talks like that not because it's supposed to be "cute" but because the voice actress has a speech impediment. Besides, many preschoolers don't speak properly so it's relatable to them. Also, what exactly do you mean when you say "educational", because it depends on if you mean academically educational (letters, shapes, etc) or morally educational (things like friendship). If you mean the former, TV doesn't have to be a learning experience. If a show is educational that's nice but I seriously doubt that the inventors of television held a convention and said "and it must be educational". Also, I'd argue that it is educational in that sense because it teaches about various animals. If you mean the latter, then I'd say it certainly is. It discusses teamwork, sharing, problem solving, looking out for each other, and the importance of asking for help (there's even an episode about potty-training). Plus, how can you resist this show? The Wonder Pets themselves are so cute and adorable and the animals they help are also very sweet. I also really enjoy the songs like "what's gonna work, teamwork", which kind of reminds me of Bob the Builder (in a good way). Unlike some people, I also like the way Ming-Ming says "this is sewious". One of the greatest kiddie shows out there and one that everyone should see at some point. Even a friend of mine, who's my age, likes it and sometimes we even watch it together.

When I was younger, I was picky about what I liked, in not just food, but entertainment, and I only watched 3 shows, blues clues, Dora, and wonder pets, and I can whole heartedly tell you that this show both was the least patronizing, it was entertaining, and the animals not just being fully animated and using actual animals blew my mind, and this show holds up to this day!

last year when this show aired i was taking care of my little brother at home. dora makes me want to hang myself, blues clues is bearable but only because joe's adorable, and the koala brothers is as annoying as a show can get.watching these shows i managed to find a little diamond in the rough. the wonder pets is an adorable kids show that doesn't try too hard to appeal to children by dumbing itself down (well, not anymore than it has to be for young children.) it manages to teach a moral each episode, usually two (doing it your own way, etc.) aside from teamwork. it doesn't just focus on things being shown then the child repeating the answer (dora, blues clues, diego) but installs morals and values which most shows fail to teach today, and by showing the kids instead of telling them. my brother is autistic and this is the only show he'll watch, and i'm happy to watch it with him. its adorable and ming ming is the cutest and most humorous character on a kids show i have ever seen. go wonder pets!