If you’re waking up this Monday morning with a busy preschooler to entertain, we’ve got some good news for you: PBS Kids has added a smart new show to their roster that isn’t just adorable to watch, but also will feed those growing brains with some fun math concepts that you can then incorporate into the rest of their day. Perhaps as in, You need to take one nap today, but you have so far taken zero naps. How many naps are left to take?
Starring one precocious little girl named Peg and her sidekick Cat, each 11-minute episode of PEG + CAT features a “Really Big Problem,” like how to clean up Peg’s room (which introduces the concept of sorting), or how to return a bunch of escaped chicken to their hutches (dividing into equal groups). But, don’t worry, this doesn’t feel like a boring math lesson any more than Dora feels like Spanish 101.
Another thing that makes PEG + CAT feel so fresh and new is the look of the animation. I love that much of the background looks to be graph paper (with even some pencil marks) and that the colors are so bright and vibrant.
And though Cat can play a bit of the “slow-to-understand sidekick,” Peg is always patient to explain things as they work together to solve their problem with humor and music.
I also love plucky little Peg, though I do wish her voice was a little less in the high-volume territory. I have plenty of that at home with my own kids, thankyouverymuch. But if she and Cat can get kids to see how cool math can be in solving real problems, hey, I may even start yelling about this show too. –Christina
PEG + CAT starts on PBS Kids today! Check your local PBS station for exact show times and check out special games online.
I just noticed this because my son discovered it in our PBS kids app…he LOVES Cat (and I love that it is “fun math”)
I think they said totes magoat on a episode. Annoying show like chalk hate the girls voice on it.