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THE JIM HENSON COMPANY BY LAURIE LEAHEY
he company that created Fraggle Rock, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Muppet Babies, continues to produce entertaining preschool programming. With its first curriculumbased preschool series, Sid the Science Kid, The Jim Henson Company hopes to promote exploration, discovery, and science readiness among preschoolers.
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Sid the Science Kid debuted on September 1, 2008, on PBS Kids. A coproduction of The Jim Henson Company and KCET/Los Angeles for PBS Kids, Sid the Science Kid uses comedy to celebrate children’s natural curiosity about science and explores their “why?” questions in everyday life. Sid is an inquisitive and energetic 5 year old who tackles the ideas that preschoolers find fascinating, such as why do bananas go bad?, how does my juice box straw work?, and how does a bird fly without a plane? In each
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episode, viewers will be introduced to Sid’s friends and family who help him find the answers to these questions. Unlike other animated children’s series, Sid the Science Kid uses the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary technology that allows performers to puppeteer and voice digital characters in real time, creating a spontaneous and fresh on-screen result. An interactive online world launched at the same time as the TV series. At pbskids.org/sid, kids will be greeted by Sid and his school friends. The website features three discovery zones: The Super Fab Lab at Sid’s school, the playground, and Sid’s kitchen. Each zone hosts numerous games that encompass all of the series’ curricular themes. Parents, caregivers, and teachers looking to extend informal science education in the home and classroom can use the website to find resources, such as games and activities, that reinforce the show’s themes. In order to promote science exploration and discovery outside of the TV and computer screens, The Jim Henson Company partnered with licensees, including Hasbro, HarperCollins, NCircle Entertainment, TysToyBox.com, Sara Max, Medibadge, and Patch Products, for everything from toys, games, and science activity kits to apparel, books, and DVDs. Through these licensed products, young scientists can connect and learn with Sid and his friends in a whole new way.
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• At the 36th Annual
Daytime Emmy Awards this year, Sid the Science Kid was nominated in two categories: Outstanding Children’s Animated Program and Outstanding Achievement in Main Title and Graphic Design. • Sid the Science Kid was originally called What’s the Big Idea? • Sid the Science Kid airs weekdays on PBS Kids. Check local listings for days and times. New episodes began airing last month. • Sid is able to answer his questions with the help of other characters on the show, including Gabriela, May, and Gerald, his classmates; his teacher Susie; Alice and Mort, his parents; his grandmother; and even his baby brother, Zeke.