A Mom's Review of Nickelodeon's Noggin Channel

I came upon Noggin, Nickelodeon's preschooler channel, by accident, but it quickly became a staple in our home. Offered on satellite and digital cable, Noggin plays preschool favorites from Nick Jr. and original shows made for Noggin, as well as some old classics, from 6 o'clock AM until 6 o'clock PM (Eastern standard time), commercial-free. At night, the channel is called "The N" and features different teen sitcoms and dramas.

One of my favorite features of Noggin is that it is commercial-free. Shows run from the top of the half hour for about 20 minutes, and then in between, instead of mindless commercials, there is about 10 minutes of educational time with Noggin's mascots, Moose and Zee. They consider shapes, colors, patterns, and so on. There are also segments of music and dancing, studying different animals, cooking, crafts, and many other fun knowledge-building pieces. While there is occasionally a little piece about Lysol and Nick, Jr. these bits are quick and inoffensive, and are not likely to make your child say "I want that!"

The shows Noggin offers are great. Some favorite Nick shows on Noggin are, of course, "Dora the Explorer" and "Go, Diego, Go", and my personal favorite, "The Backyardigans". Classics they offer are "Little Bear", "Franklin", and "Blue's Clues",

Some newer shows, or at least new enough that I have not heard of them before, are "Jack's Big Music Show" featuring music-playing puppets, "Oobi" which consists entirely of characters made of people's hands, "Lazytown" which was created in Iceland and is a little unusual, but peppy and encouraging of healthy behaviors, "Wow! Wow! Wubzy" a cartoon of three silly friends and their humorous adventures, and "Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends", featuring the voice of Kristen Davis, which is a wonderful show about the love and warmth of family.

Noggin is, of course, very entertaining for young children. But they also claim to be "like Preschool on TV". On their website they say their channel "makes the most of the time children spend watching TV." Before each show, and online, they inform parents of the educational advantages of each show. Their shows utilize what they call "connected learning", meaning that they can help children make connections to the world around them, and connect learning to enjoyment.

There are many different facets of connected learning, which you can read about on noggin.com. A couple of my personal favorites are that many shows are active, and interactive. My daughter can catch stars and cock-a-doodle-do with Dora, swim with Diego, play with the remote on "The Upside Down Show", hunt Blue's clues, and sing along on "Jack's Big Music Show". Noggin is also iterative, or repetitive, which while it can drive an adult nuts, is a great way for preschoolers to learn. It is also applicable for young lives.

Noggin is definitely one of the best options on TV for preschoolers, offering twelve hours of quality educational and preschooler-safe television. Also, when you little one starts asking if they can play on the computer, noggin.com offers fun games, drawing, and educational experiences online as well. Nickelodeon truly hit the right note with Noggin.