jack's big music show!

www.noggin.com

my cousin has her hands full. she has two boys (a 6 week old and a 20 month old) and even on a good day she barely gets a chance to catch her breath.

she called me two days ago to tell me the news: they're all sick. "ugh," she coughed at me, "i'm exhausted. both boys have colds, i feel like crap, and i just need five minutes to blow my nose. i've been through every episode of sesame street we have on the dvr and if i have to watch dora the explorer one more time, i'm going to go loco. ACHOO!"

i feel your pain. as i've mentioned before when talking about my other favorite kid's show, i'm not a big proponent of letting your tiny tot watch a bunch of tv, but i'm not amish. and sometimes when cole is cranky, or i need two seconds to prepare his lunch or, as happened the other night, my child decides he is absolutely terrified of my super nice friend who loves children and was almost a preschool teacher, some child-friendly programming is just what we need. and jack's big music show is just what my cousin needs.

jack's big music show, on noggin (of course) is not only a great way to keep your child entertained, but teaches them about different types of music. the muppet-like puppets of jack, mary and jack's dog mel play a variety of instruments as they demonstrate rhythm, melody, singing and lots of different sounds.

the puppet sections are interspersed with live music segments. a range of musicians, from house musician laurie berkner to an a capella group to lisa loeb (!) perform songs for your child to sing along with. participation is encouraged and children can learn about the unique sounds of all sorts of instruments and types of music from different cultures.

jack's big music show fulfills all my requirements for children's programming. it's entertaining, bright and colorful, shows great interaction, encourages participation, it's educational and, most importantly, i don't want to pull all of my hair out while watching it. it's sweet enough for children but not so saccharine that it turns parents off.

and good news: my cousin's son loves it! they finally have some new songs to sing along with while they're all back on the road to recovery.