New on CBeebies

We were invited to a screening of two new CBeebies programmes, Andy's Wild Adventures and Tree Fu Tom, as part of the channel's tenth birthday celebrations.





It was a massive thrill for my sons to meet CBeebies presenter, Andy Day, at the screening. He, along with Kay Benbow (controller of CBeebies), talked about a wonderful new programme, Andy's Wild Adventures.

Andy's Wild Adventures was made in conjunction with the BBC's Natural History Unit and stars Andy as a zookeeper. He and his furry sidekick, Kip, travel in the Kipmobile to visit animals in the wild. During filming Andy said he was covered in water, mud, ice and fungus - and more mud. The programme gives more than a passing nod to the late Johnny Morris and Animal Magic (my favourite programme when I was growing up in the 70's).

Presley and Cash LOVE Andy's Wild Adventures and have been watching it avidly since it was first broadcast a couple of weeks ago. They pretend to be Andy and Kip in the Kipmobile. It must have been surreal for Andy to watch my children pretending to be him, but we could tell he was genuinely pleased at how well-received the show has been.





This is the official introduction to Tree Fu Tom.

"Former Doctor Who stars David Tennant and Sophie Aldred voice the lead characters Tom (Aldred) and Twigs (Tennant) in the new multi-platform fantasy action adventure series, Tree Fu Tom coming to CBeebies in March.

Aimed at four to six year olds, Tree Fu Tom is set in an enchanted world where movement creates magic. Tom appears to be a normal eight-year-old boy but putting on his magic belt and performing a special sequence of magic action-movements (known as Tree Fu) transforms him into a tiny but mighty magical super-hero.

Using a Tree Fu spell, Tom is transported into a wondrous enchanted kingdom in a tree called Treetopolis, inhabited by sprites, bugs and naughty fungi – the ‘Mushas’. Here he meets his faithful sidekick Twigs, a silly and energetic Acorn Sprite.

Tom and Twigs are inseparable as they become embroiled in amazing, action-packed adventures, which always lead to trouble, impending disaster and catastrophe. When events run beyond their control it is only with help from the audience performing Tree Fu moves, that Tom can create spectacular Big World Magic and save the day!

All of the Tree Fu magic moves that children are encouraged to copy are developed from therapeutic techniques that are used to help children with movement disorders like Dyspraxia, but are designed to assist and enhance the development of all participating children at a crucial time in their growth."


I spoke to the producer of Tree Fu Tom, Dan, who told me that this new show has been five years in the making and was developed to help children to move. All of the children at the screening joined in with the magic movements and my boys are very excited to see more episodes.

Tree Fu Tom starts today at 5.25 on CBeebies.






Disclosure: The BBC provided coffee and pastries on the day, but nothing else! We paid our own travel. Just so you know. I write about CBeebies because I like it. It is gentle and well thought out. It keeps my boys occupied, entertained and educated while I cook the tea every afternoon.


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