WordWorld!

If you have little tikes at home, say pre-school age, you are probably amazed and dismayed that I had never heard about the Emmy award-winning PBS show, WordWorld. I imagine that the program is a staple in your home life already.

But I just discovered WordWorld recently, and I love it, so I'm going to tell everyone out there about it, in case there are any other clueless Moms like me who still don't know what it is, okay?

Okay, so! WordWorld is the kind of show that makes perfect sense for kids as soon as you hear about it, to the point where it really should have been done before: in WordWorld, the words for things are the shape the things take.

Okay, I realize that didn't maybe make perfect sense, but that's just because I didn't explain it well. Here's what I mean: you know how CAT is spelled C-A-T? Well, in WordWorld, when a cat comes around, the cat itself is in the shape of the letters C-A-T!

Isn't that brilliant? Words look like what they mean, they are what they represent, and it just seems obvious to me that it makes learning to read a lot easier when you can SEE what you are trying to spell!

There's also a whole line of toys at Target for the WordWorld characters, and they're pretty clever. For example, there is a C-A-T cat made up of plush magnetic letters that look like a cat when they are put together, and they stay put together and stand up because of the magnets. And apparently you can get a few other WordWorld toys like the cat, and then (prepare for your mind to be blown by this) move the letters around and make new words, which is beyond cool (WordWorld toys at Target range from 4.29-29.99).

WordWorld has a fantastic site, too, which you have to go to! I made the Engineer laugh out loud as I earnestly explained the plight of the little bug (B-U-G!) who had nowhere snug to sleep, which you can find out all about by going to the WordWorld site and checking out the interactive book (B-O-O-K!) they have there. Your pre-school kids will just love this site. It even makes me happy, and I'm a grown-up. All the characters from the show, known as the Wordfriends, can be found there.

And WordWorld had a really cute holiday special recently, which originally aired on December 1st, and I thought it was December 7th, which is why I am posting this today.

BUT!

Don't despair!

The holiday episode of WordWorld will air again this Thursday, December 11th at 10:30 AM (get your Tivo set up now!).

It has two really cute stories: First, in A Christmas Star, Duck tries to lasso a star from the sky to put atop Frog's Christmas tree. Then, in A Christmas Present for Dog, the WordFriends enjoy their Christmas gifts, but Dog's new ball is missing an L.

In the meantime, you can go to the WordWorld site and actually download a free episode for your kids to watch right now!