Dora The Explorer - Dora's Egg Hunt (DVD)

...the cartoon***

Dora the Explorer is a cartoon aimed at pre-school children. It is inter-active, encouraging children to play along in the adventures. It's aim is to encourage problem solving in pre-schoolers by encouraging them and helping them to work through a problem.

Dora is a character in a computer programme. In each episode she encounters programmes, and the child is then asked to answer a question. There is a ...
...to answer.

Dora speaks English but also speaks Spanish. The programme uses basic Spanish words and asks the child to repeat them. This helps them with basic knowledge of Spanish.

***Characters***

Dora is the main character. She is a little Latina girl. At the beginning of each episode she is given a problem which her friends and the child must help her solve.

Boots the Monkey is Dora's best ... more

***Basic Information about the cartoon***

Dora the Explorer is a cartoon aimed at pre-school children. It is inter-active, encouraging children to play along in the adventures. It's aim is to encourage problem solving in pre-schoolers by encouraging them and helping them to work through a problem.

Dora is a character in a computer programme. In each episode she encounters programmes, and the child is then asked to answer a question. There is a gap between the question being asked and the answer eing given on the show, allowing time for the child to answer.

Dora speaks English but also speaks Spanish. The programme uses basic Spanish words and asks the child to repeat them. This helps them with basic knowledge of Spanish.

***Characters***

Dora is the main character. She is a little Latina girl. At the beginning of each episode she is given a problem which her friends and the child must help her solve.

Boots the Monkey is Dora's best friend.

Backpack is the bag Dora carries on her back. He has his own song for kids to sing along to and contains lots of helpful items needed on each adventure.

Map is, as you would imagine, a map. The child shouts "Map" and he appears, giving directions to the destination and obstacles you meet along the way. He also has his own song.

Swiper the Fox is the villian. He steals anything that Boots or Dora have and throws it away saying "You'll never find it now". When the child see's Swiper they are asked to yell "Swiper no swiping" and this will stop him from stealing.

Diego is Dora's cousin and he appears in a few episodes.

Benny the Bull, Isa the Iguana, and Tico the squirrel are other friends who help Dora along the way.

***Dora's Egg Hunt***

The episodes feature on this video/DVD are:-

1.Dora's Egg Hunt The team have to find the big yellow egg with the prize inside. They need your help to find surprised filled eggs along the way. This episode helps kids learn their colours and has the Spanish translation too.

El Dia Del la Madres It's Mother's Day and Dora is going to make her Mother a Mother's Day Cake. First she needs your help to collect all the ingredients. A lovely family orientated episode that points out how important Mum's are while still being enjoyable for children.

Dora, La Musica The town are having a music festive but senor Shush has locked all the instruments in a box. The team need your help to find the instruments and make some beautiful music. Be sure to stop Swiper the Fox though. This episode shows the bad side of Senor Shush but he is good by the end. It shows children that even though people do bad things they can still be nice. My kids still think Senor Shush is a villan though.

Pablo's Flute Pablo lived a long time ago and he played the flute. But it was lost in a storm. Dora and Boots need your help to find the flute and bring it back to Pablo's Mountain.This episode features the Spook forest which my kids were a little afraid of at first. It also features lovely soft music from a flute. This is a really nice story for children. The act of returning the missing flute shows children that it is nice to be kind.

Each episode has a running time of around 25 minutes.

***Where to buy it***

Dora's Egg Hunt comes on video or DVD. Tesco is currently selling this for £11.99 but Morrison's have it for £9.99.

I bought the video for my kids a long time ago and it cost around £5.99 at the time but I have been unable to find any video versions. Keep your eyes peeled though-Car Boot sales and charity shops could land you a bargain!

***My Opinion***

Kids find Dora highly addictive. The programmes are aimed at pre-schoolers so are predictably repetitive. The songs featured are easy to learn and are sang in most episodes. Kids pick them up quickly and find it enjoyable to sing along. (eg I'm the Map, I'm the Map, I'm the Map I'm the Map...)

I like the fact that Spanish words are used in the programme, as well as simple phrases. There is a gap which allows the child to repeat the word so that they are actually absorbing the information. The Spanish used is basic, such as colours, directions and greeting.

The interactive side of the programme is great too. It's amusing to hear a child yelling, "Swiper no swiping!" over and over again, and it shows that they are paying attention to the show. Unfortunately it is also annoying after a while.

When Swiper throws something he has 'swiped' away, the child is encouraged to find it on the screen and point ot it. There are often decoy objects to encourage them to spot the difference. This is great for their memories.

On a hole, I think Dora the Explorer , Dora's Egg Hunt is a great thing for pre-schoolers. It seems to capture and keep their attention and is also eductaional. My children still love watching this after more than a year and they love repeating the Spanish words. They also like to say their colours in Spanish even when the programme is not on.

I would recommend this for boys or girls. Parents, just do the housework while it's playing or your head will explode.

 

...less