Pinky Dinky Who?

Pinky Dinky Doo ~ That's who! This is my children's new favorite television show. This is saying a lot because it is very difficult to find a cartoon that they will all agree upon. I think they all like it because "Pinky Dinky Doo" offers a little something for everyone.

• Junie B appreciates Pinky's creativity and imagination.
• Fancy Nancy loves her pink hair and spunky personality.
• Jesse Bear loves Mr. Guinea pig.
• They all love the theme song. It is pretty catchy. Listen.
  

I like the program because each episode is written to include the following (as stated by noggin.com):


Celebrates the Power of Inventing Stories
By showcasing the storytelling process, PINKY DINKY DOO encourages kids to use their imaginations, demonstrates that stories come from ideas, and shows kids that their imaginations can lead a story down any path they choose.

Introduces the Basic Elements of Narration
Pinky's stories familiarize young children with the basic components of story structure--characters, dialogue, main ideas, event sequences, and details--which is essential to reading success later in school.

Encourages Listening and Comprehension
Pinky and her brother model effective strategies that kids need to make sense of stories, such as taking another look at a story, asking questions, getting clarification on unfamiliar words and concepts, and predicting what will come next.

Expands Vocabulary
Listening to stories is an important source of vocabulary acquisition. All of Pinky's stories demonstrate a joy in playing with language, focus on the meaning of words and concepts within a story, offer helpful support through visuals and dialogue, and include fun songs, games, rhymes, and alliterations.

The Noggin website has some really fun Pinky Dinky Doo stuff. The coolest thing is the selection of podcasts of the Pinky Dinky Doo stories. You can download a story onto a portable music player or stream an episode from your computer. You can also print the free activity pages that accompany each episode.

In addition, the website offers the following:

• Create your own story podcast to share with other children.
• Storytelling Picture Pack ~ Look at these colorful pictures with your children and encourage them to tell you a story about them.
• Pinky Paper Dolls
• Pinky Puppets

If you have a Pinky fan, check out these activities and let us know what you and your little one think.