Ahh, the great outdoors.
Our 2014 was a very great outdoors kind of year. We hiked down into Crater Lake and then hiked up Wizard Island in the middle of the lake before doing both in reverse and collapsing onto our beds shortly thereafter. We walked in awe among the giants of the Redwood Forest, through a place called Fern Canyon that was every bit as magical as it sounds, and explored the swamps of Louisiana.
The joy of finding summer snow on Crater Lake.
All the while, as we walked, jumped, swam, ran, hiked and enjoyed the bounty of nature, we had the kindie Americana songs of The Okee Dokee Brothers running through our heads. Starting this fall, we’ll have Nature Cat, a new PBS Kids show featuring two of our favorite things, there too, encouraging us to never stop venturing into the outside world. From a PBS Kids programming standpoint, Nature Cat will slot in nicely alongside Wild Kratts, and the excitement that show builds in kids about the animal kingdom.
More info soon, but here’s what PBS Kids is saying about Nature Cat today:
This fall, PBS KIDS will premiere NATURE CAT, a new animated series that encourages children to explore nature. NATURE CAT follows Fred, a house cat who dreams of exploring the great outdoors. Through NATURE CAT, co-creators and brothers David Rudman (SESAME STREET, The Muppets) and Adam Rudman (Tom & Jerry, SESAME STREET, CYBERCHASE) have teamed up to inspire viewers to get outdoors and develop connections with the natural world. Designed for kids ages 3-8, the multiplatform media property will encourage families to get active and go on their own outdoor adventures. The series will air daily following its premiere (check local listings).
NATURE CAT will spark children’s curiosity and introduce them to science and nature.
Each episode of NATURE CAT will feature two 11-minute stories, as well as a live-action interstitial. In each 11-minute story, the characters model age-appropriate reasoning skills that can be applied to real-world exploration, such as classifying, counting and measuring. The stories will explore these themes through different lenses, encouraging young children to engage with the subject in different ways. The interstitials will build on the themes as well. Each one will demonstrate a variety of ways to experience nature — from “how to go hiking” to “how to pack a backpack.”
Grounded in a multifaceted science curriculum, NATURE CAT aims to expose children to a variety of nature concepts and systems, encourage shared discoveries and experiences as viewers explore the natural world and give parents and teachers ideas for nature-based activities.
NATURE CAT will demonstrate that discovery can happen anywhere – a backyard, a local park, the beach and even amidst the cracks of a city sidewalk. Nature Cat’s adventures take him through his family’s big backyard, into the woods and then into the “four corners” of his natural world: parks, ponds, caves, gardens, marshes, ravines, swamps, canyons, nature preserves and mountains. As they join Nature Cat and his friends on their adventures, young viewers will learn that to experience nature all they need to do is open the door, step outside and prime their senses.
