On Saturday the children and I were invited to a very special launch party for a brand new show which will air on CBeebies. Not only that but the BBC came to our house beforehand to film us getting ready and making or way to the party. We’re going to star on their YouTube channel in a little ‘My Story’ type of production which is very exciting indeed.

We had no idea who the ‘Twirlywoos’ were when we were in the car on our way to the party and Jimmy speculated that perhaps they were cows? All we knew was that this is the name of the new show and it is made by Ragdoll Productions with the legendary Anne Wood (who co created shows like ‘Brum’, ‘Tots TV’, ‘Rosie and Jim’ and the award winning ‘Dipdap’ as well as some of our current faves like ‘In The Night Garden’ and ‘The Adventures Of Abney and Teal’) at the helm. We had no idea then… But we certainly know all about it now!

Obviously with such a magic touch production company behind it the ‘Twirlywoos’ had a very good chance of capturing all little eyes in the room but what actually happened was far more than that. From the minute Alex Winters (of CBeebies fame) started to introduce the new programme, the children were glued to the screen behind him where it was apparent that the ‘Twirlywoos’ were not in fact cows but birds. And then the second the screening started I noticed something in my children that told me this show is going to be something very special indeed, even more special than I had anticipated. I got the same feeling from them when we went to the ‘Frozen’ premiere and well, we all know how that went don’t we…

The show, which is about these sweet little plumptious birds without proper wings but instead feathers on the top of their heads that turn into propellers like a helicopter, shows how they go from their own world on their Big Red Boat and into our world where they discover something new in each episode. We watched one where they found the word ‘full’ and learned how to use water from the tap to fill cups, hats and Wellington boots to much laughter from the children in the room and head scratching from the grown up on the show when he found his kitchen covered in water filled containers. At the end of the show they drank some fruit tea from their fruit tea machine which followed in the ‘full’ theme and settled down for the night on their Twirly Rings. This might not mean much to you right now but we’re pretty sure that it will soon! From the 23rd February when someone says  ‘Great BigHoo’, ‘Toodloo’, ‘Chickedy’, ‘Chick’ or ‘Peekaboo’ you will probably be very familiar indeed and even if you don’t watch CBeebies we’ve a feeling this particular show won’t pass you by!

This show is set to give children a perspective of themselves in the real world and uses stop-frame animation as well as real world sequences which is quite different to some of Ragdoll’s other shows yet it most certainly has their signature all over it. Anne Wood says that essentially, this is a situation comedy for 2-6 year olds but having worked closely with Professor Cathy Nutbrown, an early years specialist who approved the ‘Twirlywoos’, the patterns of thinking from which children’s early learning develops is the foundation for the concept of both the programme and all developments from it, including interactive.

Well, we personally didn’t delve too deeply into to the whys and science and we just enjoyed the show which had us laughing, wanting more and talking about the ‘Twirlywoos’ all weekend. Hurry up 23rd February because we want to see it again! Oh and don’t forget to look out for us on the CBeebies YouTube channel!

And this is the video the CBeebies team made. I think I might have to seriously re think sitting down in my jumper dress as I look ENORMOUS but aside from that I love it, what an ace experience!

We went to the ‘Twirlywoos’ launch party and were filmed for the CBeebies YouTube channel.

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