Cbeebies - Gardening and Nature

Sitting watching Dirt Girl World with my son last night got me wondering how much these sorts of programmes will influence our children. There is a plethora of nature type programmes on CBeebies (my son has yet to graduate to CBBC, except for 'the Deadly 60').

Dirt Girl World is in fact my least favourite - something about the animation and those faces - spooky. I prefer the Green Balloon Club and the CBeebies version of Springwatch. Gordon the Garden Gnome was OK and although is not being broadcast at present there are two fun games on the Cbeebies website.

Others have pointed out that even quite young children can list different types of inanimate objects e.g. makes and models of cars and their favourite TV characters, but how many can name more than a couple of plants and shrubs in their gardens. I have to admit that in the fog of sleepless nights with my son it took me a little while to note that all of the Flowertots are named after flowers. Yet I wonder how many children ever realise that violet and pansy are also the names of garden flowers.

Will those who watch grow up to become generation of budding gardeners and eco-warriors? I certainly hope so. Will these programmes encourage children and their families to get out there and have a go? They might. At least they are a starting point. I know I now have a demand from my son for us to grow more vegetables. So that is what we are doing this year.