It is pretty surprising that I haven't written a post on The Octonauts, considering both my children are fanatical about the series. This has to be one of the best natural history children's series on the planet and I am amazed I didn't think of it myself!
Basically the action takes place under the sea and a mother ship - the Octopod - is where the crew spend most of their time. Inside this appropriately named vessel (yes that is right it has eight legs) we find more interesting submarines like the GUP-A, GUP-E and now, in the new series, the GUP-X.
The show features Captain Barnacles - a polar bear, Kwazii - a cat, Peso - a penguin, Dashi - a dog, Shellington - a sea otter, Tweak - a rabbit, Professor Inkling - an Octopus and a load of Vegimals, which are a sort of animal/vegetable hybrid!
The episodes introduce and reinforce the principles of team work and assistance, whilst teaching children about really interesting marine species like the Vampire Squid, Lemon Shark, Dwarf Lantern Shark, Remipedes and more. I love the way the show's creators have not shied away from tackling some really interesting denizens of the deep in favour of the more commonly seen critters.
We all love this show and it is well worth a look if you want to get your children interested in the natural world. We were browsing toys the other day and noticed that new additions from the latest series are already gracing the shelves. My eldest was very taken by the Gup-X and I think Santa may have to deliver one this year.
My eldest son was always very taken by marine wildlife, but this show has definitely strengthened his passion for working with creatures from the sea. My youngest also rates this as one of his favourite shows and related a lot of what he had seen to our adventures at the seaside.
My eldest son was always very taken by marine wildlife, but this show has definitely strengthened his passion for working with creatures from the sea. My youngest also rates this as one of his favourite shows and related a lot of what he had seen to our adventures at the seaside.
Please read earlier posts entitled 'The Highest Tide' http://www.putdownthexbox.com/2012/04/highest-tide.html and 'The Octopus' http://www.putdownthexbox.com/2012_08_01_archive.html, which focus more on the wonder of Davy Jones's Locker!
Full marks to Meomi for conjuring up this wonderful series.
