BINO & FINO: THE INDEPENDENCE EPISODE

I just watched Bino & Fino's first episode with The ing and his little brother, Bomboy.

Never heard of Bino & Fino? Well, neither had I until someone from the Bino & Fino team stopped by the blog and left a comment in my 'Giving My Kids Some Culture' post (thanks again to everyone who offered such incredible advice). Thank God they did because I waited expectantly to see the first episode and the boys and I were not disappointed.



The boys were thrilled to hear the characters talk about jollof rice and chicken. You know that always makes my kids happy. I particularly liked how the program discussed the matter of Nigeria's independence. It also paid respect to the many other African nations that have or will celebrate their 50th independence this year, 2010, as well.

There were points where we laughed out loud, particularly during the interaction between brother and sister, Bino and Fino. Especially when she dared her brother to prove that there was no school. Oh, and when the kids were asked if they would like a stranger to come to their house and eat all their jollof rice. You have to see the expression on Bino's face. It was classic! The boys loved it.

I would say that although we liked the program, there is at least one change I would recommend. The 'voice' of the characters, Shola Dada, did a very good job. But for children as young as mine, ages 3-5 (yup, TK hits the big 5 in less than 2 weeks, yipee!), I would actually use a distinct voice for each character. The program's narrator pretty much sounded the same for every character. As someone who reads a lot of books to my kids, I know that changing up the voices and sounding more animated or high pitched for some characters versus others, gets the kids to laugh and encourages them to engage beyond listening. In the case of this program, distinct voice changes per character would get kids to begin to truly identify with and invest in the characters.

And with all that said, TK and Bomboy give this program two thumbs up. TK's had mud on them, as he ran in from playing in rain-created mud and Bomboy's thumbs had saliva on them. He manages to suck both fingers all the time. When you tell him to remove a finger, he simply switches to the other thumb. *sigh*

Best of luck to the creators and the entire Bino and Fino team. Me and mine are waiting for the next episode!