My son Jamie's absolute favourite TV show is something called The Upside Down Show. Jamie is four years old, and after watching these episodes, he re-enacts the stories all day long and then talks about them at night before he goes to sleep. He LOVES these guys (whom he calls the "Upside Down Guys") - but so do his elder cousins, and so do we (his parents!).
Take a look at some snippets from shows below:
In a nutshell, this is TPR (Total Physical Response) the way it should be for children. It is full of action that is imaginative without bounds, and action wrapped up in natural (but entertaining) dialogue and functions. And it is just absolutely hilarious, no matter what age you are.
Goodness I wish I'd had access to this when I was teaching children aged 5-10!
Here is a little more information about the show, taken from the ABC Shop online:
The Upside Down Show is a new series for pre-schoolers that showcases the eye-popping physical comedy of the Umbilical Brothers - Shane Dundas and David Collins.
In both episodes, brothers Shane and David set out with much fanfare on a journey to a place they've never been. And, as it turns out, they've never been anywhere! It's all new to them, whether they're going to the movie theatre, the airport, or even on a picnic. Eventually the brothers find their way, but not before taking a few wrong turns...
That's because they live in an apartment with loads of doors and passageways that lead to unusual rooms but rarely to their desired destination.
At the beginning of each of the two episodes on this disc, the brothers hand the viewer an imaginary remote control that allows them to 'operate' Shane and David, fast forwarding, rewinding or pausing them. The remote also features a 'wild card' function allowing the viewers to wreak havoc on the brothers by turning them upside down, rotating them around and around, or simply making them itch or sneeze.
You can find more Upside Down Show episodes on YouTube (just do a search for "Upside Down Show"), but getting the actual DVDs would be an excellent investment for any YL educator or school - trust me!
:-)
