Playhouse Disney is a channel dedicated to the pre-schooler and packed with a an educational mix of cartoon and live action programmes. Until recently the schedule was somewhat repetitive, but the Playhouse has recently experienced a change in format.
I was introduced to Playhouse Disney ... Read review
Advantages: Variety of educational and fun programmes for the kids. Disadvantages: Can become an obsession with some children.
Playhouse Disney is a channel dedicated to the pre-schooler and packed with a an educational mix of cartoon and live action programmes. Until recently the schedule was somewhat repetitive, but the Playhouse has recently experienced a change in format.
I was introduced to Playhouse Disney by my son, who is on the autistic spectrum and is obsessed by Dave Benson Phillips who is one of the presenters, and also appeared in Playdays (A ... ...* *
Playhouse Disney is aired between 5am and 12am giving a total of 19 hours a day.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
How Do I Get It?
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Playhouse Disney, comes free when you subscribe to Disney Channel, which can either be taken as part of a package or purchased as a standalone for £5/month or free with two movie channels.
Playhouse Disney is a channel dedicated to the pre-schooler and packed with a an educational mix of cartoon and live action programmes. Until recently the schedule was somewhat repetitive, but the Playhouse has recently experienced a change in format.
I was introduced to Playhouse Disney by my son, who is on the autistic spectrum and is obsessed by Dave Benson Phillips who is one of the presenters, and also appeared in Playdays (A BBC pre-school programme) and a video of makaton (signing) nursery ryhmes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * The presenters
* * * * * * * * * * * *
There are two main presenters:
Dave Benson Phillips : referred to as Big Dave, he has a very loud personality, and although he is able to sign this is only taken advantage of very occassionaly.
Little Alex : I'm afraid I don't know Little Alex's surname, but she is the quieter of the two and is shown to be far more sensible.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Some of the programmes (in no particular order)
Rollie Pollie Ollie is a little yellow robot, who lives on a little round planet. He's a very good little bot, who lives with his Mum, Dad, little sister Zowie and dog Spot. This is a very well made animation, where even the furniture and utensils have feelings.
Out Of The Box -----------------------
This programme features Tony, Vivian and a variety of children, who spend the day in a clubhouse the built out of cardboard boxes. There is a theme to each programme and it will feature, some singing, art and craft and an acted out story. It was from this programme that my son learnt about caterpillars and butterflies.
Bear In The Big Blue House -----------------------------------------
A favourite with many children and adults alike, Bear lives in a Big Blue House (Duh!) along with his friends OJ, (a little bear), Tutter (a blue mouse), Pip and Pop (Twin otters) and Treelo (a Lemur). The programme always starts with Bear sniffing the viewer and again follows a theme. Off the top of my head there have been such themes as Sharing, going to the fair and starting school.
Stanley ------------
Stanley is a little boy who is extremely facinated with nature. He has a Big Book Of Everything, into which he will jusp to discover new and interesting things about animals. Another well made animation that teaches about wildlife.
JoJo's Circus -------------------
Jo Jo is a little clown who goes to circus school. She has many adventures where she learns right from wrong. Each episode ends with a little song where Jo Jo is asked what she has learnt. This is quite a sweet little programme.
PB and J --------------
Peanut, Butter and Jelly are otters. This is another animation that helps to teach your child to deal with problems that they will experience. The highlight of this programme however is the Noodle Dance.
The Book Of Pooh ---------------------------
The continuing adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and friends. The have changed in appearence from when we were children and are much more three dimensional.
As you can see the majority of the programming focuses on teaching children in a fun way. But recently a variety of non-educational cartoons have been added to the line up which has greatly reduced the amount of repitition throughout the day. Examples of these are : The Little Mermaid - the adventures of Ariel before the events in the film.
101 Dalmations - following the pups in their adventures.
Jungle Cubs - the adventures of the jungle book favourites when they were cubs.There are also regular feature length cartoons shown.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Broadcast Times
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Playhouse Disney is aired between 5am and 12am giving a total of 19 hours a day.
* * * * * * * * * * * How Do I Get It?
* * * * * * * * * * *
Playhouse Disney, comes free when you subscribe to Disney Channel, which can either be taken as part of a package or purchased as a standalone for £5/month or free with two movie channels.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * Channel Numbers
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Playhouse Disney can be found on the Sky - Channel 614 I'm not sure if it available with other providers, but if any does know and gives me the information, let me know and I'll update.
* * * * * * * * * The website
* * * * * * * * *
Playhouse Disney has a website at www.playhousedisney.co.uk which features a number of activities for the children.* * * * * * * * * * Final Words * * * * * * * * * *
Playhouse Disney is ideal for pre-school children as well as those who have learning difficulties, although you may find they become addicted. My younger son is so adicted we have to purchase sky multi-room so that the other children can watch something different. My only gripe is that as Dave Benson Phillips is an acomplished signer, this could be incorperated more to give greater accessibility to the disabled. The channel helps the child to learn without even realising it, so all in all great value, especially as we get it free.
Advantages: Keeps children happy on rainy days with lots of fun things that they can join in with. Disadvantages: Parents may find that they have to join in too.
...should be a kindergarten teacher) Playhouse Disney shows a selection of cartoons and fun activities for young children.
Each programme lasts between about five and fifteen minutes so that they are not too long and therefore hold the childs interest. The presenters pop up in between each cartoon and are very bubbly and happy and spend most of the time singing and dancing which my children love. They also use this time to read out birthdays and show ... ...viewers. Big Dave and Little Alex appear to live in a colourful little house with lots of friends, these include a singing birthday cake called Victoria Sponge and two jack in the boxes, a small one called Mini Jack and a bigger one called Jack In The Box. There are a large number of programmes throughout the day including: Rolie Polie Olie - The story of a little springy robot and his family. Bear In The Big Blue House - A large bear lives in a ...
SandraR 23.05.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Playhouse Disney
Advantages: keeps children entertained,educational Disadvantages: Can get a bit repetitive!
I was introduced to Playhouse Disney about 2 years ago now. Surprisingly however it wasn’t the birth of my little bundle of joy that helped me discover it. It was in fact my younger sister who is soon approaching her twenty- first birthday! She watched it primarily for Bear in the big blue house and when we were over at my mums visiting Sarah would leave Playhouse Disney on for Bethanny. Mind you Bethanny would be asleep and Aunty Sarah would still ... ...fee is £5. Playhouse Disney is aimed at Pre-school children, though I think that it would be suitable for children up to around 6 or 7 years of age. Between the actual programmes Big Dave(who always wears a blue shirt and red trousers) and little Alex (who wears a pink t-shirt with an orange flower on it and blue trousers) talk directly to whoever is watching, they also sing songs, make craft items, play pretend games etc. Pretty bog standard children’s ...
VickyVickster 13.08.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Playhouse Disney
Advantages: No adverts, good value for money, good shows, often movies Disadvantages: When kids grow up, more Disney characters please!
Playhouse Disney is like the Disney Channel, only for young children. Children up to 5 will enjoy most of the shows because some of them are "interactive,"e.g. (Person On Screen): Stand up. *You don't stand up* (Person On Screen): Good job standing up. Me: LOL!!!!
So as you can see, it is more "interactive" then something like Bob The Builder.
Lineup
Mainly, these are the shows:
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Handy Mandy
My Friends Tigger And Pooh
... ...There is no advertising on Playhouse Disney so you don't get adverts which young children find boring. Movies don't have ad breaks either so that makes them the way movies SHOULD be. If your child does need the loo etc, I would recommend Sky+ so you can pause it and return to the program when you're done.
Value For Money
I have Sky+ HD and we chose the "Kids Mix" as one of our £10 a month mixes. If you do buy the free channels on something like ...
AlexanderBanks 23.12.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Playhouse Disney
Advantages: Informative, fun, and keeps the Kids glued!!! Disadvantages: Kids dont wanna turn it off
Playhouse Disney is a kids channel on Sky television which is available Sky Digital aswell.
Big Dave and Little Alex present a culmination of programs aimed at children from maybe the age group of 3 to 7ish I guess.
My Daughter has learnt alot from watching Playhouse Disney which consists of Bear in the Big Blue House, Winnie the pooh, Art Play with Sara-Louise, Circle time, Stanley, Rolie Polie Olie to name just a few and in between these prgrammes ... ...suited for the young audience. Dave Benson Phillips who has for a long time presented children's programmes is first class as is Alex who to be honest, I am not sure what else she has done on Television.
My daughter has learnt several things from this programmes, from reading to writing, drawing and even to interaction with other children.
I would highly recommend this channel to anyone who has kids but with the only downside being that your child ...
mikeyf 25.08.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Playhouse Disney
Quality and consistency...
Range of programming
Quantity of advertising
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Playhouse Disney"
PlayhouseDisney is a fairly new sister channel of The Disney Channel, and is aimed at pre school children. You can find it on Sky Digital on channel 616.
The channel is presented by Big Dave and Little Alex, although after watching it for a week or so, you realise a lot of the links to programmes are repeated, but my little girl does not seem to notice and if she does it makes no difference.
Everyday the presenters start with a catchy song.."there's so much to do at PlayhouseDisney..la la la", and I defy you not to join in!
There are excellent programmes too, which include:
Out Of The Box - An American programme presented by Tony and Viv. Each day has a different theme, in fact at this very moment the theme is going to bed. Each show features 3 or 4 children who sing and dance and play out imaginary role plays.
Bear ...
nicanddarrell 11.05.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Disney Channel
Advantages: plenty to keep small children occupied Disadvantages: repetition
PlayhouseDisney is an addition to the Disney Channel on satellite television. It is aimed mainly at pre-school children although both of mys daughters (aged 5 & 2) enjoy watching it.
Set in a specially designed house, the channel is presented by Big Dave (Dave Benson Phillips who some people may know from other children's programmes such as The Fun Song Factory) and Little Alex (Alex Lovell). They present the links to the programmes from different rooms within the house and also sing a variety of catchy / annoying (delete depending on whether child or adult) songs. The links are quite short (thankfully) and the programmes ar the real stars of the channel.
The programmes are a mixture of ready-made and PlayhouseDisney produced ones. I'll start off with the ready-made ones.
PB&J - this is a cartoon based around three otters ...
jools30 16.09.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Disney Channel
Advantages: Watch one channel at the same time as recording another Disadvantages: Does'nt always work.
To begin this review I'm going to give you a little information on my family dynamics, so that you can understand a little better why we could'nt live without Sky+.
I have 4 children, each with their own tastes, however my third child is autistic and one of his obessions is PlayhouseDisney. Before Sky+ this meant that I had to record hours of this on my DVD recorder during the day, just so that I could tape Eastenders in the evening.
*********************
What is Sky+?
*********************
At the basic level sky plus is a subscription based service (although now free with 2 or more premium channels) that gives access to channels from the Sky satteliette television service.
However it is much more than this, the actual decoder box contains a hard drive, and dual inputs. This means that you have the following options:
1 ...
sandemp 14.11.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sky + (Plus)
