We began watching Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots of Doom with keen interest. The series is a CBeebies hit show, well known in our household. The show is set in Treetopolis, a miniature magical town located on a tree trunk. There Tree Fu Tom, the main character, and his friends Twigs, Ariela, ZigZoo, and Squirmtum have lots of adventures solving pending problems often created by The Mushas, Puffy and Stink. Other key characters include Rickety, Treetog, and The Sprites, help shape the show.
Victoria and Beatrice’s favourite part of the show is when Tree Fu Tom performs his magical spell moves to turn the magic on in the sap stone belt he wears and use ‘big world magic’ obtained by the kids interacting with the show. Beatrice and Victoria, try their very best to copy Tree Fu Tom’s moves with some success. It’s a sight to see. Truly, one of life’s small pleasures. Together, they marvel in succeeding in copying Tree Fu movements in order to send big world magic to Tree Fu Tom and friends.
In the words of Victoria, "that’s the best part of the show". To my girls' delight, in addition to Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots of Doom episode, there are a further five adventures to keep them entertained. We found that Tree Fu Tom and the Carrots of Doom episode exciting to watch during family movie night, when all of us can get involved in the magic making movements.
Not surprisingly, I adore the Tree Fu Tom series for the exercises taught creating the magic spells as well as the life lessons learned at the end of each episode. Each life lesson encourages positive behaviour from Tree Fu Tom, his friends and, from the children watching. For example to name a few, in the Carrots of Doom episode, Tree Fu Tom and his friends learns that they should not be afraid of something just because they don’t understand it. Furthermore, in the Dragon Fruit Fiasco episode, ZigZoo learns the importance of asking before taking or borrowing other people’s things.
In my research, I discovered that all the movement performed by Tree Fu Tom during his magic spells are comparable to those used by movement therapist to support children who have developmental coordination disorder, called Dyspraxia. Notably, one of the show’s main objectives was to promote fine / gross motor coordination and exercising in children. Very importantly, the show’s creators worked closely with the Dyspraxia Foundation to develop Tree Fu’s big world magic movements.
Without a doubt, the Tree Fu Tom series is fantastic for girls and boys alike uniquely because of the specific life lessons to learn at the end of each episode and the magic spell interactive movements used to combat developmental coordination disorder in young children. The six episodes presented on the DVD are in fact the last six episodes of series 4, already shown for free on CBeebies. Diehard fans of the show most likely would not be deterred, however, my girls and I were not convinced that the already aired episodes were worth buying on DVD; especially with the availability of them on iPlayer. It would have been nice to have a real feature-length edition.
PWT Rate: ♥♥♥♥♥
Tree Fu Tom And The Carrots Of Doom [DVD]