Nina and the Neurons

Katrina Bryan as Nina (with her Neurons)

Why am I writing about Kid's TV you may ask and well... I've got no real answers other than it takes my mind of a few things (including the current rifts in the Coalition) and being on paternity leave has meant that I've sat around enduring a lot of it with my daughter Sophie and after my failed experiment to get her into Doctor Who (Rememberance of the Daleks gave her nightmares!) and my wife judging me every time I sneak Star Wars on, there is no other choice.

I must admit that Nina and the Neurons is my favourite programme on the Cbeebies channel and has attracted sarcastic comments from my wife ( like Oh, so you're watching your girlfriend again? or Your Girlfriend is on). It is however really good for kids.

The basic format is around three children who have a question about a piece of tech or body part/organ or just general science that they put to Nina.

They then come down to the studio (becoming "Experimenters") and through a string of experiments and a brief road trip to see practical applications they get an answer to their question. All the way through Nina is assisted by her Neurons (Felix for touch, Belle for hearing, Luke for seeing, Ollie for smell and Bud for taste) with one or more being the main Neuron depending on the question and whether it fits into their area of expertise.

Its very informative and I must admit that even with A'levels in Biology and Chemistry, I've actually learnt a few things.

Its also had an impact on Sophie, who was singing along to the end song "In the lab" last week, told me on a couple of occasions when walking to/from nursery that we were actually going to go and see Nina, she tried to contact the Neurons randomly one day and started stroking the sides of her head inadvertently smearing yogurt in her hair!

Then of course my favourite:

Whilst watching Star Wars Sophie pointed at Princess Leia and said;

Daddy! It's Nina!

As she gets older I'm sure it will get more relevant for her and hopefully encourage her to think about how things work and ask questions. Until then, we'll continue to watch for entertainment, science and, with the risk of a blush, to indulge a TV based crush.

Any- who... I promise to get back to boring old politics tomorrow.