Here at PBN, we’re no strangers to The Zula Patrol. Last fall, fifteen bloggers reviewed two episodes on DVD, and just last month we held a Blog Blast to promote the newsletter, Zula Intergalactic Inquirer. Our bloggers may be writers, but they’re also instilling a love of science in their children - and based on the feedback from these latest DVDs, it’s working!

With all of the children’s programming available out there, kids have developed discerning taste. As one blogger put it: “…my kids are movie snobs…Buying movies for them is a roll of the dice for us.” And the older they get, the better they know what they like. This blogger’s son initially objected to watching the DVD because “…it was Rated G, which meant it was for babies. I like PG, he stated very matter-of-factly. I told him he needed to just keep on watching and ignore the fact that it was rated G.”

Conversely, we parents can be choosy about what our children watch - and not just because much of the time, we have to watch with them. One blogger thought the action might be too much for her son: “I have to admit, when I first started watching the DVD, I didn’t think it would captivate my 4.5 year old. It seemed way too fast for me…Also, the stories seem to have plot lines that were a little more advanced.” But she was pleasantly surprised by her son’s reaction: “I have to say that my son did not feel that way. He really enjoyed the whole DVD.”

Other kids agreed. Not only did they sit enraptured through all four episodes, the content and the characters stuck with them afterward. One boy has been quizzing his mother daily on the details of the weather, “…recalling information about weather that I am not sure was even on the DVD. Either I completely missed it, or maybe he is combining his classroom-learned facts with the Zula facts to become a Weather Expert.” And one girl “…pretended to be Zeeter during recess with some of her classmates while pretending that a mound of snow on the playground was some snowy mountain scape on an alien planet.” There’s no doubt that these kids are paying attention and learning!

But so are the parents. One blogger recalled: “I learned a couple of things that I didn’t know about the solar system from the show. For example, did you know that Jupiter has 11 moons? One of them, Io, has the most active volcanoes in the solar system. Did you know that the moons of Mars are not round, but sort of lumpy, like potatoes? I thought that was cool.” Another noted: “I thought they did an excellent job of explaining why we have different seasons…I learned how it’s the tilt of the earth that determines the season.”

And this mother-daughter team learned together:

“So, [my daughter] and I sat down to watch it last night and - I have to tell you - within the very few minutes, I was blown away by the absolutely awesome computer animation.

Wow, look at all the pretty colors!

[My daughter] agreed and, after the sixth time of my saying so, she suggested that I should perhaps start concentrating on the storyline, instead.

Wow, I didn’t know Mercury and Venus don’t have moons!

Seriously, we were hooked after the first episode.”

Beyond the pure factual appeal of The Zula Patrol, a couple bloggers made other excellent points about the value of the show. One commented: “One aspect that I loved about the Zula Patrol in general is that their DVDs stress tolerance and non-violence.” And another discussed the female character Zeeter: “During a focus group I participated in this weekend, a speaker challenged us to recall any strong characters in science who happened to be female, but who also appeal to young boys. Although Zeeter is purple, she does have blue eyeshadow on (or maybe her eyelids are just blue.) She’s a pilot and (according to the character bios on the website:) the wildest, hot dogging space jockey in the Zulaverse. Sounds Starbuck-esque to me, yes? But indeed, she is a female character who is a strong scientist.”

All in all, these bloggers and their kids alike found The Zula Patrol: Explore Space and Explore Weather DVDs to be both engaging and educational. One mother summed it up perfectly: “Preschoolers will appreciate the vibrant colors and catchy theme song…There’s enough drama to satisfy even the PG-rated set and the only thing parents have to fear is the possibility of going into some sort of seizure, from an overload of cuteness.”

More reviews are coming up - check them out!

Monday 3/17 - Lather Rinse Repeat
Tuesday 3/18 - Mom to the Screaming Masses
Wednesday 3/19 - Ebony Mommy
Thursday 3/20 - My Two Cents
Friday 3/21 - Mama Maven
Monday 3/24 - Just Not Martha
Tuesday 3/25 - Mayberry Mom
Wednesday 3/26 - Halushki
Thursday 3/27 - Midwestern Mommy
Friday 3/28 - Mama Tulip
Tuesday 4/1 - Round-Up Review on PBN