Arab kidsTV show returns

Iftah Ya Simsim, the once-popular Arabic version of the long-running American children's show Sesame Street, is set to hit the airwaves of the Middle East again after a 15-year hiatus. The show - which will debut on September 4 and 5 - will be available on a number of channels, including all of the Gulf national TV stations.
Iftah Ya Simsim made its original debut in 1979 in Kuwait, from where it was broadcast to 22 Arabic-speaking countries before production was halted due to Saddam Hussein's invasion of the country in 1990.
The show - which introduced a host of culturally relevant Arab puppets in addition to a few American transplants such as Bert and Ernie - is regarded as being one of the most popular children's shows in the history of Arab television, and was the first co-production to use Modern Standard Arabic instead of regional dialects.
The show is now set to return to TV again, thanks to the work of Bidaya Media, an educational media company based in TwoFour54 in Abu Dhabi Media City.
Among the main investors is Mubadala, the investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi Government.
"The show helped educate young Arab children throughout the region on the alphabet, numeracy and Arabic literacy, in addition to teaching a lot of social values," said Dr Cairo Arafat, Bidaya's Managing Director.
While there had been tremendous growth in the Middle East and GCC media, she said that "for the children themselves there is nothing. There's a sort of void, a vacuum of quality educational programmes." Dr Arafat noted that the much-loved show's reincarnation would add a modern twist to it. "A child of 2015 is definitely very different from a child of 1979," she said. "What they're exposed to and the issues that surround them are very different. So, the show has also now changed."
Among the show's cast members is Asma Al Shamsi, an Emirati puppeteer and former drama teacher and former puppeteer of "Kids on the Block", a show designed to teach children about their special-needs peers.
Show will help kids be fluent in Arabic
"I noticed something different," she said. "You educate this generation in a very attractive way."
"We are very close to the kids. We go deep into their lives," she added. "They will feel that that this is like...how they live, how their homes are, how they play. We are trying to reach their community and their society and be more familiar to the lifestyle they have."
Al Shamsi said: "When we started training, we faced some challenges." "How to deal with the camera, how to deal with the screen, and how to make the kids understand that the puppet is a real person talking to them."
According to Dr Arafat, one of the show's main potential benefits is teaching children to speak proper Arabic. "It's one of the key reasons we brought Iftah Ya Simsim back. Children need a language that they are fluent in to help their brain develop in the appropriate manner. Your cognitive skills, how you think, is based on language primarily. Children will learn how to think when they learn how to talk," she said.
"What's happening now is that children are not learning to speak English very well, and they aren't learning to speak Arabic very well. This is a problem we face in this part of the world," she added. "What we're saying is that Arabic is a beautiful, modern language that can be used in our everyday lives. It reflects our beliefs, our customs, our values and our future. This show is not just about Arabic literacy and how to read and write. It has more to do with learning the language as an expressive tool for thoughts, ideas and emotions."
Each season of the show will have a thematic link across its episodes. The first season, for example, will focus on how to live a healthy, active lifestyle.
Subsequent seasons will revolve around STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and social values, among other things. Importantly, Dr Arafat noted that the show is directed to parents as much as it is to its core audience of children.
"There's a growing awareness amongst parents that maybe we need to re-think what they are doing with our kids," Dr. Arafat said. "These kinds of programs are really needed for children, and can play a strong role in ensuring that whatever is happening in the Gulf, we own our children, in the sense that we owe them a better future, good health, and our time and effort." "The programme is as much about families as it is about the child."
bernd@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Abu Dhabi