About the Show

A happy family of four round characters hugging each other in front of a red and white background. Two of the small, yellow characters are hanging off the parents backs and hugging them.

Little ones love these mischievous characters! Great BigHoo, Toodloo, Chickedy, Chick and Peekaboo are ever curious as they enjoy their adventures in their big red boat.

Whether they travel to the real world or on their big red boat they are always discovering something new and exciting with help from their friends who come to visit them.

The episodes encourage children to think for themselves, gain confidence in perceptions of their own lives and develop their wonderful sense of inquisitiveness through each story.

Meet the Characters

Do you have a favourite character? Meet the Twirlywoos and watch some of our favourite clips.

A blue, pear-shaped character with a small round head and orange feet is dancing in front of a white background.

Educational Value

Each episode was, developed in collaboration with Professor Cathy Nutbrown, an early year’s educational expert, Head of the School of Education at the University of Sheffield. Anne Wood the creator of Twirlywoos explains the ideas behind the show. Watch to find out more!

Schemas

Twirlywoos are silly, fun, full of surprises. There is a lot of thinking behind them too! Does your child love to fill handbags, tins or pots with tiny things they have found? Are they obsessed with wheels, roundabouts or rolling things?

These patterns of play are examples of schemas, behaviours that children go through when they are exploring the world and trying to find out how things work.

Each episode of Twirlywoos is, based around one of these 'schemas', such as ‘up and down’, ‘inside and outside’. Once absorbed, ideas like ‘up and down’, or ‘round and round’ or ‘over and under’ begin to be used by children when they progress to making marks on paper.

Sound & Movement

Very young children are learning how to move their bodies and music is a fantastic way to inspire movement. The Twirlywoos use funny sounds to accompany movements on screen and this helps children focus attention and imitate the movements themselves.

Cause & Effect

Discovering that each action has a reaction is one of the wonders of early childhood. Twirlywoos helps children to understand the notion of cause and effect throughout the narrative - and often in a very funny way, which itself helps cement an understanding the concept.

Social & Emotional

The characters are friends that always help and support each other. They share and they think about each other, presenting a very strong role model for the children to emulate. The sharing of tea or the giving of a gift in recognition of friendship helps the children to define their behaviours toward their own friends.

Spatial Relations

Twirlywoos has a very strong spatial relations component, with Great BigHoo, Toodloo, Chickedy, and Chick learning about up, down, over, underneath, around, through, and various other relational concepts throughout their explorations. The Twirlywoos demonstrate these concepts in a clear, repetitive way, which will help the child at home recognize these concepts and terms as they interact with their surrounding environment.

Observation & Experimentation

The Twirlywoos enter the world each day with fresh eyes. Everything is new to them, in a similar way that it is to a young child. Children learn more about things by observing how certain characteristics are similar or different (e.g., colour, shape, size). Through trial and error, and the use of their senses, the Twirlywoos discover how things in the world around them work, and why. Children will be encouraged to explore their own environment along with the Twirlywoos, and learn new things about their world each day.

Curiosity & Creative Thinking Skills

Children learn more when they question things and think creatively about ways to solve problems. The Twirlywoos are constantly curious and in awe of the world around them, and (through gestures and sounds) pose questions that lead to investigations. The Twirlywoos’ curious nature and creative thinking skills can help children get excited about exploration and discovery, and use their creativity to figure out the world around them.