Thursday, April 7, 2016

Odd Squad DVD: Dance Like Nobody's Watching

** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**

My daughter's favorite television show is ODD SQUAD on PBS Kids and she wants to rush home from school everyday so she won't miss an episode.  Now I have to say that this is an applaudable selection not just because of ODD SQUAD'S educational focus but also because its episodes are so witty and well written that my wife and I will often find ourselves regularly joining our kids in watching the show because we also find it amusing and enjoyable to watch.  So our entire family was excited to receive the new ODD SQUAD dvd "Dance Like Nobody's Watching" which is now available to purchase on the Shop PBS online store and at various other retailers.



This dvd will let our kids watch some of their favorite ODD SQUAD episodes whenever they want.  "Dance Like Nobody's Watching" features 6 episodes from ODD SQUAD that all have a mathematical themed story and each feature musical numbers:

Soundcheck
Olive and Otto must figure out how and why things are disappearing around town when all Otto wants to do is listen to a song by his favorite band, Soundcheck.

Soundcheck Part Deux
When the members of Soundcheck go missing, Otto and Olive must bring them back together in time for their big concert. Otto uses his special superfan closet to help collect data to solve the case.

A Case of the Sing-Alongs
When Mayor Macklemore catches a case of the Sing-A-Longs, Olive and Otto must discover the cause before the Mayor sings his way out of his job!

O is Not for Old
The agents throw a surprise party for Ms. O and are having trouble making decisions about the details. They send O’Malley to delay Ms. O by various means while they try to figure them out.

Mystic Egg Pizza
With the help of Odd Squad, Delivery Debbie and Delivery Doug must figure out why their food is disappearing.

I have to warn you that my kids have memorized the songs from these episodes and you could find yourself humming these tunes, like "Take Away 4" in the car or at work.  My kids favorites are the ones sung by Soundcheck.  Hmm I wonder if it is ODD that my kids are such big fans of a fictional boy band when they really don't care for the real musical performances?  Anyway the musical numbers are actually pretty catchy, especially the big Sing-Alongs episode finale, and reinforce educational math concepts which is definitely a good thing.



Geared for children ages 5-8, ODD SQUAD follows two young agents, Olive and Otto, who are part of an agency led by Ms. O that seeks to save the day using math when odd things happen.



PBS has also created a free augmented reality app for iPads and iPhones to go with the DVD.  As they release additional ODD SQUAD dvds, you will be able to scan each individual package to unlock a unique gadget with its own special abilities. For this particular dvd, the musical changeinator is made available from the ODD SQUAD laboratory to play around with.


Open the app and scan the back side of the dvd package.



Ms. O's favorite thing in the whole wide world will appear - a juice box.


Shoot the juice box with the musical changeinator and it will start dancing to a soundtrack playing from your device and emitting special effects on the screen.


You can also move the juice box around utilizing the camera in your mobile device so that it can interact with your surroundings.


ODD SQUAD: DANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING gets A Geek Daddy nod of approval for not just being educational but also  also very entertaining.  It is a show which can bring the whole family together to enjoy and learn from it.  I'd recommend picking up a copy of this dvd to have handy for summer break, especially if you are looking to amuse some kids during a long car trip and have an in-vehicle or portable dvd player to take along for the ride.

For those of you interested in joining the ODD SQUAD here is a badge that can can personalized courtesy of PBS Kids:



15 comments:

  1. Very cool. My kids love Odd Squad too, and I love that it's educational. The augmented reality portion is sweet - bet the kids would love that!

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  2. Such a cool app. I remember when my girls loved Odd Squad. Sadly they've outgrown it...

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  3. I've never actually heard of this show, but I don't watch PBS so that's not surprising :). Sounds good for kids, though.

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  4. That definitely looks like an interesting game. At least it gets the kids up and moving.

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  5. How fun! I bet my daughter would have loved this when she was younger. I''m sure of it.

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  6. We love the ODD SQUAD too! I completely agree that it's one of the few shows that is as entertaining as it is educational. It's hard to make a fun show that promotes math and science, but they do it!

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  7. My Grandson loves Odd Squad too. I know he would love their dvd. Might havecto put that on his birthday list. :)

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  8. This looks like a really cute program. Good, clean, fun. Makes me a wee bit sad my kids are all older. I loved when they would go for "kids" programming.

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  9. I've never heard of Odd Squad, as I don't have children. The DVD sounds like fun though!

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  10. Sounds like a great video for kids to watch. My kids are all older. But I will mention this to my sister since she has little ones still. Thanks for the post, I never heard of them before.

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  11. I don't think my girls have ever even seen this on television. I will have to let them know - I think this is something they would enjoy

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  12. My kids love this show! What a fun video!! Love finding shows that are fun and age appropriate.

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  13. Now that my kids are older I miss all these fun shows. That DVD looks and sounds adorable.

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  14. We haven't seen this show before. I wonder if my little ones have seen this show before. This looks like it would be appropriate for my kids right now.

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  15. This sounds like something my niece would love!

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