we boinga all boinga long

My kids are ENORMOUS fans of The Backyardigans. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about - The Backyardigans is a 3D, CGI-animated children's series by Nelvana and Nickelodeon. In each episode, the show's five characters - Pablo, Uniqua, Tyrone, Austin and Tasha - use their imaginations to transform their backyard into all sorts of fantastic worlds, in which they play out their elaborate, extravagant adventures.

Personally, I love The Backyardigans; I think they're just brilliant. Every episode has music and dancing, with each one focusing on a particular music genre (like country, mariachi, or rock), which I think is great for getting kids interested in music, learning the different genres, and picking up cool dance moves.

The video above is one of our favourites; it's from the episode "Mission to Mars". Uniqua, Pablo and Austin meet Mommy Martian, who teaches them the Martian language. The kids love dancing to this song and I'm just really tickled by it.

Sample lyrics:

Mommy Martian:
Almost everything is boinga here,
Just in case you hadn't heard.
Almost everything is boinga here,
It's the Martians' favorite word.

Uniqua:
Do you call these hands?
Mommy Martian:
Nope, we call them boinga!
Austin:
Do you use pots and pans?
Mommy Martian:
Yup, we call them boinga!
…

Pablo:
We wear hats on our heads
Mommy Martian:
Really? We wear boinga!
Uniqua:
Do you guys sleep in beds?
Mommy Martian:
Nope, we sleep in boinga!
…

Mommy Martian:
Do your birds say boinga?
Uniqua:
No, our birds say tweet!
Mommy Martian:
Do your flowers smell boinga?
Pablo:
No, they just smell sweet!

Hahahahahahahaha... just typing this out makes me laugh. Go listen. And dance. And learn the words so you can sing while you're doing whatever it is you have to do. Thinking boinga definitely beats being depressed and negative! (Alicia Keys is voicing Mommy Martian, by the way).