Parents' Guide to The Wiggles

In this era of high-tech expectations, it's wonderful to see that a show that uses silly skits and simple sets and costumes (each member wears distinctive, long-sleeved, primary-colored T-shirts and black pants) can still capture the attention of preschool-aged children. The other colorful characters -- including a polka-dotted green dinosaur named Dorothy who wears a bonnet and eats roses, a friendly pirate named Captain Feathersword, a purple Octopus named Henry, and a floppy-eared dog named Wags -- add even more humor to the show and have developed their own following.

The format is simple. Usually there's some situation such as Jeff won't wake up or Dorothy loses her voice, and everyone gets together to solve the problem in a few very short skits, using simple dialogue, some quirky sound effects, and lots of facial expressions. Along with skits, songs are performed by The Wiggles as a band, often using child dancers. Quite often they sing songs from other cultures, but they typically do not have many children of color participate on the show. Despite this limitation, The Wiggles will be entertaining preschoolers for years to come.