Check out the Disney Channel's newest Pre-K Friendly Show: Henry Hugglemonster

The Pre-K television programming that we’ve allowed our preschool aged children to watch has been primarily on two channels PBS (Arthur, Cat in the Hat, Caillou, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Dinosaur Train, MarthaSpeaks, Sid the Science Kid, Sesame Street, Wild Kratts & Word Girl) and Nick Jr. (Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go!, Bubble Guppies, Max & Ruby, Mike the Knight, PeterRabbit & Team Umizoomie).  Recently though Disney has been challenging the dominance of those other two channels in our household with new quality programming like Doc McStuffins, Jake and theNeverland Pirates & Sophia the First.  This week the Disney Channel is adding a new addition to its Disney Jr. lineup with the premiere of HENRY HUGGLEMONSTER.

HENRY HUGGLEMONSTER debuts on the Disney Channel Monday April 15^th at 5pm ET/ 4 pm CT.  Based upon Niamh Sharkey’s award-winning children's book “I’m a Happy Hugglewug” this new animated tv series is filled with entertaining stories that provide life lessons for kids age 2-7.  The show revolves around a 5 year old “monster” named Henry Hugglemonster as the middle child in a family that lives in the town of Roarsville. 

Our kids love Doc McStuffins so I was pleased to find out that the woman who voices Lambie, Lara Jill Miller, is also providing the voice for Henry in this show.  On the other side of the spectrum, we’ve banned Spongebob Squarepants from being watched by our kids but the man who is the voice behind Spongebob, Tom Kenny, brings life to Henry’s dad and grandpa in this new show.  Don’t worry though, I’ve watched the first episode and Tom doesn’t bring Spongebob’s behavior and antics to Roarsviile from Bikini Bottom. 

Henry Hugglemonster is a quirky and charming show that is a nice addition to television program lineups for parents looking for Pre-K appropriate shows for their children to watch.   What has been nice for our family is that my 4 year old son has recently not been wanting us to turn off the lights at bedtime because he is “scared of monsters in the dark” and we are hoping that this show will help  reinforce our efforts to put those fears to rest by showing the Hugglemonster family and their monster neighbors in a fun non-threatening way.

 Can’t catch the April 15^th premiere on the Disney Channel or want to prescreen the show before your kids see it?  You can do that! Disney has the full twenty-four minute first episode “The Huggleflower  / Monster Lullaby “ live streaming on its website NOW! Just go to the following website to watch the show at your convenience:  http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/henry-hugglemonster/henry-hugglemonster-videos-episodes/the-huggleflower-monster-lullaby-2019660

Disney also has some Henry Hugglemonster coloring pages, crafts (create your own monsterhorns to wear when you watch the show) and games (choose from roaring racer gokart or monster maker charactertures) on its website.