They're Mini, Mighty and Built for Math! Nickelodeon's New Educational Preschool Series Team Umizoomi Premieres Monday, Jan. 25

New Series from Blue's Clues Alumni Offers Interactive Math-Based Curriculum, Debuts with Two Weeks of Brand-New Episodes

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Nickelodeon

Jan 11, 2010, 11:42 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon will encourage preschoolers to become strong and mighty in math with the launch of Team Umizoomi, the first preschool series to focus entirely on math, on Monday, Jan. 25, with two back-to-back episodes beginning at 11:30 a.m. (ET/PT). The 20-episode, half-hour series combines action-adventure missions with an interactive math curriculum designed to help kids develop self-confidence in their math abilities and appreciate the many ways in which mathematics shapes their world.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100111/NY35393 )

Created by Blue's Clues alumni Soo Kim (Creator/Producer/Design Director/Writer), Michael T. Smith (Creator/Producer/Writer) and Jennifer Twomey (Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Writer), Team Umizoomi features a tiny team of superheroes who use their mighty math powers to help little kids solve big problems. Set to a soundtrack of preschool-friendly pop songs, the series is designed to build upon preschoolers' conceptual understanding of math as they are exposed to core mathematical concepts like numbers, counting, computations, measurement, patterns and shapes.

"Math surrounds us everywhere we go, which is why we wanted to create a fun, adventure-filled, interactive series that engages preschoolers and encourages them to practice and refine their mathematical thinking skills," said Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "Team Umizoomi is an action-packed series with interactive math games and catchy pop songs that provide kids with takeaway tools to help them learn and use math in their daily lives."

Following the Jan. 25 premiere, Nickelodeon will air two weeks of brand-new episodes from Tuesday, Jan. 26 - Thursday, Jan. 28; and Monday Feb. 1 - Thursday Feb. 4 at 11:30 a.m. (ET/PT). Two back-to-back episodes will also encore on Nick Jr., Nickelodeon's 24-hour commercial-free, educational preschool network, on Sunday, Jan. 31, and Sunday, Feb. 7, at 7:00 p.m. (ET).

Team Umizoomi features the voice of Donovan Patton (Joe from Blue's Clues), and mixes 2D and 3D animation with live action to create Umi City, a uniquely patterned urban environment. The team of miniature, animated, math-powered superheroes -- siblings Milli (Sophia Fox) and Geo (Ethan Kempner) and their robot best friend Bot (Patton) -- help live-action preschoolers solve everyday problems. Their team is not complete without their Umifriend (home viewer), who helps the team along the way while practicing various math skills.

To complement Team Umizoomi's math-based curriculum, Nickelodeon's award-winning preschool website, www.nickjr.com, will include an expansive learning section for parents featuring an overview of the series' math curriculum, suggested activities parents can use at home to help preschoolers master math concepts and recommendations for the best math books for preschoolers. The site will also feature games, videos, printables, crafts and more. Later this month, additional free, enhanced content will also be available including personalized, customizable printables and a monthly newsletter containing parent tips from preschool education curriculum experts.

In support of the launch, Nickelodeon will offer a two-minute sneak peek of Team Umizoomi on Nick Jr. Video, the broadband video service available on Nickjr.com, and on wireless carriers via video on demand. The premiere episode will also be simulcast on Nick mobile.

In the premiere episode "Kite Festival," Jeannie is planning to fly her beautiful dragon kite in the Umi City Kite Festival, but a strong gust of wind blows the kite out of her hands and scatters its colorful shaped pieces far and wide throughout Umi City. It's up to Team Umizoomi to rappel down city billboards, build a hot air balloon and search the tops of skyscrapers to find all the missing pieces and put the kite back together for Jeannie.

Nickelodeon, now in its 30th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 99 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than 15 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

SOURCE Nickelodeon