In celebration of Earth Month, PBS KIDS has announced a slate of all-new episodes, games and activities to encourage kids and families to get outside and enjoy nature. Beginning April 15, viewers will be able to enjoy a special week of adventures from WILD KRATTS, NATURE CAT and READY JET GO! The new episodes will debut nationwide on PBS stations, the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel and PBS KIDS digital platforms.
New PBS KIDS programming will also include a first-ever crossover episode of NATURE CAT that includes a guest appearance from Chris and Martin Kratt of WILD KRATTS. In the NATURE CAT crossover episode, Chris and Martin Kratt show up as Chris and Martin Batt – two wild bat brothers – who have their home destroyed and are forced to find a new shelter. Nature Cat and his pals come to the rescue, and build Chris and Martin a brand new home.
Across the country, local PBS member stations will host Earth Month-related events to connect children to the environment through hands-on learning activities. Families will also have the opportunity to dive into nature themes and environmental concepts with PBS KIDS Explore the Outdoors activities and materials.
“Research shows that being outside helps kids improve their critical thinking skills, boosts their attention spans, enhances empathy and lowers stress,” said Lesli Rotenberg, Chief Programming Executive & General Manager, Children’s Media & Education, PBS. “With new episodes from WILD KRATTS, NATURE CAT, and READY JET GO!, and resources for the whole family, our aim is to use media to inspire real-world exploration – for kids to take that learning outside and explore in their own communities.”
New games from NATURE CAT and READY JET GO! will be available later this month. In NATURE CAT’s “Nature Road Trip,” kids can join the gang on a nature road trip visiting national parks and natural wonders around the U.S. This multi-player digital board game will be available on pbskids.org. In READY JET GO!’s “Jet’s Bot Builder,” the new cross-platform, adaptive STEM game will engage kids in the engineering design process, and tailor it to each child’s individual learning progress. “Jet’s Bot Builder” will be available on pbskids.org and available on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon.
Clips and full episodes will stream across PBS KIDS’ video platforms, including the free PBS KIDS Video App. In addition to the new episodes, families will have access to hands-on activities, printables and crafts for parents and caregivers on pbskidsforparents.org. For teachers, PBS LearningMedia will offer READY JET GO!, NATURE CAT and WILD KRATTS Collections, with resources to support conversations planet Earth, animals and more in the classroom.
More information on PBS KIDS’ Earth Month programming, including when to watch, is included below:
New Episodes
READY JET GO!
“Who Messed Up the Treehouse?/Fact or Fiction?”
Premieres and streams April 15
“Who Messed Up the Treehouse?” - Each kid brings their personal project up to the tree house, and each contributes to a huge mess. Now they can’t do anything in the tree house because it’s too messy, but none of them want to clean up the other’s mess. They have to learn to share the responsibility and clean it together.
“Fact or Fiction?” - When Mindy tells Jet that clouds are made of cotton candy, and defends this idea because she heard a friend say so, Sean and Sydney set out to show her how to separate fact from fiction through research! Celery takes them up into the clouds to see for themselves.
“Moon Circus/Every Day Is Earth Day”
Premieres and streams April 16
“Moon Circus” - Carrot is about to turn 250 Bortronian years old, and the kids have set up a backyard circus to help him celebrate. They all notice that Earth’s gravity makes it hard to perform their circus stunts, so they take the whole circus to the Moon, where its 1/6th gravity makes all their stunts much easier!
“Every Day Is Earth Day” - It’s Earth Day, and the kids are preparing posters for the big community celebration at the DSA. They decide to research their posters by traveling all around the Earth in Jet’s family saucer and observing all the things that make Earth so special.
“My Three Suns/Magnet P.I.”
Premieres and streams April 17
“My Three Suns” - The kids can’t play shadow tag because the Sun keeps going behind clouds. Mindy wants the sun to be out all the time! Face 9000 tells them about a system with not one, but three suns! That sounds like a place where there would be shadows all the time. Celery takes them to visit in the family saucer.
“Magnet P.I.” - Sean becomes an amateur magician called the Great Seanzo, dazzling the other kids with magnet tricks. Jet becomes fascinated by magnets, and they all explore the various things magnets can do, culminating in a magic magnet show for Carrot.
“Sunspot’s Sunspot/Our Sun Is a Star!”
Premieres and streams April 18
“Sunspot’s Sunspot” - Sunspot begins acting strangely, and Jet fears that he is sick. Carrot and Celery examine him, and decide that he’s acting strange because of a large sunspot on the Sun. The only way to cure him is to bring him to the Sun, and get him close to the huge sunspot.
“Our Sun Is a Star!” - Mindy wants to have a sleepover outside with her friend Lillian, but it’s winter and too cold to sleep outside under the stars. Sean points out that they are under the light of a star all the time – our Sun! Mindy learns that our Sun is a star, just like the tiny ones we see at night.
NATURE CAT
“Wild Batts/No Bird Left Behind”
Premieres and streams April 15
“Wild Batts” - In this fun PBS crossover episode Chris and Martin Kratt show up on Nature Cat as Chris and Martin Batt, two wild bat brothers whose tree home is destroyed, forcing them to find a new shelter. Enter Nature Cat and his pals who come to the rescue, helping Chris and Martin Batt by building them their brand new home! Onward and keep-on-nature-adventuring-ward!
“No Bird Left Behind” - A Baltimore Oriole named Brooks hurts his wing and cannot fly south for the winter. This is not good because in the winter, Brooks' food source of bugs and berries are very scarce. He needs to get south! Enter Nature Cat and his pals, who are up for the challenge of helping Brooks migrate south, but how are they going to fly him there? Oh Houston, we have a problem!
“Soil Turmoil/Wisteria Hysteria”
Premieres and streams April 16
“Soil Turmoil” - Look out world, Steve the Vole is not a happy camper! And he has every right to be upset because his burrow is gone. It was the perfect place to live. The dirt was soft enough to dig though and firm enough to hold his tunnels, but now it’s just a giant hole in the ground! Who would take all that dirt, and why? Steve just wants his home back – is that so much for a little vole to ask for? Not to worry! Nature Cat, dirt retriever extraordinaire, is on the case. Onward and dirtward!
“Wisteria Hysteria” - Oh no! Daisy needs some big-time help today. She was on her way to bring jumbo carrot muffins (made with true love) to Granny Bunny, but when she came to the tunnel of wisteria vines she usually goes through to get to Granny's house, someone started throwing things at her so she got scared and turned around. That’s just not right! Who would do that? Hal hears that Big Bad Wolf was in that area, and since he is so big and bad, he's probably the one throwing things. The Big Bad Wolf? Gulp! The gang investigates only to find that the culprit is...an exploding wisteria seedpod?
“Nature Cat's Nature Stories/Pattern Problema”
Premieres and streams April 17
“Nature Cat's Nature Stories” - It's Nature Stories day today and as his friends gather around, Nature Cat tells his made-up silly story of where the wind comes from. And who would've guessed that according to Nature Cat, wind comes from the elephants in the west who use their huge trunks to blow cool air across the land! Funny! Squeeks and Hal get into the silly storytelling spirit with their tale of how the firefly got its light - it's because the sun gave them light on their tails so they can have parties at night and see what they are doing. Really wacky! Now it's Daisy's turn to tell a silly story, but she is having a little trouble coming up with an idea!
“Pattern Problema” - It's a race against the clock for Hal! He was doing a little dog house redecorating to surprise his mommy when she comes over later in the day, but there is something wrong with Hal's wall decorations. It looks like a few wallpaper patterns put here and there, and not very pleasing to the eye. Hal needs to finish before his mommy gets there, but he doesn't know what to do to make his doghouse look beautiful! Nature Cat gets an idea -- how about getting out into nature to get inspired by nature's beauty?
“Animal Rescue Crew/Nature of Dreams”
Premieres and streams April 18
“Animal Rescue Crew” - When Nature Cat and his pals spend the day playing Wild Animal Rescue, they come across a little baby fox with a cut on its front paw. Oh no! The little baby fox is injured and needs help. Looks like it is time to call the greatest animal rescuer in the whole wide world, Racer the Rescue Raccoon. Good golly, hello dolly!
“Nature of Dreams” - What a bummer! Sadie hurt her paw and now she has to wear a cone and sit in her apartment for a whole month while it heals. Doctor’s orders! Now, Sadie can’t go to the nature playground across the street and watch all of her favorite bugs and birds. The gang feels so badly for her, and Hal wishes there was a way to bring nature to her while she’s healing. That’s it! Hal’s a genius. Maybe there is a way to bring the bugs and birds to Sadie’s balcony. Onward and cityward!
“Freezin’ in the Summer Season/Total Eclipse of the Sun”
Premieres and streams April 19
“Freezin’ in the Summer Season” - Get ready, gang, it’s time for Nature Cat’s annual Summer Fest - summer fun, the whole day long. Whoo hooo! First up is their Summer Fest Sprinkler Frolic, followed by Summer Fest Bike Ride and Summer Fest Kickball game. Nothing can ruin their wonderful Summer Fest, except for the super tall dark clouds approaching and the ominous cool breeze. Man oh man! A thunderstorm! But wait a tick, what is that stuff falling from the sky? It looks like snow, but it’s bouncy. Snow in the summertime? Gimme some whaaaaat?
“Total Eclipse of the Sun” - No one has ever seen Houston as excited as he is today. Know why? Because today there will be a total eclipse of the sun. Woo hoo! Raise the roof! Get this, the sun will be totally blocked out by the moon, so you won’t be able to see it, and it will get dark in the middle of the day. The rest of the gang cannot wait to see the eclipse with Houston, except for Hal, who runs away to hide because he is scared. Hal?
WILD KRATTS
“Mystery of the Flamingo’s Pink”
Premieres and streams April 15
When Aviva makes a Flamingo Creature Power Suit, the color doesn't work. The suits are completely white, and the gang can't figure out why. All of the DNA is correct. There's nothing wrong. So where does the flamingo's pink come from? The gang is on a quest to solve the Mystery of the Flamingo's Pink.
“Spots in the Desert”
Premieres and streams April 16
Chris is in the middle of organizing his creature power discs when they get a call from Wild Kratts kid Manuel, who lives in the Sonoran Desert. He says he has spotted an ocelot in his backyard. An ocelot in the desert? That's so rare, since these wild cats usually live in rainforests. Their Creature Mission - to "spot" an ocelot in the desert.
“Deer Buckaroo”
Premieres and streams April 17
The Wild Kratts team searches for a fawn - Buckaroo - they helped a few years ago to find out how he's doing now. In the process, they learn about deer society and the vital purpose of antlers.
About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers children ages 2-8 the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, digital media and community-based programs. PBS KIDS and local stations across the country support the entire ecosystem in which children learn, including their teachers, parents and community. Provided by stations, the free PBS KIDS 24/7 channel and live stream is available to more than 95% of U.S. TV households. Kidscreen- and Webby Award-winning pbskids.org provides engaging interactive content, including digital games and streaming video. PBS KIDS offers mobile apps to help support young children’s learning, including the PBS KIDS Video app, which is available on a variety of mobile devices and on platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Chromecast. PBS KIDS also offers parent and teacher resources to support children’s learning anytime and anywhere. For more information on PBS KIDS content and initiatives supporting school readiness and more, visit pbs.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About Wind Dancer
In addition to READY JET GO!, Wind Dancer Films is the creator and producer of such family television series Home Improvementalong with box office successes such as What Women Want and Bernie. The company, headed by partners Dete Meserve, David McFadzean and Matt Williams, is also currently in production on What Men Want for Paramount Pictures, the feature film Good Sam, the animated preschool project Not a Box, and the stop-motion series entitled Storywoods. www.winddancer.com
About Spiffy Pictures
Spiffy Pictures, founded in 2003 by David and Adam Rudman, is a creative development and production company specializing in family entertainment. The Emmy Award-winning creative team has created, produced, written and directed live-action and animated projects for Nickelodeon, Disney, MTV, Comedy Central, Sesame Street and Warner Brothers. Their projects include creating and producing the Emmy- and Prix Jeunesse-nominated Jack’s Big Music Show for Nick Jr, the Emmy-nominated Bunnytownfor Disney and Nick Jr.’s Parent’s Choice Award-winning Curious Buddies brand of home videos. Spiffy Pictures recently produced a puppet adaptation of Scooby Doo for Warner Brothers, titled Scooby-Doo! Adventures, The Mystery Map. Visit us at www.spiffypictures.com.
About Kratt Brothers Company
Kratt Brothers Company, founded in 1993, has created and produced more than 220 episodes of television, including award-winning series: KRATTS’ CREATURES, ZOBOOMAFOO, Kratt Brothers: Be the Creature and WILD KRATTS. Through its full service animation studio, Kratt Brothers Company is currently in production on its fifth season of the Emmy-nominated hit, WILD KRATTS. www.krattbrothers.com