Hi-5 (Australian TV series) genre children's television series
Hi-5 is an Australian children's television series, originally produced by Kids Like Us and later Southern Star for the Nine Network, created by Helena Harris and Posie Graeme-Evans. The program is known for its educational content, and for the cast of the program, who became a recognised musical group for children outside of the series, known collectively as Hi-5. It has generated discussion about what is considered appropriate television for children. The series premiered on 12 April 1999 on the Nine Network. 
The series is designed for a pre-school audience, featuring five performers who educate and entertain through play, movement and music, which is an integral part of the series. The segments of the show are based on an educational model. The original cast was composed of Kellie Crawford, Kathleen de Leon Jones, Nathan Foley, Tim Harding and Charli Robinson. By the end of 2008, this line-up had been completely phased out and replaced with a new group of performers. Hi-5 received three Logie Television Awards for Most Outstanding Children's Program.
Harris and Graeme-Evans ended their involvement with the series in 2008 when the program was sold to Southern Star and the Nine Network. The final episode of Hi-5 aired on 16 December 2011 as a result of the Nine Network selling the property in 2012. A spin-off series, Hi-5 House, aired on Nick Jr. from 2013 to 2016, produced with no involvement from Nine. The network renewed its partnership with the brand in October 2016 and produced a revived series with a new cast, which aired on 9Go! in 2017.Format
Hi-5 is a variety-style series for preschoolers which features music as an integral part of its premise. Aimed at children aged between two and eight, the series incorporates educational trends with a pop music appeal, using song and movement to capture the attention of children. The series employs central themes of exploration and discovery, providing children with an opportunity for a "sensitive exploration of their world". Hi-5 encourages children to "take a joyous and active part in life", with active participation encouraged. The program features five presenters who are collectively known as Hi-5, and perform songs as a group as well as presenting individual segments. All segments are integrated with music as a tool to highlight the key concepts of each episode.The Shapes in Space segment focuses on visual and spatial awareness, with the presenter exploring shapes, colour and everyday materials such as boxes and playdough. Musicality is explored through Making Music, with an emphasis on pitch, rhythm, beat, melody, and using a variety of real and pretend instruments. The presenter of Body Move encourages children to participate in movement and dance, developing physical coordination and motor development. Linguistics and aural skills are at the centre of the Word Play segment, featuring a puppet named Chatterbox who assists in the exploration of language through stories and rhymes. Puzzles and Patterns has a focus on logical thinking and mathematics, with a puppet named Jup Jup used as a tool for the presenter to complete puzzles or solve problems.The final segment in which the cast comes together is entitled Sharing Stories, where a story is told that explores interpersonal relationships and emotions. The episodes are bookended with a Song of the Week; a pop-style feature song which corresponds with the weekly theme and sets an educational topic for the week's episodes.The 2017 revived series featured new puppet characters, the Jupsters, who were introduced as the family of previously established character Jup Jup. The revival also retained a segment introduced in Hi-5 House, entitled The Chatterbox. This segment focuses on the discovery of language through simple words and phrases, and features the puppet Chatterbox, who teaches a toy robot named Tinka (Ellen Wright-Folan) how to speak.Educational theory
Hi-5 was designed by educational experts to appeal to contemporary, "media-literate" children by relating to their world.  The series has been described as "for the kids of today". The cast are presented as older siblings to the children, educating the audience in a fun and entertaining way, through "play based learning", rather than appearing as adults who are teaching them. The educational theories of the series are disguised with music and entertainment, with the multiple layers of the show catering for a wide range of ages in the audience, while being primarily aimed at those aged 2–8. The real-life messages of the show are reinforced in an entertaining way.Harris and Graeme-Evans based the series around an underlying educational structure, primarily using Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. It is recognised that each child learns in a different way, and each cast member has a specific segment within the show which targets a different aspect of learning, ranging from logical-mathematical thinking to a focus on linguistic skills, to cater to a child's individual learning approach. Harris observed that most viewers had a favourite cast member, believing that children generally "respond more favourably to the presenter who models the learning style they prefer". The use of multiple segments is also designed to hold the attention span of young children. The skills of pre-numeracy and pre-literacy are a focus of the educational theory, to prepare children for learning at school, while also encouraging self-confidence and expression. According to the show's website, Hi-5 also uses Piaget's theory of cognitive development, providing a learning experience that promotes individual growth.Music and movement play a large part integrating the elements of Hi-5 together, with music reinforcing the central ideas which the series presents, while also being entertaining. Physical interaction is encouraged, and heavily featured to make the show relatively fast-paced, originally to replicate the energy of contemporary music videos.  Dancing is featured, with a focus on movements that increase the integration between the left and right sides of the brain.
category style type kind class