Dora the Explorer

It is quite possible that my soon to be four year old granddaughter knows more Spanish than I do. She likes Dora, although now that she is nearing four I think her infatuation with Dora is quite possibly fading from what it was about a year or so ago. I recall reading her some Dora storybooks and her correcting my pronunciation of the Spanish words. Of course, it is through her that I learned who Diego and Boots are as well.

Dora, for anyone who does not know this, was actually first named Tess. She was the creative idea of two Nickelodeon creators who were given the opportunity to develop their own show. Tess as she was first named was a story of a preschool girl who would go exploring every day with her animal friends.

Network execs after just learning that Latinos were the most underrepresented minority on television decided to convert "Tess" into bilingual Latina girl named Dora. After hiring a Latino writer, and some Spanish language experts, Tess became Dora!

In an easy, fun way, Dora has been teaching children who are not bilingual to speak a few words that are not in their language by introducing a new Spanish word or phrase in each Dora episode. Dora the Explorer has become amazingly popular not only in the United States but all around the globe. The stories engage the preschoolers and are interactive in that Dora always pauses to ask her audience's help in the adventure. And preschoolers love to go on all the adventures with Dora!

Whether your child's favorite character is Dora, Boots the five year old furry monkey and Dora's best friend, Backpack, Map, Swiper the fox, Tico the squirrel, Benny the Bull, Isa the iguana, or the cymbal playing snail, accordion playing grasshopper, or drum playing frog, she probably knows who they all are by name. She can probably say "hola", "amigo", "casa", and "agua" and know what they mean. And most likely she's been asking for a Dora theme birthday party, a Dora backpack that looks like Backpack, and would find it a dream come true to see Dora at Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. I know it was a dream come true for my granddaughter to get to have her photo taken with her fav, Dora!

If your preschooler loves Dora, Boots, Backpack, Map, and the rest of the characters in Dora the Explorer, you can find some easy to follow links below to some awesome Dora the Explorer T-shirts, photo binders, bags, necklaces, stickers, and so much more in all the colorful and oh so cute Dora adventure designs your child loves.