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Icicle

Good

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 2

Stimulating

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BBC

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Icicle

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This program is stimulating. It actively demands attention and can feel intense. For the recommended age, this may be on the more intense side. The pacing is fast. Images follow each other quickly, leaving little time to pause and take in what is happening. The sound is intense and continuously present. The visuals are calm and well-organized.

The episode follows one clear quest: work out what an icicle is and track one down. Events build in order, from setting up the word game, through the clues, to the search and the happy reveal, so a child can follow the thread from start to finish. Cause and effect is spelled out plainly, for example that an icicle is frozen water, so it forms where it is cold and not at the warm seaside. The one small caveat is that the clue section stacks several new ideas close together, which is a little full for the youngest in this age range.

This pillar is a real strength. The tone stays warm and supportive throughout, with characters cheering each other on ('Well done, Ela') and forgiving small mistakes ('That's all right, Harry. It was a funny way to be woken up'). The few moments of mild tension, like a friend being splashed awake or guessing wrong, are settled kindly and do not linger as upsetting. Feelings stay gentle and even, with no frightening turns.

The episode models thinking out loud well. Ela tries an idea, gets it wrong (mistaking her own footprints, then a sledge, for icicles), then recalls the clues and reasons her way to the answer. This visible trial, error and correction shows a child that getting something wrong is part of working it out. The small caveat is that the task itself is handed to the characters by the word game rather than springing from their own curiosity, so the initiative is partly set up for them.

Language is purposeful and built around teaching one word, icicle, which is defined, described and repeated so its meaning sticks. Sentences are mostly complete and clear, such as 'A sledge is useful for moving around on the snow and ice,' and the talk carries real information rather than empty filler. What keeps this from scoring higher for a two year old is that a few ideas, like why water will not freeze where it is warm, sit just above what the youngest in this band will follow. Even so, the words stay meaningful and are used consistently throughout.

The learning here is grounded in the real world: what an icicle is, that it forms from frozen water, and where you would find it, which can carry over to a real winter walk. What holds this pillar down is the fantasy frame around that lesson. The characters are make believe creatures who live in a book and travel by magic, and much of the on screen action, such as flying and magical journeys, cannot be copied in daily life, so the real world payoff sits inside a largely imagined world. The friendship, turn taking and apologising between the characters do reflect everyday social life.

More information

Abadas builds its world around three imaginary animal friends, a hippo, a fox and a bat, with a live-action boy called 'Ben' who guides a word game from a storybook. Boys and girls are represented fairly evenly, and the animals' skills are not tied to gender, with the female characters doing the flying, hunting and scent-tracking while the male hippo swims. In this episode the female fox 'Ella' takes the lead, heading off alone to find an icicle, making mistakes and solving the puzzle herself. The main limit is breadth, since the show stays in a fantasy meadow and a snowy mountain and shows almost nothing of families, different ages and bodies, or the varied ways real people live.

This show pairs make-believe animal friends and Ben, a character who appears from inside a storybook, with learning that is firmly rooted in the real world. There is no villain at any point; the only challenge is a friendly guessing game about what an icicle is, and every fact the children pick up (frozen water, cold mountains, footprints, sledges) is true to life. The gentle imagination, calm pace and repeated structure suit a 2-year-old well. The one thing to note is that the main characters are imaginary creatures rather than real animals or people, so the world blends light fantasy with recognizable settings.

This is a calm, well-made vocabulary show that plays as pleasant background for an adult sharing the room. The soft voices and the nicely produced snowy mountain adventure are easy on the ears and eyes, though the humor and references sit firmly at a preschool level with little aimed at the parent. The quest to find the icicle has a clear shape, and there is gentle comedy when Ella keeps mistaking other things for it, which gives a co-viewing adult enough to follow. It earns its standing on craft and listenability rather than on adult-specific appeal.

Themes

Literacy

Central

Ben runs a word game to teach the word 'icicle', repeating and explaining it throughout the episode.

Winter

Recurring

Ela searches snowy, icy mountains where icicles form from frozen water.

Nature

The story moves through countryside, a pond and snowy mountains, exploring snow, water and ice.

Friendship

The three Abadas play together, cheer each other on and end with warm goodbyes.

Problem solving

Ela works out what an icicle is by recalling Ben's clues after several wrong guesses.

Adventure

Ela travels alone to the snowy mountains on a quest to find the icicle.

Activities

Word game

The central activity is a guessing game where the Abadas work out the word 'icicle'.

Exploring

Ela sniffs and searches across the snowy mountains looking for the icicle.

Singing

Each Abada sings a short song about themselves and the episode ends with a goodbye song.

Playing in water

Hari and Ela play 'splash' in the pond at the start of the episode.

Emotions

Joy

The Abadas laugh, cheer 'Woohoo!' and celebrate when Ela finds the icicle.

Curiosity

Ela wonders aloud 'I wonder what an icicle looks like' before setting off.

Pride

Ela proudly recounts her adventure and is told 'You really are amazing, Abadas.'

Behaviour

Encouraging

Ben repeatedly praises Ela with 'Well done, Ela. You found the icicle.'

Perseverance

Ela keeps searching after mistaking footprints and then a sledge for icicles.

Helping

Ben gives step-by-step clues to help Ela figure out where an icicle would form.

Taking turns

The friends decide together that it is Ela's turn to go and find the word.

Apologising

Hari says 'Sorry, Sarin' after his big splashes wake Seren, who forgives him.

Social lessons

Supporting a friend

Wrong guesses are met with gentle help and praise rather than teasing.

Teamwork

The Abadas choose together who is best suited to find the icicle.

Taking turns

The group agrees it is Ela's turn to take on the search.

Three friends called the Abadas, a hippo named Hari, a bat named Seren and a fox named Ela, play a word game with their human friend Ben. Today's word is 'icicle', and Ben gives clues that it is made of frozen water and hangs down in cold places. Ela travels to the snowy mountains, mistakes her own footprints and then a sledge for icicles, then remembers the clues and finds real icicles hanging down. She returns to tell the others what she found, and everyone waves goodbye.

Season 1

5 episodes

Abadas

Abadas

Anchor

recommended age co-watching from 2

Three animal friends, Ella the fox, Hari the hippo, and Seren the bat, play a word game with their human friend Ben inside a magic pop-up book. This time the word is 'anchor', and the hippo sets out to the sea to discover what it is. Along the way the hippo learns about a boat's sail and helm before finding the anchor, which drops into the water and stops the boat. Back in the book, the friends recap what was found and say their goodbyes.

Abadas

Abadas

Piano

recommended age co-watching from 2

Three animal friends, Ela the fox, Hari the hippo, and Seren the bat, play in a pop-up-book world while a narrator runs a word game. The day's word is 'piano,' and Ela is chosen to find it. She works out that a piano must stay dry and so should be indoors, then searches a house, mistaking a spoon and some saucepan lids for the answer before discovering the real piano. She returns to tell her friends what she found, and the group says goodbye.

Abadas

Abadas

Icicle

recommended age co-watching from 2

Three friends called the Abadas, a hippo named Hari, a bat named Seren and a fox named Ela, play a word game with their human friend Ben. Today's word is 'icicle', and Ben gives clues that it is made of frozen water and hangs down in cold places. Ela travels to the snowy mountains, mistakes her own footprints and then a sledge for icicles, then remembers the clues and finds real icicles hanging down. She returns to tell the others what she found, and everyone waves goodbye.

Abadas

Abadas

Cloud

recommended age co-watching from 2

Abadas is a CBeebies show in which three animal friends, Seren, Harry and Ella, play a word game introduced by Ben, a character who lives in a book. In this episode the word is 'cloud', and Seren flies up into the sky to discover what a cloud looks like. Along the way she meets a balloon that pops and a feather that tickles before finding a real cloud that is white, floats and makes rain. The episode ends with the friends recapping what they learned and singing goodbye.

Abadas

Abadas

Lighthouse

recommended age co-watching from 2

Three creatures called the Abadas, who live in a magic pop-up book, set out to learn a new word: lighthouse. After a game of hide-and-seek, they use clues to work out that a lighthouse stands at the seaside, and Seo the bat flies out at night to find it. She passes the moon, a funfair, and a torch before spotting the real lighthouse with its spinning light. The friends celebrate, say goodbye, and head back into their book.

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