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Using The Toilet

Good

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 4

Stimulating

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Using The Toilet

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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.

One clear thread runs from start to finish: Akili needs the toilet, uses it, cleans herself, and washes her hands. The events follow in a sensible order with a recognizable beginning, middle and reinforcement at the end, and each action leads to a predictable result, such as washing hands so she can play with friends afterwards. Because the same steps return in the song, little new information arrives at once, which keeps the sequence easy for a young child to follow. The looping structure does mean the storyline develops only lightly beyond the routine itself.

The mood stays warm and steady throughout. Akili's mother responds with patience and encouragement, praising her with 'good job my baby' and reminding her 'you can always do it yourself, but when you need help you can call me.' There is no frightening or tense content, and the small need that opens the episode is met calmly and resolved right away. Feelings move smoothly from one moment to the next without sudden switches, with the only caveat that the praise and reassurance follow a fairly fixed pattern.

Akili practises the routine herself after her mother sets the challenge to 'try to do it all by yourself today,' so there is a visible sense of a child becoming more capable. The steps she follows are meaningful and connected, going to a clean toilet, taking her time, cleaning herself, and washing her hands, and the reasons are spelled out, like staying clean so she can play later. Most of the thinking, though, is supplied by the instructional song and her mother rather than worked out by Akili, so there is little trial, mistake or independent figuring-out. The task is met by following directions rather than by solving a genuine problem.

The language is concrete and well matched to a young child, with short clear lines such as 'I wash my hands with soap and water so I can play with my friends later.' Almost everything spoken carries information or instruction rather than empty exclamations, and the repeated refrain reinforces the same useful words: toilet, clean, wash, hands. Sentences are mostly complete and the vocabulary stays stable and correct across the episode. Some of the sung lines are a little harder to make out, which slightly softens an otherwise strong fit.

This episode connects directly to a young child's daily life. Everything shown can be copied straight away with familiar things: using a clean toilet, wiping, and washing hands with soap and water. The setting is a real home, and the relationship at its centre, a mother guiding her child through a daily routine, mirrors situations children know well. Each action has a clear, practical purpose, which makes the content easy to carry from the screen into real life.

More information

Akili and Me places a girl and her mother at the heart of an everyday African home, a setting and cast that widen the picture of family life children usually see on screen. Within this single story the range of people stays narrow, built around one child, her mother and a few briefly seen playmates from the same background. Roles are handled warmly and without heavy cliches, though caregiving and teaching fall to the mother alone, with no other adults present. The result carries real value in its cultural setting while staying limited in the breadth of people and relationships it shows.

This episode stays grounded in everyday life: a child learns to use the toilet, clean up afterward, and wash hands with soap and water, with a mother nearby to help. There is no villain and no magic, so the only challenge is the ordinary one of learning a new skill. The home setting matches what a young child sees every day, which makes each step easy to follow and copy. For a three-year-old, this practical, real-world focus is a close fit.

This is a single-topic hygiene song built for the youngest children, with almost nothing layered in for an adult sharing the couch. The story stays thin, repeating the same toilet routine and refrain again and again, though a small thread of a child learning to manage on their own runs underneath. The looping refrain is the main thing an adult will notice, while the voices stay calm and the colours are easy on the eyes. The clean, consistent animation is the strongest part of the experience for a watching parent.

Themes

Hygiene

Central

The episode follows Akili using a clean toilet, cleaning herself, and washing her hands with soap and water.

Self care

Central

Akili learns to carry out her own toilet routine from start to finish.

Potty learning

Akili's mother guides her through using the toilet on her own, singing the steps for going to pee or poo and cleaning herself afterwards.

Independence

Recurring

Her mother sets the challenge to 'try to do it all by yourself today.'

Family

Akili and her mother share the whole episode, with the mother teaching and praising her.

Visiting the doctor

Handwashing is tied to staying clean so Akili can safely play with friends later.

Washing hands

After using the toilet, the mother sets up water and Akili washes her hands with soap and water so she can play with friends later.

Activities

Toilet training

The episode walks through going to a clean toilet, taking time, and cleaning up afterwards.

Handwashing

Akili washes her hands with soap and water at the end of the routine.

Singing

The lesson is delivered as a song with a recurring chorus about the toilet routine.

Dancing

Akili moves and sways along with the music during the song.

Emotions

Calm

Akili sings 'I take my time when I do my thing, it feels so fine' in a relaxed tone.

Pride

Akili finishes on her own and her mother responds 'you did it, good job my baby.'

Love

The mother speaks warmly throughout, calling Akili 'sweetie' and 'my child.'

Joy

Akili answers 'yay, okay' when her mother sets up the handwashing water.

Behaviour

Using the toilet

Akili sits or squats on a clean toilet and 'takes her time' to do her thing.

Hygiene

Akili sings 'I wash my hands with soap and water' as her mother pours water for her.

Independence

Akili completes the routine by herself after her mother steps back to let her try.

Asking for help

The mother reminds Akili 'when you need help you can call me.'

Social lessons

Independence

Akili is encouraged to do the routine herself while help stays available.

Parental supervision

The mother teaches, watches, and praises Akili through each step.

A young child named Akili learns the steps of using the toilet and washing her hands, guided by her mother at their village home. Through a repeated song she goes to a clean toilet, takes her time, cleans herself, and then washes with soap and water. Her mother encourages her to do it on her own and praises her when she succeeds. The episode ends on a branding screen for the Akili and Me and Ubongo Playroom app.

Videos

a selection of popular and recent videos

Akili and Me

Akili and Me

Using The Toilet

recommended age co-watching from 4

A young child named Akili learns the steps of using the toilet and washing her hands, guided by her mother at their village home. Through a repeated song she goes to a clean toilet, takes her time, cleans herself, and then washes with soap and water. Her mother encourages her to do it on her own and praises her when she succeeds. The episode ends on a branding screen for the Akili and Me and Ubongo Playroom app.

Akili and Me

Akili and Me

Missing Colours

recommended age co-watching from 4

Akili, a young girl, watches the rain and a rainbow, then falls asleep and finds herself in Lala Land, where all the colour has drained away because the rainbow is sick. With her friends Bush Baby, Little Lion and Happy Hippo, and with the viewer's help, she uses a magical hat of paint to bring back the blue sky, yellow bananas and chickens, red flowers, green trees and orange fruit. The children then gather a red flower, a blue flower, a yellow banana, a green leaf and an orange to make medicine that cures the rainbow, and Lala Land returns to colour. Akili wakes in her home, and the file closes with a short tutorial on downloading the Ubongo app.

Akili and Me

Akili and Me

Akili and the Alphabet Wall

recommended age co-watching from 4

Akili, a young girl, cannot remember the order of the alphabet when her father teaches her at bedtime. That night she travels to the dream world of Lala Land, where the wind has blown letters off the alphabet wall, and she helps find letters F, O and W, each introduced through a song about words that begin with it. Once every letter is back in place, the wall is complete and people can read and write again. The next morning Akili practises writing the alphabet in the sand outside her home and remembers all of it.

Akili and Me

Akili and Me

Meet Letter O

recommended age co-watching from 4

A round character called Letter O falls into the ocean and has to find her way back home. With help from a guiding voice and the watching children, she floats up on a bubble, shrinks back to size by saying 'oh,' writes her shape in the sand to flag down passing boats, and tickles an octopus out of her path. She reaches home and announces that she makes the 'oh' sound. The episode then closes with an alphabet sing-along featuring the character Akili and a segment advertising a letter-learning app.

Akili and Me

Akili and Me

Meet Letter M

recommended age co-watching from 4

A personified letter M is sad because he has lost his mama, and a friendly narrator invites children to help him find her. Together they trace the letter M, choose the path shaped like M, cross a stream on M stones, and climb hills to the house marked with M. Letter M is reunited with Mama M, who shares her cooking, and the friends take the leftovers to share with the other letters. The episode closes with a channel subscribe message, a credits roll, and a short song featuring Akili and her animal friends.

Akili and Me

Akili and Me

Happy Birthday Akili

Overstimulating

recommended age co-watching from 4

This is a half-hour singalong from the series Akili and Me, built around a birthday celebration for Akili, a young girl who visits a magical world called Lala Land. A run of songs teaches the alphabet, counting to ten, colours, shapes, body parts and a family song, with friendly animals like a lion, a hippo and a bush baby joining in. Children are often invited to sing, count and move along. It closes with a live presenter, Melody, who introduces herself as the voice of Akili and invites viewers to watch more.

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From this series Akili and Me

By age 3 years

By platform YouTube

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