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Fun and Games

Good

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 2

Balanced

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Paramount +

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Fun and Games

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This program is well-balanced. It remains mostly easy to follow and process. It is a good fit for the recommended age. The pacing is calm. A child has time to watch and understand what is happening. The sound is intense and continuously present. The visuals are calm and well-organized.

One simple thread runs through the whole episode: Ben and Holly wait for cupcakes to bake and fill the time with games. Events follow in a clear order, baking first, then tag, then hide-and-seek, then the cakes come out, so the beginning, middle and end are easy to track. Actions lead to sensible results a young child can predict, like Holly's magic wearing off so Ben finally spots her. New ideas arrive one at a time rather than piling up, which keeps the story easy to hold in mind.

The emotional tone stays gentle and warm. Small frustrations appear, Holly grumbles 'It's not fair' during tag and briefly calls hide-and-seek 'too boring', but these dip and settle quickly within the same or next moment. Ben's mum stays calm and reassuring, and the friends keep enjoying each other's company. The mild caveat is that Holly repeatedly breaks her promise not to use magic, and the correction is light rather than firm, so the give-and-take between the two friends is a little uneven.

The children pick their own games and work out how to play them, so there is real initiative here. Holly and Ben negotiate the rules of tag and use a warmer-colder system to search in hide-and-seek, which shows some visible thinking. The limitation is that most problems are small and resolve in a single step, with little trying, failing and adjusting on screen, so the reasoning stays shallow. Waiting for the cakes is solved by the adult suggesting they go play rather than the children puzzling it out.

The language fits a young preschooler well: short, clear sentences with concrete words like flour, honey, egg, stir and hide. Speech is easy to follow and used consistently, so a child hears words matched to real objects and actions. Much of the talk gives information or instruction, such as naming each baking ingredient in turn, with only a scattering of playful sounds like 'splish, splash, splosh'. The small caveat is those repeated exclamations and hype words add little meaning on their own.

The baking sequence and the games of tag and hide-and-seek connect directly to things a child can do at home, and the social patterns of taking turns, playing fair and waiting for a treat are recognisable from everyday life. Against that, the world itself leans heavily on fantasy: fairies, elves, magic wands, flying and turning invisible sit at the centre of the action. For a three-year-old, who is still sorting out what is real, that fantasy-forward framing limits how much of the episode maps cleanly onto their own world, even though the underlying activities do transfer.

More information

This episode keeps a very small circle of characters: Ben the elf, Holly the fairy princess, and Ben's mother, all sharing a light complexion and belonging to the same storybook world of fairies and elves. There is little breadth of background, family form, or body type on screen, so the picture of who is present stays narrow. Where the episode does better is in how the two children behave: Holly and Ben both drive the games, swap between winning and losing, and show a full run of feelings from frustration to delight. The adult woman bakes and sets the boundaries, a familiar caregiving role, while the boy and girl carry the story on equal footing.

The world of fairies and elves is imagined, but the things they do are drawn straight from a child's day: baking cupcakes and playing tag and hide and seek. There is no villain here. The tension comes entirely from a fairness question, whether Holly should use her magic during the games, and it is resolved with a gentle lesson about time passing when you are having fun. The magic follows steady rules that the characters name out loud, which keeps it easy to follow. For a three year old the fairy and elf setting leans more fantastical than pure everyday life, though the familiar activities keep it within reach.

This episode is easy company for a grown-up in the room. The dry humour lands a few knowing beats for adults, the fair-play story has a small twist worth following, and the calm British voices with no looping songs keep the sound gentle. The clean animation and steady sound mix round out a watch that does not grate.

Themes

Baking

Central

Ben and his mum measure flour, honey, milk and an egg and put cupcakes in the oven.

Play

Central

Ben and Holly fill the waiting time with tag and hide-and-seek in the meadow.

Friendship

Holly visits Ben and the two spend the episode helping and playing together.

Magic

Holly uses her wand to fly and turn invisible during the games.

Patience

The children must wait for the cakes to bake instead of using magic to hurry them.

Telling the truth

Holly promises 'no flying or magic' but secretly casts a spell, then admits it when caught.

Helping at home

Ben tells Holly 'I'm helping Mum make cakes' and Holly joins in with the stirring.

Imagination

The whole world is built from fairies, elves and magical wands.

Activities

Baking

Step-by-step cupcake making with named ingredients and an oven.

Hide and seek

The pair count to ten and search with warmer-colder hints.

Playing games

The children move from tag to hide-and-seek to fill their time.

Chasing

Ben and Holly run after each other calling 'Can't catch me!'

Eating

Everyone enjoys a cupcake at the end, calling them 'delicious'.

Emotions

Joy

The children cheer 'Yippee! I love hide-and-seek' and enjoy their cupcakes.

Excitement

Holly is eager to help and to start each new game.

Frustration

Ben complains 'It's not fair, I'll never catch you' when Holly flies.

Pride

Both children brag that elves or fairies are best at something.

Behaviour

Playing

The friends play tag and hide-and-seek across the meadow.

Helping

Holly asks 'Can I help?' and takes over stirring the cake mixture.

Hide and seek

Ben and Holly count and search using warmer-colder clues.

Deception

Holly casts 'make me invisible' after promising not to use magic.

Taking turns

The children swap who is 'it' in tag and who hides in hide-and-seek.

Boasting

Ben says 'elves are good at running fast' and Holly says 'fairies are good at making cakes'.

Following instructions

Holly does 'more stirring and less splashing' when Mrs Elf asks.

Admitting mistakes

Holly confesses 'I was just using a teeny bit of magic' when found.

Social lessons

Playing together

Ben and Holly cooperate through several games in the meadow.

Friendship

Holly drops by and the two spend the day helping and playing as friends.

Fairness

The children repeatedly insist 'you must play fair, no magic'.

Keeping promises

Holly promises no flying or magic and the story turns on her breaking it.

Taking turns

They alternate who hides and who seeks and who is 'it'.

Patience

Mum asks them to wait and play while the cakes bake.

Deception

Holly secretly casts an invisibility spell after promising not to use magic, and the correction is gentle.

Mild conflict

Ben and Holly bicker over cheating during tag, with 'That's cheating' and 'It's not fair'.

Ben the elf helps his mum bake cupcakes in the family kitchen, and his friend Holly the fairy princess joins in with the stirring. While the cakes bake, the two go outside and play tag and hide-and-seek, and Holly keeps slipping into flying and magic despite promising to play fair. When the cupcakes come out of the oven, everyone agrees the time flew by because they were having fun. The episode ends with the friends sharing cakes and Ben showing a trick.

Season 1

11 episodes

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

The Royal Fairy Picnic

recommended age co-watching from 2

Princess Holly's family prepares for a royal fairy picnic with their magic basket. Holly invites her best friend Ben Elf, who packs real sandwiches, cheese, and fruit from home. At the picnic Nanny Plum tries to conjure magic jelly, but the spell escalates into a flood that only a powerful stop spell can halt. The stop spell cancels every piece of magic food too, so Ben quietly shares his elf lunch with the whole royal party.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Gaston the Ladybird

recommended age co-watching from 2

Ben the elf and Holly the fairy princess play with their friend Gaston the ladybird, riding on his back and watching him roll over. The next day Gaston will not come out, so they ask Nanny Plum for help and visit his cave. They find it messy and smelly and decide to clean it as a surprise, but Gaston cries when he sees what they have done. The friends realise Gaston loved his home just as it was, and they happily put back the cobwebs, smelly socks and dirt before running off to play again.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Holly's Magic Wand

recommended age co-watching from 2

Princess Holly practises wand magic with Nanny Plum and accidentally turns Ben Elf into a hat. Nanny reverses the spell, and Holly heads off to play with Ben, only to realise she has left her wand behind in the meadow. Ben offers to help search and they discover that a jackdaw has carried the wand up to its nest. Ben climbs up to retrieve it and Holly successfully casts a thank-you cowboy hat spell for him.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

The Elf Farm

recommended age co-watching from 2

King Thistle demands a real boiled egg for breakfast but the elf farm delivery arrives without one. Ben, Holly and the elves drive back to the farm, where the Wise Old Elf shows Holly the carrot field, lettuce patch, tomato plants and chicken pen, explaining how each part works. A chicken escapes during the visit and follows them all the way to the castle. The chicken lays an egg for the King, who happily asks for daily deliveries from then on.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Daisy and Poppy

recommended age co-watching from 2

Princess Holly's baby twin sisters Daisy and Poppy are learning magic and accidentally flood the castle with porridge during breakfast. Later, while Holly tries to play with her friends, the twins escape with a wand and turn the kittens, rabbits and birds around them into transformed elves and fairies. Ben enlists Gaston the ladybird to track the twins down, and Holly reverses every spell with chants like 'come back twins'. The episode ends with the twins tucked into bed, dreaming aloud of tigers and crocodiles.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Fun and Games

recommended age co-watching from 2

Ben the elf helps his mum bake cupcakes in the family kitchen, and his friend Holly the fairy princess joins in with the stirring. While the cakes bake, the two go outside and play tag and hide-and-seek, and Holly keeps slipping into flying and magic despite promising to play fair. When the cupcakes come out of the oven, everyone agrees the time flew by because they were having fun. The episode ends with the friends sharing cakes and Ben showing a trick.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

King Thistle is Not Well

recommended age co-watching from 2

King Thistle catches a cold and insists it must be something serious. After fairy magic only makes him sneeze, the Wise Old Elf arrives as a doctor and diagnoses a common cold, while Nanny Plum, Ben and Holly set off to collect a dewdrop, slug slime and a frog burp for a special cure. The King drinks the potion by mistake and grows a head of long hair, but his cold clears up all the same. In the end Nanny Plum catches the cold and the King promises to nurse her back to health.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

The Lost Egg

recommended age co-watching from 2

Ben the elf and Holly the fairy princess find a stray egg while playing and set out to return it to its mother. With Nanny Plum's guidance they learn it is a blackbird's egg, build a nest, and have King Thistle keep it warm until it hatches. The chick imprints on Nanny and grows hungry, so the group tries to charm worms and call the mother bird. The mummy blackbird finally arrives and takes her chick home.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

The Elf Games

recommended age co-watching from 2

Ben the elf prepares for the elf games, a sports day of running, jumping, and lifting where magic and flying are banned. Holly the fairy princess wants to join but is told the games are only for elves, until her family's secret magic gets Ben disqualified. In the end Holly partners Ben in the wheelbarrow race, using her gymnastics to help them win. The elves agree to add dancing and gymnastics to the next games so fairies can take part too.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Nanny Plum's Lesson

recommended age co-watching from 2

Nanny Plum is teaching Holly and the fairies three fairy rules when a gust of wind blows her clean off the castle wall. Ben, Holly and Gaston the ladybird set out to find her and bring back her wand, following her through a series of soggy, muddy mishaps in water, a bird's nest and quicksand. Ben finally lassoes her free and everyone returns home. Nanny finishes by saying she has learned it is good to have friends around when you need them, whether they are fairies or elves.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom

Mrs Witch

recommended age co-watching from 2

Nanny Plum takes Ben and Holly to meet a retired witch in the woods, insisting witches are smelly and useless. When Nanny mocks her once too often, Mrs Witch freezes her, so the children fetch King Thistle. Instead of scolding the witch, Daddy showers her with compliments until she happily unfreezes Nanny. Everyone parts on friendly terms, and Daddy explains that saying nice things about people goes a long way.

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