"The Zula Patrol" is an animated astronomy and science show for kids that airs as part of NBC's Saturday morning lineup, and on public t.v. stations during the week.

The colorful and diverse aliens that make up the Zula Patrol, fly across the galaxy, discovering all kinds of interesting things.

I received both the “The Zula Patrol: Animal Adventures in Space” (released in June ’09) and “The Zula Patrol: Moons Mayhem” (released on Aug. 25) to review.

Here is a synopsis of each DVD.

In The Zula Patrol: Animal Adventures in Space!, the team explores how insects, reptiles, mammals, plants and rocks form and interact with each other. In Larvae or Leave Me (the first episode), Skip the grasshopper can’t find his friend Wriggly the caterpillar – until he discovers, with help from The Zula Patrol, that Wriggly has transformed into a beautiful butterfly! Four additional stories on the DVD are: Egg Hunt, There Goes the Neighborhood, Choosing Sides and Camp Worm. No job is too big for The Zula Patrol, as they search for stolen frog eggs, help restore life to a canyon ecosystem, solve the mystery of the missing honey, and tunnel through dirt with their worm comrades to help the trees grow – and end up thwarting a threatened “alien invasion” from another planet.

The Zula Patrol: Moons Mayhem follows the intrepid team from Zula in six humor-filled stories that begin with a challenge, and end with a resolution, as they explore the fascinating, often volatile world of moons. The episodes include: Moon Struck, Blue Moon, Going Through a Phase, Moons Mayhem, Three Ring Gorga and Me, Myself and Io. It’s non-stop lunar adventure for The Zula Patrol, as they as they rescue a turbulent Venus, who is on a quest to acquire a moon of her own; discover the many moons of Jupiter during Jupiterfest; explore the composition of the surface of Earth’s moon; help save Bula from an awful Were-Mouse curse, and thwart Dark Truder’s nefarious plan to steal all the moons within the solar system.

My thoughts:

I had never heard of this t.v. series or the DVDs prior to my reviewing them. I'm always on the lookout for products for my sister's children and to share with my friends who have younger children. So I was eager to check these out.

There is a lot of good science fact in these shows. I especially liked the episode about Jupiter's moon, Io. I learned a lot from it and would even consider having my middle schooler watch it if we had a homeschool lesson geared around planets or astronomy.

HOWEVER, if you, like our family, believe in a universe created by God, and a young universe (not billions of years old), then I suggest you watch the episodes before allowing you children to view them. Not all the episodes are written from a non-creation perspective, which is why I suggest previewing them. The episodes that don't mention the way things came to be or time frames, are very good from an education stand point. We found the episodes we had no issue of theory with, were as entertaining as they were educational.

For those of you who homeschool or are teachers there is even some curriculum to use at TheZulaPatrol.com. (On the upper left hand corner of the page called Zula School Curriculum.)

To complement these DVDs, ZulaWorld.com has games and activities for your child to particpate in. Kids can create an alien of their own and give them a name, which is their icon throughout their time online. The base activities are free, but to access higher level activities there is a charge.

The Zula Patrol DVDs are appropriate for ages 4 and up, while ZulaWorld.com is geared for a little older kids.

To enter for a chance to win a set of two Zula Patrol DVDs OR one of ten free ZulaWorld.com VIP Memberships for one month, leave a comment here letting me know who your children's favorite Zula Patrol character is or if they have never seen them before which DVD you think they'd like best. (The first chosen comment by Random.org will win the dvds, the next ten will win the ZulaWorld.com VIP Memberships).

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This giveaway will end on September 23, 2009 at 11:59 pm cst and is open to U.S. Residents ages 18+. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be e-mailed. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the e-mail or an alternate winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **About Reviews statement at the bottom of this page and my Privacy/Rules declaration and agree to them.