Hi-5 House

Hi-5 House is a variety-style series for pre-schoolers which incorporates educational trends combined with pop music.[1] The premise remains similar to its predecessor series Hi-5.[2] The show's five cast members are collectively known as Hi-5, and present individual segments as well as performing songs as a group.[3] The set of Hi-5 House is designed as a house, and presented as a place where the cast live together.[1][4] Each presenter’s segment is adapted to take place in a room of the house, to replicate a child's immediate surroundings.[2][3]

Each episode features each cast member presenting their own individual segment, which is modelled towards a particular learning style based on Howard Gardner's Theory of multiple intelligences.[5][2] Puzzles and Patterns (set in the kitchen) has a focus on logical thinking and mathematics, with a puppet named Jup Jup used as a tool for the presenter to complete puzzles or solve problems.[2] Musicality is explored through the Making Music segment (set in the music room), with an emphasis on pitch, rhythm, beat, melody, and using a variety of real and pretend instruments.[3] The presenter of Body Move (set in the backyard) encourages children to participate in movement and dance, developing physical coordination and motor development.[6][4] Linguistics and aural skills are at the centre of the Word Play segment (set in the bedroom), featuring a puppet named Chatterbox who assists in the discovery of language through stories and rhymes.[7] Shapes in Space (set in the rumpus room) focuses on visual and spatial awareness, with the presenter exploring shapes, colour and everyday materials such as boxes and playdough.[5][4]

The final segment in which the cast comes together is entitled Sharing Stories, where a story is told to explore interpersonal relationships and emotions.[7] The episodes are bookended with a Song of the Week; a pop-style feature song which corresponds with the weekly theme and sets an educational topic for the week's episodes.[1] An additional segment, The Chatterbox, focuses on learning of the English language through simple words and phrases, featuring the puppet of the same name teaching a toy robot named Tinka how to speak.[3][8]

• Lauren Brant (Series 1)
• Mary Lascaris (Series 1–3)
• Ainsley Melham (Series 1–3)
• Stevie Nicholson (Series 1–3)
• Dayen Zheng (Series 1–3)
• Tanika Anderson (Series 2–3)

The original Hi-5 series premiered on the Nine Network in 1999, created by television producer Helena Harris and co-producer Posie Graeme-Evans.[9] The program ran for thirteen series and concluded its run in 2011 as a result of the franchise being acquired by equity group Asiasons in 2012.[3][10] In June 2013, executive producer Julie Greene announced that the franchise would be producing a revamped series, a spin-off to be titled Hi-5 House.[3] Greene had previously worked on the original program as a series producer, before becoming the brand's executive creative director in 2012.[10]

The first series of Hi-5 House was filmed at Infinite Studios in Singapore from August to October 2013, and premiered on pay-TV channel Nick Jr. in Australia on 4 November 2013.[4][8][11][12] Live action segments featuring children were filmed on location at Singapore Zoo and Sentosa.[13]

The second series was filmed at KRU Studios in Malaysia from April to June 2014 and premiered on 6 October on Nick Jr.[14][15] The series won an Asian Television Award for Best Preschool Program in 2015.[16]

The third series was filmed in Malaysia from March to May 2015.[17] This series premiered exclusively on 25 March 2016 on online television streaming service Netflix in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Latin America.[18][19] It later aired on Nick Jr. from 26 September onwards.

Hi-5 House ended production in 2016 as a result of the Nine Network renewing its partnership in with the Hi-5 franchise in October with plans to revive the original Hi-5 television series with a new cast in 2017.[20]