'3rd and Bird', now showing on CBeebies, is made by Little AirplaneProductions, which also made the pre-school series 'The Wonder Jets',shown on children's channel Nick Jr.
It revolves around the lives of Samuel and Muffin Lovebird, who livewith their family in a community of birdhouses in a tree.
The series is structured in the style of a stage musical and featuresfour original songs in each episode.
The programme-makers test the script for each episode of '3rd and Bird'with pre-school children on both sides of the Atlantic.
The research technique used, developed by child psychologist andeducational media expert Dr Laura G Brown, is called 'Show and Tell' andconsists of two stages.
At the Show stage, the scripts for each episode are broken down into apicture show of key images and shown to a group of pre-school childrenfrom diverse socio-economic backgrounds. As the images are being shown,a researcher reads and sings dialogue from the scripts, covering themain story themes.
At the Tell stage, children give Dr Brown their opinion on what theylike or don't like about the script, while the children's behaviour isobserved to discover which parts of the story they find appealing andwhat needs to be changed.
After the research, the script is adapted to fit the recommendationsmade by researchers.
The programme makers say '3rd and Bird' has been designed to helpchildren to develop social skills and qualities such as tolerance andperseverance. In each episode Samuel and Muffin Lovebird encounter aproblem relevant to children of pre-school age, such as making a newfriend, learning a new skill or going somewhere for the first time.
Josh Selig, the series creator and president of Little AirplaneProductions, told Nursery World, 'Samuel and Muffin have to look inwardsto solve their problems, with help from their neighbours or thecommunity. It's made to inspire children to look within.'