Helena Dowling talks about the NickJr 'Help Dora Help' Campaign'

If you have kids of a certain age you may be familiar with the Help Dora Help campaign that has been running on Nick Jr for the past month or so.
Nick Jr have teamed up with The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts to offer a special £20,000 award to one lucky pre-school, nursery or playgroup to enable them to improve their facilities and give their kids the best possible start.

I was lucky enough to have a chat with Helena Dowling - presenter of Nick Jr's 'Wake up World' slot every morning and the face of the 'Help Dora Help' campaign - and she told me a little about the initiative.

"Dora is a fantastic role model for kids... We have worked with educational specialists to create a great educational pack that encourages creative learning through exploration and developing their sense of adventure."

She is really excited about the campaign and the opportunity it provide for the winners to do something really special for the children in their care.

"The first prize is £20,000 which could provide a great outdoor play area or an amazing trip out. There are fabulous prize packages for the runners up too!"

Helena has visited some pre-school groups to see the the activity packs in use and said the kids really enjoyed working with characters they are familiar with.

Helena, who has taught kids dance classes for years absolutely loves her job as the 'face' of Nick Jr

"I get to go into work and play with soft toys and be silly all day. Of course I enjoy it!"

You can also see her in some episodes of the new series of 'The Bopps' singing and dancing with Keith and Stan Bopp, which she enjoyed immensely.

"Keith and Stan a couple of great guys to work with. We had a lot of fun filming the show."

 Thanks so much to Helena for talking to us - it really made the Little Man's day and he couldn't wait to tell Daddy later that he had spoken to 'He-ena' on mummy's phone!

Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances I am little late with this post and the closing date for entries for the 'Help Dora Help' competition has now passed. However you can still download the activity pack which contains six curriculum linked session plans based around different themes such as pirates, nature and space. Why not have a look? You may be inspired to begin a project to keep the whole family occupied during the summer holidays.

Still looking for something to occupy the littlies during the summer break? Nick Jr have kindly sent me a fabulous activity pack to give away to one lucky reader of my blog. Giveaway post to follow in the next couple of days...