Synopsis - The Afternoon Raccoons

The Afternoon Raccoons centres around a family of raccoons (the Loves) who have adapted to being awake in the day (well, all except Daddy Bandit, who tends t o be a little drowsy). When "eating out" means out of the garbage can, children will delight in seeing this big furry family doing familiar things just a little bit differently, while learning lessons on “coon”sideration along the way! Living in a tree on a farmer's field, the busy Loves are joined by some fun farmyard friends. Most especially the Moos, who tend to bring a dose of “cow”la”moo”ty to everything they moo!

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The Afternoon Raccoons is a half hour* live-action (puppets and occasional people) children's series, blending the segmental variety format of the world renowned Sesame Street with the peaceful pacing of the much loved Mr. Dressup!

Building on other series such as The Adventures of Napkin Man which have worked to teach children emotion recognition and coping strategies, The Afternoon Raccoons delivers the next grade of Emotional Intelligence with a theme of the series being Personal Awareness: 

• Of others' individual needs: e.g. What's helpful for one might not be for another.

• Of your own part in things: e.g. Maybe because you always interrupt when a story is being read, is why you haven’t been invited back to Storybook Club.

Each episode begins with one of the Afternoon Raccoons welcoming the audience in and setting up the Main Story A.K.A. "Coonsideration". The emotional lesson is presented through the Main Story, which is split into several segments (for trickier "Coonsideration" topics, one of the Afternoon Raccoons may summarize it before the end of the episode). Each episode also contains multiple Supporting Segments that may be practical, showing crafts or simple recipes, or just plain fun such as "Farmyard News"!

An "Audience Ask" will also come up once per episode, either within the Main Story or one of the Supporting Segments, showing a montage of real kids answering the question posed.

The end of an episode is marked by a “goodbye” and friendly/funny message by one of the Afternoon Raccoons, or simply ends on a fun family scene which the credits rollover.

*While conceptualized as half hour episodes as just described, the different parts can easily air independently to fit scheduling needs; the Main Story as an undivided 11-20 minute episode by itself, while any of the Supporting Segments (averaging 1-3 minutes) may air alone as needed to fill time between programming line-up. 

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Examples of The Afternoon Raccoons Social/Emotional Lessons:

Accountability  e.g.

• "How you say What you say means different things."

• "What you show is part of how you're seen."

• "Meaning something and Doing something are two different things."

• "Sometimes you need to Make an adjustment, before somebody can Take your apology." (if you apologize for something you keep doing -like snatching toys- "I'm sorry" might not mean the same until you stop snatching).  

Situation Awareness  A.K.A. All Our Different Selves  e.g.

• "We're in the library now. It's time to be our quieter selves."

• "That was a really long line. I'm happy you called on your patient self!" 

Critical Thinking e.g.

• "Is this a Big/Little Situation?" 

(Could you make a BIG difference by doing a little something?)

• "Need VS. Want / Later VS. Now"

(If something you want to do is bothering somebody else, do you need to be doing it now?)

• "Stack Attack!"

(Identifying how people can feel Super upset over regular things,   not because of what happened this time, but because of all the other times stacking up - this time being the tipper!)

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Supporting Segment types:

You Can Do It Yourself 1 per episode

• Crafting at the Corral step-by-step craft segment

• Rascal's Recipes simple recipes kids can duplicate

• Story Time 

- with Momma Racca (short children's books read in full)

- with Farmyard Friends (hooves aren't great for turning pages.

Will they ever get to the end of the book in the allotted time?!)

Broadening Thought at least 1 per episode  

• Culture Time Teaching about Canadian and other cultures

("Raccoon", deriving from Algonquian, makes for a natural introduction into Indigenous cultures).

• Is that a Thought or a Truth? With Bandie~June (Example: Bandie~June is told "the sky is blue because somebody painted it that colour" which sets her on an investigation to prove if that's a Thought or a Truth; seeing if she can even reach the sky with a paintbrush; wondering why it doesn't drip paint when it rains; asking the Librarian for non-fiction books on the subject!) 

Miscellany a few per episode

• Fitness with Fluffy

• Introspector Parfait

• Moo Moo's Cooking Show

• Casey Cow's Adventurous Aspirations

• Cue Marshmallow Moo

• Farmyard News

• Moosical Moments

• Raccoon Roofing Agency

• Garbologist Archeologist

and more!

(including, like many popular children's programs, family friendly inside jokes for the adults in the room, such as The 'Quick Mooer' Report where preschooler Casey Cow rants a la The Rick Mercer Report while trotting along a chalked-up sidewalk). ======================================

Potential Episodes

Feelometre Cowie isn’t angry with Raccoonie, so then why does he sound like it? They need help to understand how somebody can act upset towards you, even when they’re not upset at you.

Make Me Mad!

The kits learn there are so many things in the world you can make! Including making somebody feel a certain way, even without meaning to. 

Sorry Time

Apologizing after initially excluding him from their game, Rickie’s older siblings relearn how feelings can take a little longer to settle than the situation that caused them.

And Then What Happened?

When Freddie believes he “just walked in the room and Coonster started yelling at him”, he learns to walk back through a situation to see how one thing lead to another.

What Did You Just Say?

Rickie learns that the words he uses can say different things to different ears, while Freddie remembers to listen to how something is said to better understand what is being said.

My Thoughts Exactly

When their older siblings’ plans are unfortunately canceled, the younger kits learn how the same situation can cause different reactions, even when you’re feeling the same things.

I am Me Before I'm Anything Else!

Rickie wonders why his sister, Coonster, doesn't like the new toy all the other girls seem to be into at school, and why he does when none of the other boys seem to? Learning that what we like comes from who we are, not what we are.

Feelings Forecast

The kits learn that just like all kinds of weather are valuable, every feeling is, too, and sometimes it's important to let 'coons feel sad instead of trying to put a smile on their face.

All You Need to Know, Is…(A.K.A. Making Sense of Sensory Needs)

Freddie learns to respect when something is bothering somebody else, even when he can’t understand how it possibly could be bothersome.

Taking Time

Going to visit Mrs. Possum with Racca and Eeclara, Rickie learns that when you take your time, you may also be taking someone else’s if they’re waiting on you.

That’s What I Think The kits learn how some people need to express their feelings out loud, though they may not be talking to the crowd, while Bandie-June learns she has to let people know when she’s just venting to herself or when she actually needs someone to listen.

Quiet and Clear! Eeclara and her friend, Wanita Possom, help the younger kits learn how best to communicate with somebody who is hard of hearing and respect their place in the conversation.

Enough is Enough! No Matter My Words

Persistent Freddie learns there are all kinds of reasons why he might not get the answer he wants, but there will always be one if he pays attention.

Playtime Manners Cousin Disco is visiting and knows all about good guest manners! What he doesn’t know is why his cousins don’t seem to want to play with him.