Caillou is a typical 4-year-old child. At this age, role
playing is as appealing as it is essential. By using their imagination,
children can visualize doing things they have never done: they are empowered
beyond their years and dare to try and discover new things. They can be
invisible, invincible, big or small, cleverer, funnier, faster and stronger.
Role-playing teaches children to cope with strong emotions like anger, sadness
and jealousy and thereby accomplish feats they would never have thought
possible.
Observing Caillou and following his example, children (and
their parents) learn that using their imagination is an important, useful and
valuable thing to do. Young viewers feel encouraged to imitate our little hero
as they watch him go through various stages of development. At first Caillou
relies on realistic props such as a doll house to invent a story and bring his
imaginary ideas to life. But little by little, he is able to use more abstract,
symbolic objects that bear no physical resemblance to the things he is
imagining, but are realistic to him. After a while, a large cardboard box comes
to represent a house just as well as the doll house did. Caillou shares his
engaging, imaginative creations with his preschool viewing audience in every
episode.
