Adoption in Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends
Animated Series Presents Positive Messages about Adoptive Families
Oct 24, 2009
Based on Kirk’s Miss Spider book series, Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends premiered in 2004 and airs on Nick Jr. and Treehouse TV. Both media cater to the 4- to 7-year-old crowd, but older audiences also enjoy the colorful and diverse characters who live in Sunny Patch.
A Family Show with Life Lessons
Miss Spider and her husband, Holley, live in the Hollow Tree with their eight children, three of whom were adopted. Miss Spider was also adopted, weaving an adoption tale that spans two generations. This colorful and diverse family consists of spiders, a dragonfly, a beetle and a bedbug.
According to the show’s Web site, Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends highlights social and emotional themes children recognize from their own lives. Real-life issues such as competing with friends, being afraid of the dark and learning to share and empathize provide opportunities for parents and children to discuss topics kids encounter.
“The overarching theme is about the importance of getting along with others – our family, our friends, and members of our community,” the Web site states. “It is meant to serve as a model for children about how to go out into the world and learn to live with others.”
Adoption Themes Permeate Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends
Like the books, the show succeeds at touching upon adoption and foster parenting themes in a natural way. The distinction between which children were biologically born of Miss Spider and Holley compared to those who were adopted is only mentioned during discussions that directly address the way in which their family formed. The show’s inclusion of positive adoption undertones shows audiences the “normal” and routine activities of this devoted bug family, which happens to be formed through adoption.
Adoption-related Situations in Sunny Patch Mirror Human Experiences
But a bug’s life isn’t always easy. Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends reveals the real-life – and sometimes challenging – experiences of families, including those formed through adoption. The episode “Family Tree/Jitterbug,” which originally aired in 2006, touches on several common themes adopted children experience.
When a class assignment requires the bugs to create a family tree with keepsakes related to their hatch days, Shimmer experiences anxiety. “But what about me, Dragon and Bounce?” she asks. “We’re adopted.”
Dragon tells the teacher that he, Shimmer and Bounce were orphans and don’t know where their hatch day places are or who’s on their family trees. Miss Spider and Holley set out to help all their children find something special for their individual branches.
Sunny Patch Characters Demonstrate Realistic Feelings of Adoptees
Meanwhile, Shimmer wants to find her “real hatch day tree” and wonders whether her beetle mom still lives there. Miss Spider supports her search. When they’re unsuccessful, Miss Spider validates Shimmer’s sadness. She tells her daughter she, too, wondered where her spider mom was for a long time and shares the story of how she met Beetle Betty.
“I knew then that I’d found my mom,” Miss Spider recalls. “I knew she was the special somebuggy I was meant to be with. She loves me just like I love you, Shimmer.”
Families Formed By Love
The characters in Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends show children the importance of nurturing one another, and at the same time, demonstrate that families form by love and not always through genetics. Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends paints a realistic picture of adoptive situations that all families can appreciate.
Related Articles:
Characters of Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends: Meet the Bugs from the Animated Series
 |
