PBS KIDS has greenlit The Jim Henson Company’s 22-minute live-action preschool special Wowsabout, which is designed to inspire awe in kids with the beauty of nature.

Former Henson president of television Halle Stanford co-created, wrote and is executive producing the puppet-led one-off, whose title is a combination of “walkabout” and “wow”. Set to premiere later this year, it revolves around two polar-opposite friends—a fastidious pig and a musical hedgehog—who set out to explore spots in Sequoia National Park that make them exclaim “wow”.

Henson shot Wowsabout on location in the park, and it blends music, nature and storytelling to help kids identify that feeling of amazement, and how it can encourage curiosity and creativity. The company partnered with psychologist Dacher Keltner, whose work is all about finding wonder in everyday life, to build out the special’s learning goals.

“I wanted to create a series that helps preschoolers (and their grown-ups) fall in love with the planet and with one another,” says Stanford. She hopes to expand Wowsabout into a long-form series that could see the characters finding this same excitement in things like art and music, and Henson is working on raising funding, says Stanford.

“At a time when childhood is increasingly screen-based, Wowsabout invites kids off screens and into real-world adventure,” she adds. “In a noisy, rushed world, awe helps children slow down, look up and feel connected to something bigger.”

Wowsabout may target preschoolers, but its themes of highlighting beauty and the natural world make it a great co-viewing experience for the whole family, says PBS KIDS VP of content Adriano Schmid.

The special was already in development before the federal government slashed PBS KIDS’ funding, according to a spokesperson for the public broadcaster.

Stanford created Wowsabout with Dorien Davies (Word Party), a writer, principal puppeteer and executive producer on the project. Lisa Henson is EP and John Tartaglia is a co-EP, with Tartaglia directing and puppeteering as well. The US National Park Foundation provided advisory support, and the special was financed by a grant from The Gambrell Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on supporting kids programs (and that fittingly has inspiring awe and wonder as one of the pillars of its mission).

This is the third greenlight Henson has secured in the last few months, coming on the heels of Amazon commissioning its 2D-animated webtoon adaptation Lore Olympus (Prime Video) and CG-animated series Jim Henson’s Monster Dance (Amazon Kids+).

Image courtesy of the Jim Henson Company.