My daughter discovered this show through her 2 year old cousin this summer, and we now watch it together last thing before bed. She loves the silly words, and of course Pinky Ponk is not sophisticated terminology but who cares ? We can trust our kids to differentiate between real language and silly sounds that make you laugh.
It does make bedtime debate-free, because it models falling asleep as being just as enjoyable as being awake. Hats off to the creators of the first show that has ever made children want to go to sleep.
Now if only they made a Night Garden for adults ! Maybe that's what comedy really is: does anyone else remember Lily Tomlin (one ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingies) on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in? the Knights who say Ni (sp?), Steve Martin's King Tut (Born in Arizona, moved to Babylonia)? Inspector Cluseau ?
My brothers and I were raised on this sort of stuff, the worst assortment of rubbish imaginable you might think, and we are all highly educated successful professionals. Turning off the stress and resting our minds is a skill we need in this day and age.
For some reason many children find Night Garden charming. The show seems to help them switch off their brains for the night. If this helps them learn a life skill they can grow up with, that's great. As for reading and math, they don't really need to process that stuff until school age anyway.
As for colours and shapes and age-appropriate pre-school learning, what works best is to get down on the floor with some crayons and paper and square pegs and round holes and play constructively with your own child ! The TV is not responsible for our children, we are.