Hello, Emma Memma!
After 12 years with The Wiggles, Emma Watkins has gone solo. Say “hello” to her all-singing, all-dancing, all-signing character, Emma Memma!
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
Emma Watkins began performing at the age of three, and since then, she’s won hearts around the world as the first female member of The Wiggles.
Now, Emma’s gone out on her own, and if your child is an Emma fan, they’ll be jump-up-and-down excited to learn that she has a new album, book series, tour and TV show happening – all in the name of Emma Memma.
Actually, we’re jump-up-and-down excited too, because Emma Watkins’ new brand is all about movement, inclusivity and joy, with a focus on sign language.
To learn more, we spoke with Emma herself, and she tells us that a lot of thought went into this new character.
Emma wanted to create a happy, colourful, energetic persona, and when it came to finding a name, she listened to the under-fives who love her.
Emma says, “In the last decade, a lot of children have called me ‘Memma’ instead of ‘Emma,’ because it’s easier to say and sounds a lot like ‘Mumma,’ so it felt like ‘Emma Memma’ was the perfect moniker.”
As well as giving her young fans naming rights, Emma also thought about them when deciding which colours to dress Emma Memma in.
She settled on pink and orange because, “Warm colours are very engaging for a preschool audience,” and it also helped that, together, these two colours make one of Emma’s favourite hues – peach!
Emma Memma also wears butterflies in her ‘curly curls,’ and the butterfly was chosen as her icon, because it’s used a lot in Deaf communities.
Butterflies actually have very sensitive hearing, and these crowd-pleasing flutter bugs move with joy and vigour, just like Emma Memma does!
It hasn’t taken long for children to fall for Emma Memma’s charms.
Her self-titled album is already a big hit with little listeners, and the really great thing about Emma Memma’s music is that you don’t need to hear it to enjoy it.
Emma has Auslan proficiency (Australian Sign Language), and she’s weaving her decades-long passion for signing into every part of the Emma Memma world.
With the help of her full-time Deaf consultant, Sue Jo Wright, and her friend and co-star, Elvin Lam, Emma is including sign language in her music videos and live shows.
And although there’s no hand movement on the printed page, her upcoming book series is also Auslan-focused!
All her storybooks, including the first one, Hello, Emma Memma, will come with an Auslan video translation, and Emma Memma’s sticker books will include sign language icons as well.
All in all, Emma is inspiring families to sing, dance and sign!
She’s enabling every child, parent, grandparent and other audience member to share in the joy of Emma Memma’s world, and the visual language in her music makes it accessible for everyone, and especially those who might be Deaf, hard-of-hearing, on the autism spectrum or non-verbal.
It’s also great to know that age is no barrier when it comes to learning sign language.
Emma says, “There are some amazing videos of young children acquiring a visual language before they start talking,” and whether a six-month-old is using a pointing gesture, or a six-year-old is finger-spelling their name, this kind of body movement means a lot for Emma Memma.
Emma explains that, ‘Movement has brought this world to life and it’s lovely to use movement as a ‘playground’ for Emma Memma activities to take place in.”
“We use sign language to give movement more meaning, and add dance elements to make it more interesting and catchy for a general audience.”
This is all very inspiring, and in between practising your moves for Emma Memma's Twirly Tour, it’s also a great idea to get your hands on her picture book.
Hello, Emma Memma is out on 28 February and it’s a beautiful introduction to this character.
There are alphabet letters, colours and butterflies to look for amongst the whimsical watercolour, and by the time Emma Memma pops from a silky cocoon, your pre-schooler will be looking forward to seeing lots more of her!
Luckily for them, Hello, Emma Memma is the first book of many, and our not-so-secret source tells us that the second storybook will introduce Emma’s best friend, Elvin Melvin, along with Waffles the Wombat and a gaggle of goats.
In time, you’ll also see these characters on the small screen.
Emma has an exciting new TV series in the works (currently called Emma Memma: Sing. Dance. Sign.), and with the help of her Deaf consultants and performers she’s in the process of making the series entertaining for both a local and global audience.
Emma says, “We’re creating video scripts, so we can really understand how movement drives the TV series, and because sign language is different in every country, we’re looking at iconic signs that children might use around the world.”
Which brings us back to the butterfly!
The sign for ‘butterfly’ is pretty much the same in every country, so this flittery fluttery creature is sure to make an appearance, alongside Emma Memma, Elvin Melvin and Waffles the Wombat.
