CBC Kids

Hodge Podge Lodge

From the late 1980s to 1995, the lineup was called Hodge Podge Lodge (not to be confused with the American series of the same name), with interstitials featuring animated multi-coloured geometric shapes. Some of CBC's children's programs during this time were presented under generic CBC branding instead. CBC Children's Publicist Barbara Chernin and Producer Stephen Wrigh came up with the 'Hodge Podge Lodge' moniker. Angela Bruce, Head of CBC Children's Programming consented to the name for the lineup.

CBC Playground

In 1995, the lineup was relaunched as CBC Playground, carrying Fred Penner's Place, Mr. Dressup, Rolie Polie Olie, Sesame Park, Skinnamarink TV, and Theodore Tugboat. In the late 1990s, two human hosts, Lisa Richardson and Drew Carnwath, were added to the block.

Get Set For Life

In 2000, CBC Playground was replaced with Get Set for Life, a block named after a partnership between non-profit parenting organization Invest in Kids, Canadian Living magazine and the CBC itself. This iteration had Alyson Court and Michael Clarke as hosts. GSFL saw the departure of Fred Penner's Place and Guess What?, whilst Skinnamarink TV, Mr. Dressup and Theodore Tugboat were limited to reruns.

Kids' CBC

Final logo as Kids' CBC, from 2003 to 2016

Kids' CBC started in 2003, replacing Get Set for Life. Previous hosts Court and Clarke continued to appear until December 2005, but the main focus was on five regional hosts from various parts of Canada. The hosts were Patty Sullivan (Ontario), Joyce Quansah (Quebec), Kush Uppal (British Columbia/Western Canada), Hayley Gene (Daughter of Fred Penner) (Manitoba/Prairies) and Dashi Malone (Son of Greg Malone) (Newfoundland/Atlantic Canada). The look and the studio sets had also been drastically changed. The child seen in the GSFL logo was redesigned to look less crude and turned into a separate animated character called Dot (not to be confused with the PBS Kids character of the same name).

On December 24, 2005, a set consisting of a garden in a geometric type dome was added to the block (previously the block mainly featured animated interstitials in which the hosts would appear). Malone and Gene were replaced by Mark O'Brien and Holly Bernier.

In 2007, the garden was replaced by a Canadian village-type setting and a treehouse that was referred to as the Carefort was added. Due to the CBC's budget restrictions, the show was restricted to being hosted from Toronto by Sullivan, with Sid Bobb coming on as a co-host.

New characters arrived to feature various parts of Canadian culture, each representing a different Canadian region:

• Mamma Yamma is a yam representing Ontario. She is the owner of a fruit and vegetable stand in Toronto's Kensington Market.
• Drumheller is a dinosaur that represents Western Canada. He is from the archaeological site near Drumheller, Alberta.
• Saumon de Champlain is a fictionalized salmon version of Samuel de Champlain, who lives at the Château Frontenac in Quebec City.
• Captain Claw is a lobster representing Atlantic Canada. He is a lighthouse keeper in Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia.
• Canada is a green, abstract animated representation of the map of the eponymous country.

Each of the puppets were used in a variety of scenes in their local setting, typically educational in nature. Mamma Yamma would frequently host cameos by visiting celebrities such as musicians or Canadian television personalities; a compilation album of live performances, Mamma Yamma and Friends, was released in 2008.

In 2013, the Kids' CBC style was changed. Drumheller, Saumon, Captain Claw and Canada were removed. A new theme song titled "You and Me and Kids' CBC" was added. New segments were also added.

CBC Kids

On June 23, 2016, the CBC announced that Kids' CBC would be rebranding to CBC Kids the following winter. Hosts Sullivan and Bobb were removed. Mamma Yamma was also removed.^[1] CBC Kids replaced Kids' CBC on January 2, 2017. The current hosts are Janaye Upshaw, Victor Verbitsky and Tony Kim.