Kids trade Spongebob for spongepaint with DIY TV

I knew something was amiss when the knick-knacks - the small bowls, colourful vases, even an unused incense burner - mysteriously appeared in my living room.

It could only mean one thing: My 10-year-old daughter was watching too much HGTV again.

Hope likes to watch those home design shows as much as anything that airs on Disney or Animal Planet. During the early evening down time, Hope and her sister, Grace, are tuned into "Designed to Sell" or "House Hunters."

A friend's three daughters are similarly fixated, ignoring popular television for HGTV's "Landscapers' Challenge" and "If Walls Could Talk," a favourite of Hope's that blends history and intrigue into a storyline that may sound like a yawner on paper - we're talking about a house here - but captivates the children.

"My kids have never seen 'American Idol.' There's nothing wrong with that show, but my kids are so off the grid, it's hilarious," says my friend, Sloane Given. "It's just not really their thing."

They're not alone in the elementary school set. HGTV and other do-it-yourself outlets don't track their child viewership, but hosts like Vern Yip of "Deserving Design" on HGTV say they're often stopped by kids. He calls his elementary-school-aged groupies a "funny little fan base."

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