Editing Iftah Ya Simsim (section)

=== Content ===
The show focused on Arab heritage, like the wedding rituals of countries in the region, and included Arabic poems and songs.<ref name="opensesame" /> 

''Iftah Ya Simsim'' emphasized scientific thinking and the effects of technology on society. It sought to provide children with experiences that enriched their knowledge about their environment and improved their reasoning, through teaching them mathematical and geometric concepts. The show introduced its viewers to Arab history through segments which, for example, showed castles that were the center of historic battles.<ref>Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 466</ref> Geography was highlighted, especially the location of countries and their cities and capitals, which had the secondary effect of helping children increase their feelings of belonging and feeling proud of their Arab heritage. Children's social awareness, especially their comprehension of social roles and their functions, was also emphasized.<ref>Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 467</ref>

Unlike the American show, ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' covered the topic of spirituality because of the importance of religion in Arab culture,<ref>Al-Khulaifi, p. 42</ref> so the producers' goals included teaching children about Islamic principles, positive social behavior, personal manners, and the importance of traits like honesty, respect for parents, loyalty, and social interaction.<ref name="alkhayr-464" /> According to researchers Misbah Al-Khayr and Hashim Al-Samira'i, the program reinforced "the values and ethics that are derived from the teaching of orthodox Islam&nbsp;... to help children develop a sound moral vision on the basis of which they will build their family relationships, and which will reinforce the values of cooperation, love, and justice".<ref>Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 468</ref>

The producers wanted to present the characteristics of the Arabic language and its alphabet.<ref name="alkhayr-464" /> Because pre-production research showed that, although many dialects are spoken in the region, 90% of Arab children were able to understand Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), it was chosen as the show's language.<ref name="alkhayr-465">Al-Khayr & Al-Samira'i, p. 465</ref> Linguist [[Kees Versteegh]] stated that the language used in ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' was "based on an explicit didactic and linguistic concept".<ref name="versteegh">{{Cite book|title = The Arabic Language|last = Versteegh|first = Kees|publisher = Columbia University Press|year = 2001|isbn = 0-7486-1436-2|location = New York|url = http://acc.teachmideast.org/texts.php?module_id=1&reading_id=35&sequence=4|access-date = July 12, 2014|archive-date = July 14, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714230015/http://acc.teachmideast.org/texts.php?module_id=1&reading_id=35&sequence=4|url-status = dead}}</ref> The show's developers decided to use specific aspects of the language. Despite the absence of case endings in the dialects spoken by many of its users, the producers used them and other features of MSA. They also spelled out what features should be used sparingly, like passive verb forms, and what features they wanted to completely avoid, such as some prepositions. According to Versteegh, "These principles have been followed rather closely".<ref name="versteegh" /> Children who appeared on the show made few grammatical errors in MSA, and although colloquialisms were used rarely, there was an informal quality in their conversations and speech patterns. Versteegh postulated that it was due to the use of intonation patterns and interjections, instead of the use of grammatical and lexical items from the vernacular use of the language. He also said that ''Iftah Ya Simsim'' proved that it was "possible to use an informal register of Modern Standard Arabic".<ref name="versteegh" /> Versteegh reported that although the show was criticized in some Arab countries, Egypt in particular, for containing too many colloquialisms, he thought the criticism was biased and that "the selection of lexical items in any pan-Arabic programme will probably never satisfy everybody".<ref name="versteegh" />