The Wiggles sprout new North American dates

Australian kids-music superstars The Wiggles have plotted out the second leg of their 2009 North American tour, which follows the debut of their new block of programming on Sprout, the PBS-partnered video channel and website.

The band made a splash in media circles this year when they severed a seven-year relationship with Disney to take on a much larger role in the Sprout programming universe, where they'll anchor a three-hour block of programming each morning.

Media reports chalk up the move to the group's desire for more flexibility in their distribution channels and Disney's emphasis on programming to a tween demographic, a few years older than The Wiggles' core fan base.

The group is known for their lively and interactive live shows, and pride themselves on performing over 200 shows a year. Speaking to the interactive aspects of the show, guitarist and "Red Wiggle" Murray Cook recently told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that many kids will bring roses for Dorothy the Dinosaur, who likes to eat them, and bones for Wags the Dog. Cook says that dancers come out into the audience to collect the items.

"It's really, really very sweet," Cook told the paper. "It's a really lovely connection between us and the audience. We often end up with hundreds of roses, and 20 to 30 dog bones."