Dance with east Bradenton's Yaya and Nono

At night, Simone puts on a pink sweater, a yellow beaded necklace, pink glasses and a blue beehive wig with a pink bow. Zimmerman wears a blue sweater, a pink beaded necklace, yellow glasses and a pink beehive wig with a yellow bow. 

Zimmerman becomes Yaya, and Simone becomes Nono, and they are ready to film the next segment for their new YouTube channel, “The Yaya and Nono Show.” 

“The Yaya and Nono Show,” an early childhood education show aimed for pre-K students, has been a dream of Simone and Zimmerman’s for three years.

Simone started watching children’s shows and listening to children’s music when her granddaughter, Kairi, was born three years ago. She found everything to be repetitive and occasionally annoying and dated.

With her theater background and Zimmerman’s experience in early childhood education, Simone thought they could produce a better show and music videos.

Zimmerman started Playaway Children’s Fitness and Fun Center in Lakewood Ranch after seeing a high demand for Mommy and Me classes in the Lakewood Ranch area.

She spent 17 years doing Mommy and Me classes and creating her own songs that are now being revamped for “The Yaya and Nono Show.”

Simone’s family has more than 20 years of experience doing community theater. Her children, iLana Armida and Vincent Simone, have experience in musical theater, performance and music production.

Zimmerman’s and Simone’s jobs and other responsibilities kept them from making their dream a reality until the pandemic hit.

“When COVID-19 struck, we all had a lot of extra time on our hands, and we decided to just dive in,” Simone said. “I said, ‘Well, you know what, I’m just going to buy the equipment, the green screen, the cameras and the lights, and I’ll try to make it work.’”

The twins first started with creating their personas.

“We wanted to play off the opposites,” Simone said. “We’re twins, but we’re pretty different. So Yaya is more of the straight man, and I’m more of the goofy, comic relief. If they are mishaps, that will happen to Nono.”

They also wanted to touch on the idea of being grandmothers or caregivers, so they looked for names or terms relating to that idea. They found that Yaya and Nono are used as nicknames for grandparents or nannies in several countries.

Simone and her husband, Tommie, decided to sell the pool table they had in an upstairs room and replace it with a green screen, lights and other equipment needed to create their own studio. Simone already had a recording studio in one of the closets of her home that Armida used to produce her own music.

The duo is expecting to release music videos as well as have 15- to 20-minute episodes that include five to six songs to go along with educational lessons. The episodes will also include dancing, jokes, story time and educational demonstrations. They’ll cover topics including the ABCs, numbers and colors.

The first episode, which the sisters hope to release by the end of the year, is called “Ocean Commotion.” It features six videos with an underwater theme, mermaids and other ocean-related items. 

“We’re still trying to edit it all together,” Simone said. “It’s a long process that we didn’t realize how long it was going to take. Being neophytes and just flying by the seat of our pants, we’re just learning as we go.”

Tommie Simone wanted to help with the production of the show, so he started learning how to do animation and video editing three months ago. As the group produces each video, Kim Simone said her husband’s skills grow.

“The Yaya and Nono Show” has become a family affair for the Simones. Kim Simone is one of the main characters while Tommie Simone edits and does all the animation for the show. Armida and her boyfriend, Alex Kinsey, who was the winner of “The X Factor” in 2013, produce all of the music for the show.