ELWOOD — Surprise will flood the eyes of 3-year-old Johnathan Thomas Heath on Monday when his own face appears on national television.

Preferring not to tell their son that his picture was chosen at random by the network, his parents, Johnathan and Kristy, will be watching the toddler closely as he witnesses his debut.

“He doesn’t know he’s going to be on the show yet,” said Johnathan, Elwood resident for most of his life. “It’s going to be a big surprise. He watches it every day.”

The PICME episode on the Sprout network called “Baking a Cake” will feature the local boy and air Monday between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Two PICME episodes are broadcast each day and feature a different child.

Parents upload digital images of their children and the randomly selected photos are incorporated into the animated show. Johnathan Thomas’ picture was one of thousands that have been submitted.

“He does know about the picture,” said his father. “We sent it in for his birthday on Oct. 23. We wanted them to show his birthday on there so he could see himself on TV.”

While Johnathan will recognize his face, his body will be animated and he will be surrounded by new friends — Gerty the giraffe and Banjo the monkey. Crowded around the television with him will be his 2-year-old brother, Matthew Joseph Heath, and his 9-year-old stepbrother, Christopher James London.

Not only does PICME come highly recommended by the Elwood family, it has been selected for several honors.

In 2005, PICME was awarded the Best Digital Storytelling Category at the Digital Media Awards and received first at the Kidscreen Pitch It Summit. PICME also picked up the award for Best Youth Programme at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

PICME is one segment of the Sprout Network’s design to build interactive programming that unites the preschooler, parent and network. Sprout is available locally on Comcast Channel 336; DirectTV at Channel 295 on the Choice Xtra package and AT&T; U-Verse TV on U-300 on channel 337, according to its Web site at sproutonline.com.

“Sprout is all about sharing an active experience between a parent and their child,” said Barbara Murphy, representative for the Sprout Television Network. “So they watch a TV show and then they go onto Sprout online to download activities and upload artwork, in this case the photo for the PICME episode.”

“The kids love to go outside to the park, but it’s cold now so we do a lot of activities they have on the show,” said Johnathan. “They make stuff on the show — “The Good Night Show.” They make stuff and then we make it too. Sometimes we DVR it and make it later.”

Murphy said that the directions for all the crafts and activities on the network are listed online so that families can complete the projects at their leisure.

Another unusual feature of the network is their method of following a preschooler throughout their day.

“The morning show is much more active with activities that get the child geared for the day,” explained Murphy. “It goes to the afternoon with the ‘Sharing Show’ and then in the evening the programming is a little bit more settled. The pace is different than the morning activities.”

“When we turn on ‘The Good Night Show,’ they are ready to brush their teeth and put on their pajamas and sit on the floor and watch,” said Johnathan. “It’s geared toward small children and we have two of them. They would go crazy if we didn’t have the Sprout channel.”

Friends are welcome to congratulate Johnathan Thomas on his first television appearance — after it’s over, of course. Until then, remember, shhhhh! It’s a secret.