Tot TV Watch

Clifford: Big Fun in the Sun is a good DVD anytime of year for those that like Clifford the Big Red Dog, although it is an even better DVD for the summer. The DVD has two sections of four episodes, which I believe is due to it combining two previous VHS releases, but I am not positive on that. The first section is called Big Fun in the Sun and the second section is called Look Out, Clifford.

The Big Fun in the Sun episodes are “Camping it Up,” “Hooray for Cleo,” “Home is Where the Fun Is,” and “Lights Out.” The first one is obviously about camping and fits in with the summer, as well as spring and fall, which can be good times for camping out, too. The second one is about beach volleyball. The third one really is not much about any particular season with Clifford showing Emily that there are fun things to do on the island. The last one has to do with summer in that it is hot and everyone is staying indoors using too much electricity causing the power to go out. The bigger thing it is about, though, is how you do not need electricity to have fun.

The Look Out, Clifford episodes are “Clifford’s Charm School,” “Best Paw Forward,” “Clifford’s Hiccups,” and “An Itchy Patch.” This is kind of a loosely themed part with them being about things like Clifford trying to no ruin a neighbors party, making a paw print in concrete, Clifford having hiccups, and Clifford having a rash and not wanting to go to the vet.

This DVD also has some great special features. The best features are the Big Idea ones that show a clip from Clifford and then has tips on teaching lessons like playing fairly with some activity ideas.

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Here is this week’s edition of new releases of DVDs that feature kids shows. Some are previously seen episodes from television while others are straight to DVD episodes or movies based on kids TV shows.

Backyardigans: High Flying Adventures: This new release contains 4 episodes of The Backyardigans. The episodes on this DVD are “Fly Girl,” “What’s Bugging You?,” “Who Goes There?,” and “Chichen-Itza Pizza.”

Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks: This DVD contains two Bob the Builder episodes. One is the milk truck Dodger arriving in town. The other is about Scrambler, Packer, and Dodger becoming The Three Musketrucks, which is a play on The Three Musketeers.

Curious George - Takes a Vacation & Discovers New Things: This DVD contains seven episodes of Curious George related to going places and discovering new things.

The Land Before Time: Through the Eyes of a Spiketail: This DVD contains 4 episodes of the Land Before Time TV series.

Sesame Street Dinosaurs: This is a Sesame Street DVD movie.

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Welcome to this week’s edition’s list of kid’s television shows that have new episodes airing this week. I try to make this as complete as possible, but I may sometimes miss something. Please comment and let me know if I forgot to include something that has a new episode airing this week. All times are listed as Eastern time as given by TV Guide, but may vary depending on your location, especially when the shows are on local stations like PBS.

Monday, May 12

9am on Nickelodeon - The Backyardigans: This kicks off Nick Jr.’s special bug line up for May 12th. This new episode is called “What’s Bugging You?”

9:30am on Nickelodeon - Go, Diego, Go!: This new episode is called “It’s a Bug’s World.”

5pm on Nickelodeon - Fairly Oddparents: This new episode is called “The Odd Squad/Hairicane.”

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This upcoming week (May 12 through May 16, 2008) is My Friends Tigger & Pooh Mystery Week in the Playhouse Disney segment of the Disney Channel. I really do not see how it is much of a specially themed week, as the episodes are always mysteries. It is however a celebratory way to lead up to the new episode airing this Friday. Below is a list of this week’s line up as part of the special week. All episodes are at 9:30am Eastern time.

Monday, May 12th’s episode is called “Chasing Pooh’s Rainbow/Lumpy Mixes a Mystery.” In the first part Pooh searches for honey at the end of a rainbow. The second part is about Roo and Lumpy figuring out how to mix the right colors in painting a birdhouse for his uncle (if I remember correctly they are trying to create purple).

Tuesday, May 13th’s episode is called “Pooh’s Double Trouble/Eeyore Sleeps On It.” In the first part the Super Sleuths learn about mirrors in reflections. The second part is about them trying to keep Eeyore from sleepwalking.

Wednesday, May 14th’s episode is called “Darby’s Tooth and Nothin’ But the Tooth/Snow Problem, Roo.” The first about is about Pooh and Tigger trying to find Darby’s lost tooth. In the second part Roo learns about why her snowman is shrinking.

Thursday, May 15th’s episode is called “No Rumbly in Pooh’s Tumbly/Pooh Sticks Get Stuck.” In the first part the Super Sleuths try to figure out why Pooh’s tummy is not rumbling. In the second part they try to figure out why the river has dried up.

Friday, May 16th’s episode is the new episode called “Peck Peck Peckin’ on Rabbit’s Door/Flowers from Roo.” The first part is about a mysterious sound keeping rabbit awake. The second part is about butterflies appearing in the area.

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This Monday (May 12, 2008) Nick Jr. has a special line up that has the theme of insects. They awesomely follow the theme. Now if they could just do the same when they release DVDs. Anyways it seems like a fun line up for this time of year. It includes bug themed episodes of different Nick Jr. shows (exact line up listed below). Most are repeats, however, it does start with two new episodes. One new episode is of The Backyardigans and one is of Go, Diego, Go!

9am Eastern - The Backyardigans: This is a new episode called “What’s Bugging You?” This episode is about Tasha’s house being infested by bugs. Tyrone and Unique try to get rid of them, but make the problem worse.

9:30am Eastern - 9:30am Eastern - Go, Diego, Go: This is a new episode called “It’s a Bug’s World.” This episode is about Diego helping find the star of a beetle show and get it back before showtime. In the show Diego shrinks down to bug size.

10am Eastern - Wonder Pets!: This episode is called “Save the Beetles/Three Wonder Pets and a Baby!”

10:30am Eastern - Dora the Explorer: This episode is called “Bugga Bugga.”

11am Eastern - Ni-Hao, Kai-lan: This episode is called “The Ant Playground.”

11:30am Eastern - Yo Gabba Gabba!: This episode is called “Scary.”

12pm Eastern - Dora the Explorer: This episode is called “Dora’s First Adventure.”

12:30pm Eastern - Go, Diego, Go: This is a replay of the new episode called “It’s a Bug’s World.”

1pm Eastern - The Backyardigans: This is a replay of the new episode called “What’s Bugging You?”

1:30pm Eastern - Max & Ruby: This episode is called “Max’s Bug Salad/Ruby’s Beach Party/Super Max to the Rescue.”

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Tomorrow (May 10, 2008) is Mousekatool and Handy Manny Morning on Playhouse Disney. It is a fun alternating line up for fans of Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, however, it may be a sad morning for those that like other normal Playhouse Disney shows like My Friends Tigger & Pooh (this does have an upcoming special week starting Monday, though). Part of this interesting special line up includes a new episode of both shows.

The episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse start on the hour and Handy Manny episodes start on the half hour. The line up lasts from 6am Eastern/5am Central until noon Eastern/11am Central. Below is the line up of episodes.

6am Eastern/5am Pacific: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Daisy’s Pet Project”

6:30am Eastern/5:30am Pacific: Handy Manny’s “Sculptor Manny/Manny Goes Solar”

7am Eastern/6am Pacific: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Donald’s Special Delivery”

7:30am Eastern/6:30am Pacific: Handy Manny’s “Squeeze Sticks/Basketball for All”

8am Eastern/7am Pacific: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Mickey’s Big Band Concert”

8:30am Eastern/7:30am Pacific: Handy Manny’s “Bloomin’ Tools/Ups and Downs”

9am Eastern/8am Pacific: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s new episode called “Clarabelle’s Clubhouse Carnival” about Mickey having a carnival in which people pay in corn kernels to go on rides and play games with the corn kernels going to help Clarabelle feed chickens

9:30am Eastern/8:30am Pacific: Handy Manny’s “Skateboard Park/Cowboy Manny”

10am Eastern/9am Pacific: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Mickey’s Handy Helpers”

10:30am Eastern/9:30am Pacific: Handy Manny’s new episode “Talent Show/Abuelito’s Yard Sale” about Manny fixing a piano before a talent show and the tools accidentally selling someone’s rocking chair at a yard sale

11am Eastern/10am Pacific: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse’s “Goofy the Homemaker”

11:30am Eastern/10:30am Pacific: Handy Manny’s “Light Work/Abuelita’s Tomatoes”

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The Nick Jr. magazine is one of my favorite ones I subscribe to. It is great for kids and those that take care of kids, especially parents. Below is a short wrap up of what is found in the May/June issue of the Nick Jr. magazine.

The cover features Diego from Go, Diego, Go!, which I happened to discover was also on the May/June issue in 2007 when I was cleaning house today. The main thing the cover is highlighting is the collector cards on page 27 (the last page). These collector cards are easy to tear out, although at first they did not look perforated, but they proved to be. They are six card stock cards of rain forest animals. The animals are pictured on the front and the back has some facts about the animals. The six animals are Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Howler Monkey, Scarlet Macaw, Blue Morpho Butterfly, Jaguar, and Three-Toed Sloth. These are fun things for the kids to enjoy looking at and learn a little about the animals.

The pull out Nick’s Parents Connect in this issue is called Going Green. It is full of great ideas for going green and getting the kids involved, which in turn teaches kids how to be more environmentally responsible. The best thing in it is the project of making a watering can out of a recycled plastic jug. I think I may just do that, as I really could use a watering can for when I replant my mint. The solar oven project also looks fun.

The activities in this issue of Nick Jr. Magazine are animal and nature themed. Activities include matching up baby farm animals, a Diego dot game, and Dora’s Paper Cut craft related to Cinco de Mayo.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Beyond Watching the Show, where I give some ideas of activities for kids that enjoy a particular show that go beyond just watching the show. If you have more ideas of activities for this show please comment and share your ideas. Also, please comment here if you have a request of a show to feature in an upcoming edition of Beyond Watching the Show.

This week’s show is Arthur.

Arthur Coloring Pages: This part of the PBS Kids website contains coloring pages for a lot of the Arthur characters including all the main ones. Here there are a few other coloring pages. These ones are more complex and are scenes with Arthur characters.

Arthur Online Games: The PBS Kids website has many different online games to enjoy on the Arthur section of the website. It includes games like Binky’s Facts and Opinions that teaches the difference between facts and opinions, Scoop, and Connect the World. Some games require the Flash player while others require Shockwave to play.

Arthur Printable Crafts: There are some fun printable crafts on the PBS Kids website. Such as Party Hats that can be printed and colored in, Arthur Character Trading Cards, and Character Masks that are also print and color activities. Some other fun Arthur crafts I found on the web are an Arthur Toilet Paper Roll Craft and Pin the Glasses on Arthur Game Craft.

Arthur Video and Computer Games: There are several good video and computer games based on the Arthur show and books. One of the best that I have personal experience with is Arthur’s Absolutely Fun Day for Game Boy Color. My little brother was around preschool age when this game came out and he used to love playing the game and has even saved it now that he has grown out of it because it was one of his first favorite games. Some of the more interesting computer games are the educational ones such as Arthur’s Reading Games and Arthur Math Games.

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Cyberchase - Totally Rad DVD contains three episodes of the PBS Kids Cyberchase animated show. The first episode on this DVD is called “Totally Rad.” This episode teaches the difference between perimeter and area as part of a plot of the kids competing in a skate off against Hacker. The second episode is called “The Borg of the Ring.” In this episode the kids learn about circles as they try to get a special powerful ring away from Hacker. The third episode is called “Fortress of Attitude. In this episode the kids use different objects to make measurements to avoid bobby traps as they try to stop a Hacker statue from broadcasting his voice and trying to get all of Cyberspace to surrender to him.

This DVD is a little short on the amount of episodes it has on it, but it does have some awesome special features. On the normal DVD menu there is a how to draw Digit tutorial that is easy to follow, as well as bloopers from the For Real segment. If you put the DVD into a computer, then you can play three games. Best of all these games even work on a Mac, as long as you have the flash player installed. One of the games is a maze that you follow given directions following colored paths, one is a jigsaw puzzle that requires you to double or halve the pieces to get them to be the right size, and one is a fraction matching game.

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Here is this week’s edition of new releases of DVDs that feature kids shows. Some are previously seen episodes from television while others are straight to DVD episodes or movies based on kids TV shows.

Avatar the Last Airbender - Book 3 Fire, Vol. 3: This new DVD release of Avatar the Last Airbender contains the episodes relating mostly to Aang and the search for the Fire Lord.

Barney: Hi I’m Riff: Riff is the first new dinosaur introduced to the show in over a decade and now he is on DVD with this release. I personally think Barney is still at least a half way decent show for young kids, but the looks of this new dino is kind of more freaky looking than the others.

Doodlebops - Live in Concert: This DVD is of the Doodlebops in concert. It shows the Doodlebops performing 25 of their favorite songs as done in a live concert. Great for those that like the Doodlebops music parts of the show, especially if they cannot actually go to a Doodlebops concert in person.

Thomas & Friends: Mud Glorious Mud: Another Thomas & Friends DVD is being released today. This ever growing series keeps chugging along entertaining kids. This DVD contains three episodes including ones involving mud baths and avalanches.

Speed Racer the Next Generation - The Beginning: This DVD release is of the recent pilot “movie” for the new Speed Racer animated show on Nicktoons. Note that this is replaying this upcoming Friday afternoon (5/9), so hopefully this DVD has some cool special features or else it does not seem worth purchasing.

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Welcome to this week’s edition’s list of kid’s television shows that have new episodes airing this week. I try to make this as complete as possible, but I may sometimes miss something. Please comment and let me know if I forgot to include something that has a new episode airing this week. All times are listed as Eastern time as given by TV Guide, but may vary depending on your location, especially when the shows are on local stations like PBS.

Monday, May 5

10am on Nickelodeon - Wonder Pets!: This new episode is called “Save the Griffin/Save the Rooster.”

10:30am on PBS - WordWorld: This new episode is called “Playing Spies/Wee Little Whale.”

2pm on the Disney Channel - Emperor’s New School: This new episode is called “Guaka Rules.”

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Beyond Watching the Show, where I give some ideas of activities for kids that enjoy a particular show that go beyond just watching the show. If you have more ideas of activities for this show please comment and share your ideas. Also, please comment here if you have a request of a show to feature in an upcoming edition of Beyond Watching the Show.

This week’s show is Little Einsteins.

Little Einsteins Print and Color Pages: This part of the Playhouse Disney site has coloring pages to print and color of the Little Einsteins characters including the Rocket they travel around in.

Musical Instrument Crafts: These are not Little Einsteins themed, but being musical instruments they do fit in well with the main aspect of the show being music. This site includes crafts such as making a box guitar and paper plate maracas. Kids can decorate however they want and perhaps even use some Little Einstein graphics to make them actually Little Einsteins themed.

Little Einsteins Birthday: This guide to throwing a Little Einsteins birthday includes some related activities to play that very well could work any day with a group of Little Einsteins fans. This guide also includes instructions on making a Rocket ship cake, however, the lack of actual photos makes it seem like it would be hard to actually follow successfully.

Mission to Learn: This activity on Playhouse Disney’s website is a interesting way to learn about different things. You start by selecting a Little Einsteins episode. Then there are different objects to select and information is presented related to them including about the featured artists and composers for the episodes.

The Land Before Time: Adventuring in the Mysterious Beyond is one of three DVDs already out (another one is coming out in May 2008) with episodes of the Land Before Time television cartoon series. This cartoon series features kid dinosaurs of different species that are all friends. The show is based on the series of Land Before Time movies, which still has sequels being released almost every year with number 14 coming out later this year. This DVD contains four episodes of the show and has a run time of about an hour and a half.

The first episode is called “The Great Egg Adventure.” In this episode the group of friends team up with one of their enemies to get the sharp tooth eggs out of the Great Valley and keep their home a safe place. he second episode is called “Escape From the Mysterious Beyond.” In this episode two of the dinosaur friends including the friendly sharp tooth, Chomper, get stuck on a ledge with a mean sharp tooth who wants to eat them. The third episode is called “The Lonely Journey.” In this episode Chomper feels left out as his vegetarian friends prepare for the Thanksgiving like holiday and the adult plant eaters make general remarks against sharp tooths. The fourth episode is called “The Hermit of Black Rock.” In this episode the flying friend of the group, Petri, and a glider get lost and befriend a blind flying dinosaur and work together to get back to the Great Valley.

This show is a great entertaining show about dinosaurs that work together and display how the bonds of friendship should be. The shows are still played often on Cartoon Network, so it really is not a must get for the shows, however, I do recommend this DVD because it has some good special features. The main special feature is a pattern game that challenges kids to pick the next egg that goes in the pattern. It really does a great job of being challenging on the harder version and I bet even some adults will need to take some time to figure a few of the patterns out. Also, if you put the DVD in a DVD-ROM you can get access to coloring pages and connect-the-dot pages to print out.

Recently the show Mighty B premiered on Nickelodeon. I caught the first episode and after that I was totally turned off from watching it. Actually after the first few minutes of the annoying nagging of the main character, Bessie, I wanted to turn it off, but I stuck it out and gave the show a chance by watching the whole episode. And it did not get any better, although, at least there was less nagging towards the end.

In the first episode she is trying to get the Animal Appreciation Badge. First she needs to convince her mom to let her get a dog, so she can compete in the Honeybee Dog Show.. In this part she is extremely obnoxious and rattles off reasons in a fast obnoxious voice. Actually she is just plain obnoxious throughout the show, especially with her spitty sounding way of talking. Also, there is an obnoxious part where she spends like a minute saying stay over and over to the dog. The only thing I like about the first episode is her little brother, who obviously looks up to her and helps her out in training the dog and her getting the badge in the end.

The second part of the first episode is about her trying to become tall enough to ride a roller coaster. Again she is just an obnoxious kid and the plots just do not have any value to them besides annoying entertainment.

Basically in the end I think this new show is another obnoxious Nickelodeon pointless plot cartoons like Spongebob, which is another cartoon I think is totally stupid and does not even have entertainment value. Bottom line is the idea of the show had good potential about a girl getting badges and going for her goals, but in the end the annoying character of Bessie and the lack of any depth to the plots makes this an entirely pointless show that is not even mindless entertainment, but rather mindless boredom. If kids are going to be watching television, I feel the shows should at least have some minimal value of showing proper behavior, which this show does not do.

If you have not heard of The Land Before Time dinosaurs, then where have you been? Really, with them coming out with a new movie almost every year in the series it is hard to not notice this series. Plus, the movies are on television at least once a week between being shown on Cartoon Network, the Disney Channel, and Toon Disney. It does seem that when a movie series gets to sequel XIV (14 for those bad with Roman numerals), which comes out this year, that the series would be entirely dead and boring. That may be the case of the movies, but I cannot say for sure because I do not think I ever got past three or four. The characters have come to a fresh light, though, with the television series based on the movies.

The Land Before Time television series plays on Cartoon Network. It debuted last year on March 5, 2007. There has not been any new episodes since January 2008. I do not know if there will be a second season of the show, but the show does at least play repeat episodes every weekday at 10am Eastern time on Cartoon Network. Even if kids have not seen the movies this is a great show, although, it may be slightly more easily enjoyed if they are already familiar with the characters. This is a good show for preschoolers, but I think some grade school kids may also enjoy this show because of the dinosaur characters and the show is not made to be too kiddish. The best thing about the show is that through the plots it teaches about the bonds of friendship, working together, and other various lessons depending on the episode.

There are several different dinosaurs that hang out with the pack of kid dinosaur friends. The main ones are Littlefoot the Apatosaurus, Cera the Triceratops, Petrie the Pteranodon, and Chomper the Tyrannosaurus, who unlike the other sharptooths (carnivore dinosaurs) is friendly to his herbivore friends and is only shown eating insects.

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