Tot TV Watch

Dora the Explorer is one of the best preschool shows on television right now, although, I personally do favor the spin-off Go, Diego, Go! slightly more than this show. The thing Dora the Explorer does great is that it is an engaging show that gets kids to interact with it and often even get up and move while also teaching preschool concepts, such as counting and basic Spanish phrases.

The main characters of the show are a Latino girl named Dora and her monkey friend named Boots. Other major characters are the anthropomorphic Map and Backpack. In each episode Dora and Boots go on some sort of adventure that usually involves three Map directions to get to a specific place to accomplish the episodes mission. Along the way Dora encourages viewers to help them problem solve to get to have a successful adventure. At the end of the episode Dora always asks and appears to listen to viewers answer about what their favorite thing about the episode’s adventure was.

Overall this is an enjoyable show for preschoolers, although, it may be slightly more liked by girls with the main character being a girl, but with the adventure aspect it kind of becomes a show both genders can equally enjoy. It is not quite as educational as Go, Diego, Go!, however, in regards to the Spanish phrases taught it does more frequently introduce Spanish words and phrases. It also tends to teach a larger variety of concepts instead of being mostly limited to animal knowledge like Go, Diego, Go! is.

I really thought I had a review of Go, Diego, Go! on the blog already, but I just realized I actually do not. I just cannot believe it took me this long to realize considering this is one of the best kids shows currently on the air in my opinion.

Go, Diego, Go! is one part of the regular Nick Jr. line up and is a spin-off from Dora the Explorer, which I now notice also is in need of a review on the blog and that will be remedied soon. The main character of Go, Diego, Go! is of course Diego, who was introduced as Dora’s cousin in the Dora the Explorer series. Diego is an animal rescuer. He usually goes on adventures with Baby Jaguar as his companion/helper. His older sister, Alicia, also helps with the animal rescues, although, she tends to play a minor role.

Early in each episode Diego finds out that there is an animal in trouble and uses Click the camera to find where the animal in trouble is located. As he helps animals in trouble he teaches some Spanish phrases, although not as much as in the Dora the Explorer series. Also, he teaches viewers about the main animal being rescued. At the end of the show Diego and Alicia add a photo of the animal to their scrapbook and as they do that they ask questions about things learned in the episode.

Overall this is a fun adventurous show for preschool aged kids. It is great how it teaches them about animals and is also an interesting interactive show.

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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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 The Backyardigans.

Backyardigans Coloring Pages: This part of the Nick Jr. website has several coloring pages of the Backyardigan characters including Cowboy and Cowgirl character placemats that they can color and you can laminate for use. Here they have color by number coloring pages of the Backyardigan characters. Other coloring page packs include the Super Secret Spy coloring pages.

Backyardigan Puppets: This printable set of paper puppets is a fun craft to start with. Plus, it leads into letting the kids put on their own Backyardigan plays. They can act out their favorite Backyardigan episodes or better yet use their imaginations to create new adventures. This could be a fun on going craft making new outfits for the puppets and new backgrounds for different adventures. There is also a set of printable Backyardigan puppets already decorated to be knights here.

Backyardigans Song Sheets: These printable song sheets have the lyrics of some of the Backyardigan songs. They can be a good way of teaching kids to read by showing them lyrics to their favorite Backyardigans songs on the colorful templates. For those that fans that can already read they can be used to sing along with the show.

The Imagination Factory: This website has a lot of ideas for using your imagination (one of the key things the Backyardigans promote). Best of all is that the ideas that involve recycling.

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Little Bear Rainy Day Tales is a great DVD for this time of year and good entertainment for kids on a rainy day. Little Bear is an enjoyable show for preschoolers as just a playful show with Little Bear and his other animal friends. This DVD is a little confusing in that it is not just rainy day themed, but also has summer themed and party and picnic themed episodes. It at first seems that it is yet another Nick Jr. DVD that does not stick to its theme, however, it is actually that it is three different themed videos combined on one DVD and these secondly and tertiary themed episodes are kind of the bonus episodes. Both these themes are also good for this time of year with summer approaching and it being a good time of year for picnics.

The Rainy Day episodes are “Rain Dance Play,” “Hiccups,” “Mitzi’s Mess,” and “Puddle Jumper.” In the first one they put on a play to make it rain. The second episode is about playing indoors on a rainy day and Little Bear getting the hiccups while trying to be quiet. The third episode is another rainy day indoors, but this time they have to clean up Mitzi’s mess. The final episode is about Little Bear jumping puddles and Duck looking for the perfect puddle to sit in.

The Summer themed episodes are “Caterpillars,” “Follow the Leader,” “Little Bear’s Mermaid,” and “Hop Frog Pond.” The Parties and Picnics themed episodes are “Duck, Babysitter,” “Party at Owl’s House,” “Picinic on Pudding Hill,” and “Little Bear’s Sweet Tooth.”

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The Backyardigans is a fun Nick Jr. show for preschoolers to enjoy watching and singing along with. One of the best aspects of the show is that it is simple having only five main characters and very rarely introducing any other characters. Of course, the number one thing that makes this show great is how it shows the characters using their imaginations to have adventures in their connecting backyards. This can inspire kids to be more imaginative and encourage them to have their own imaginative adventures away from the television, especially with some direction from parents/caretakers.

The five main characters are Pablo the penguin, Tyrone the moose, Uniqua the pink polka dot character, Austin the kangaroo, and Tasha the hippo. In the show they have different adventures in their backyards, which are connected. As the adventures begin the backyard scenery transforms into the scenery they imagine for the episodes adventure. The episodes do not always include all the characters on the adventures, which makes it seem even more realistic because it is like playing with neighborhood kids and not everyone always being available to play at the same time. The episodes always end with it being snacktime and the characters being invited to one person’s house for snacks.

The Backyardigans currently has three seasons of episodes and a total of 58 episodes. The variety of adventures include snow adventures (like Pablo pretending to be a Yeti in “The Yeti”), being pirates (such as in “Pirate Treasure”), and being spies (such as in “International Super Spy). Each episode has a least one catchy song in it that is sung as part of the adventure. The episodes all also have a catchphrase that is repeated throughout the episode, such as “Ahoy, Mateys” in the “Sinbad Sails Alone” episode.

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Go Diego Go! - Moonlight Rescue is the latest DVD featuring the Nick Jr. Go, Diego, Go! show. It is also one worth buying if your kid(s) like the show because it contains one new episode never before shown on television. The episode is even a double length one, but I would not call I a movie like the sticker on the box claims.

This double length episode is called “Tuga Saves the Moon.” This episode is Diego telling a story about him and Tuga, a turtle, trying to find the pieces of Luna the moon, in order for her to return to the sky and guide the baby turtles to the ocean. This is a fun adventure with Diego and perhaps you can start your own Moonlight Storytelling tradition inspired by this episode.

The two regular length episodes on this DVD are called “Rainforest Rhapsody” and “Rhea is an Animal Rescuer.” The first is about Puma accidentally scaring away the animals who are to perform in a concert. Diego thus ends up on an adventure to find the animals and tell them that Puma did not mean to scare them, but just wanted to sing with them. The second is about a Rhea with low self-esteem because he cannot fly and Diego helping the Rhea discover he has other talents and that as a animal rescuer he can help Diego save some animals.

Overall I love this DVD release because it actually provides a great episode that you cannot just Tivo instead and thus is worth purchasing not just for on the go entertainment in portable DVD players, but also at home entertainment for those that like the show. I continue to be disappointed, though, with Nickelodeon’s lack of good special features on their DVDs. It is time they start using the capabilities of DVDs and offer more than just the same stuff you would get back when things were released on VHS. Sorry, but the song selection special feature does not add much although it may be fun for some kids you might as well just watch the episode again to hear the songs. Maybe, I am just too spoiled with watching VeggieTales DVDs (still debating with myself if they count as TV on DVD, there is a tv show, but the show is kind of DVD on TV) that have a lot of special features to entertain the kids (and adults!) beyond just the movie.

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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.

Usually if I do not get a request of what to do for the weekly Beyond Watching the Show topic, I pick randomly from a pile of slips of paper of shows I think would be good to share activities to do related to the show. Well, this week that was not how I decided. Instead I was inspired to choose Go, Diego, Go while at the Washington Nationals Opening Day game. I know it seems weird, but in between innings one of the things they do once a game is to have a player come on the big scoreboard saying a little about themselves. One of the questions they answer is what their favorite cartoon is. The player doing it during this game said his favorite was Go, Diego, Go! Thus I decided that just had to be the show for this week’s edition of Beyond the Show.

Go, Diego, Go! Coloring Pages: These coloring pages are great for kids to enjoy coloring. It includes coloring pages of Diego and other human characters, as well as some animal coloring pages.

Go, Diego Go! Printables: This is the Nick Jr. site for all the printable activities they have related to the show. It includes some more coloring pages, as well as things like song lyrics, a hippo mask, animal riddles, and a weather tracker.

Go, Diego, Go! Books: It looks like Nick Jr. has a decent selection of books based on the show. They could be great ways to get kids interested in learning to read if they like the show.

The Blue’s Clue show has many different DVD collections of episodes available these days. None of them are bad choices, as they all have several episodes of this interactive show that is always a fun clue finding hunt for preschoolers that like the show. It depends on the interests of those who are going to view the DVD, as to which DVD is their favorite. Below is a brief review of two of my favorite ones I have personally seen.

Blue’s Clues – About Jobs: This DVD contains four episodes of Blue’s Clues all interconnected with the theme of jobs. Two of the episodes feature Steve Burns as the host and the other two feature Joe (Donovan Patton) as the host. These episodes are a great way for kids to be exposed to a variety of occupations, as the household characters play pretend showing different occupations. The names of the episodes on this DVD are “Occupations,” “Blue Goes to the Doctor,” “Mechanics,” and “Playing Store.”

Blue’s Clues - Get to know Joe!: This DVD also contains four episodes of Blue’s Clues. The episodes start with just Steve and Joe being introduced as his brother near the end of the first episode. The next two episodes feature both of them as hosts with Steve leaving for college at the end of the third episode. The fourth episode is Joe for the first time hosting the show on his own. This last episode features the characters making a Big Book About Us and is a great inspiration for a craft for kids to make their own book about them or their family. This DVD also has a the 100th episode of Blue’s Clues, which features both Steve and Joe and is a look back at some of the more memorable moments on the show.

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 Blue’s Room. This show is a spin-off of Blue’s Clues and shows on Nickelodeon.

Blue’s Book Club: This Book Club listing of books is updated monthly on Nick Jr’s website. Each month there are five new recommended books. On the site there is a parent’s guide to doing the book club from a printable membership card for kids to a play date spinner for choosing which book to read to printable certificates for giving the kids for reading the books.

Blue Games: This part of the Nick Jr. website has several online games featuring Blue and other characters from the show, although it is more Blue’s Clues related, they still fit in pretty well with Blue’s Room as many of the characters are the same. This site also has several off line game ideas including outdoor, indoor, party, and car games.

Blue’s Banana Pops: This recipe is a fun healthy recipe for kids to help make. The recipe prints out on a page and is very colorful with images for the ingredients making it easier for kids with minimal reading skills to follow along.

Make Your Own Blue’s Room Calendar: This is a fun calendar for preschoolers to keep track of their activities and when their favorite shows are on television, such as Blue’s Room. There are printable calendar pages with a special Blue’s Room image. There are also printable date and event stickers that are Blue’s Room themed.

Dora the Explorer - Animal Adventures DVD contains four episodes of Dora the Explorer. This collection is themed on animal adventures Dora goes on. This makes it a good choice for preschoolers that do not just like the Dora the Explorer show, but also like animals. Of course, all episodes have animals in them. These episodes just have a little more focus on them.

The first episode is called “Save Diego.” In this episode Dora follows the Map’s directions in order to save Diego and Baby Jaguar goes along on the adventure. The second episode is called “Baby Jaguar’s Roar.” In this episode Dora and Diego go on an adventure with Baby Jaguar to find Baby Bear on the mountain. The third episode is called “Click” and in it Dora goes on a photo safari to find and photograph specific animals. The fourth episode is called “Hic-Boom-Ohh” and is about Dora and Boots trying to figure out what is making a strange noise.

The show is good and thus the DVD is good in that respect, but it is kind of disappointing that it does not have any good special features. The only special feature is a really short music video. This makes it not much better than just watching the show on television and nowadays a lot of people Tivo episodes, so a DVD really need something interesting added to make it worth purchasing besides being used as entertainment when on the go in a portable DVD player.

Activity Idea

Watch the Click! episode and then have the kids go on their own photo safari. Set up stuffed animals and/or pets around the house or yard and have the kids find them. Let them use a digital camera to photograph them or have them draw the animals as they find them. Hang their photos or drawing up and have a photo exhibit of their safari. Perhaps even award them a blue ribbon like Dora got in the show.

Ni Hao, Kai-lan is a relatively new Nick Jr. show for preschoolers (~ages 2 to 5). It was originally supposed to start back in October 2007, but it did not first air until earlier this month on February 7, 2008 (Chinese New Year’s). The main character in the show is Kai-lin, who is a 5 year-old Chinese-American girl. The show presents Chinese culture as well as incorporates some Chinese Mandarin words. The show encourages viewers to interact and help develop their problem solving skills by helping the characters find solutions to their dilemmas. This show builds on Nick Jr.’s other shows that show multicultural children (Dora the Explorer and Go, Deigo,Go) and presents it in a new context of Chinese American culture. This show focuses a lot on emotions such as understanding emotions and how to control your emotions. This emphasis is based on the Chinese cultural tradition that it is a good thing to be calm and content. The context of the show’s characters being preschoolers and the episodes events being relevant to preschoolers today makes it easy for preschool viewers to relate to the characters and learn about emotions and relevant social skills.

The Nick Jr. website for this show also has some great activities to do with your preschooler to have fun beyond watching this show, such as Paper Lantern templates and a Paper Dragon craft.

The show airs weekdays on Nickelodeon at 11am Pacific and Eastern time.

Episode List as of 2/15/08:

Episode 1: Dragonboat Festival
Episode 2: Twirly Whirly Flyers
Episode 3: Tolee’s Rhyme Time
Episode 4: The Ant Playground
Episode 5: Wait, Hoho, Wait!
Episode 6: Kai-lan’s Campout
Episode 7: Happy Chinese New Year!

Yo Gabba Gabba! hasn’t even started up yet and it is already invading my head. When I first heard of the show, I pretty much decided it wouldn’t be one that would be shown at my house. However, since Noggin and Nick Jr. started showing the video clips of “Party In My Tummy” I can’t seem to get the dang song out of my head. I may or may not have even been caught singing it to my son - out loud. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the video clip below and tell me that it doesn’t get stuck in your head.

Yo Gabba Gabba, Party In My Tummy, YouTube, Nick Jr., Noggin

This week on Nick Jr. you can catch watch all of Ming Ming’s Musical Misadventures. When Ming-Ming tries to branch out and be a solo rescuer, things don’t really go as planned. Fortunately, Linny and Tuck are never too far behind. Watch all of the Wonder Pets save the day this week. Episodes will air at 8:30 a.m. each day as follows:

• Monday, July 30 - Save the Ducklings/Save the Kittens
  It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Linny and Tuck coming to Ming-Ming’s rescue after she ventures out solo to help a baby squirrel. There is a kitten floating down a Venetian canal. It’s the Wonder Pets and a gondola to the rescue!
• Tuesday, July 31 - Save the Mouse/Save the Panda
  Trapped inside a toy saxophone is a baby mouse, so the Wonder Pets must perform an instrumental rescue mission. Then the team heads to China to save a baby panda who can’t get down from the top of a bamboo tree.
• Wednesday, August 1 - Save the Pigeon/Save the Dinosaur
  They want to be a part of it, New York. The team goes to the Big Apple to save a baby pigeon at the Statue of Liberty. Then they travel to prehistoric times to help a baby triceratops stuck between a rock and a hard place.
• Thursday, August 2 - Save the Crane/Save the Caterpillar
  The crew travels into a Japanese Sumi-e painting to save a baby crane from a hotheaded neighbor–an erupting volcano. Then they go to Greece to help a caterpillar that is transforming into a butterfly.

The Wonder Pets, Ming Ming, Linny, Tuck, Musical Misadventures