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Easter Treats With Nick Jr

April 3, 2012 in Reviews | 1 comment

Last week I had my first ever genuine surprise parcel through the post, and it was such a lovely thing to receive.

This gorgeous box of Easte treats was from the very generous and lovely Nick Jr and contained a plethora of high quality chocolate and a very special Easter Egg in the form of an information pack about forthcoming special celebratory Nick Jr shows.

Not only was it a lovely parcel to receive but also it's come at a really good time. I'm at that stage with The Boy now where his taste in television programmes is changing. Gone is BabyTV and in has come Nick Jr alongside the stalwart of CBeebies. He has his preferred shows on the channel, mainly Peppa Pig, but also Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom and, of course, Team UmiZoomi: he's obsessed with it! However, the range of fun programmes on there is more than I had previously realised.

Over the Easter weekend, Team UmiZoomi will be showing The Umi City Egg Hunt. In the year since it launched it has over 4.4. million viewers and with it's mix of 2D and 3D animation, the math-powered superheroes are brilliant at helping live-action pre-schoolers solve everyday problems. In The Umi City Egg Hunt, the superheroes help their friend April to find the rainbow egg after it tumbles down a rabiit hole. We watched this together, and The Boy was captivated from start to finish emiting squeals of laughter and shrieks of 'there it is, there it is!'This special airs at 10.30am on Thursday 5th April and Sunday 8th April on Nick Jr.
The first lady of Nick Jr gets her own Easter special in the form of Dora's Easter Adventure. Dora and Boots await the Easter Bunny to bring his basket filled with eggs and treats for their big egg hunt, but just as he arrives the sneaky Swiper swoops in and does what he normally does! He throws it far away into the Rainbow Garden and it's their job to save the Easter treats from a watery end. Dora's Easter Adventure will be shown at 10am on Thursday 5th April and Sunday 8th April on Nick Jr.

Hope your little ones enjoy the Easter specials as much as mine did!

I was sent the above package as a surprise present from Nickleodeon. They haven't asked me to blog about it, but I've chosen to because I'm on the look out for Easter-themed programmes and thought you lot might be too!

Tags: Nick Jr, Nickleodeon, television

Square Eyes? Angry Eyes More Like! (Or Where CBeebies Get It Wrong)

February 28, 2012 in General | 24 comments

I don't tend to rant on my blog, possibly a little bit on twitter, definitely in real life. My blog, however, tends to stay nice and safe. Therefore, please excuse this mini-rant.

Last week, I was sent a press release from CBeebies about their new and upcoming programmes, and a few changes to the schedule. I've been meaning to blog it since I had it, but you know how it is, other things happen and suddenly it was the Monday morning when the 'Love to Learn' block started.

At 9 o'clock.

When Show Me, Show Me should have been on.

I'll just give you a moment to allow that to sink in shall I? ….

…

… sorted? Right, good. See in this household, and I'm pretty sure in hundreds of thousands of others nationwide, Show Me, Show Me is an institution and a matter of routine. CBeebies don't really demarcate the passing of time throughout the day, apart from luncthime and the bedtime hour, so Show Me, Show Me is one of those natural timings for the children. They know it's the start of the day proper.

That's aside from the wonderful educational content of the programme, the old-fashioned or traditional play style, the songs, the acting, the interaction from children, the slight innuendoes planted for parents. I have compared Show Me, Show Me in the past as being like Playschool but for our children's generation. And we all know how that ended when they stopped showing that.

Now, I know that CBeebies have merely reshuffled the schedule to accommodate this new learning block, and not taken Show Me, Show Me off the air for good, but that brings me to my next point.

My son is two years old and he won't start school until September 2013, therefore I do not want him to experience a 'lesson' until then. Even then he won't because of the introduction of the Foundation Phase, which promotes learning through play and experience. I've watched the new 'Love to Learn' block for two days in a row, and it doesn't sit comfortably with me; it feels like forced learning. Someone said to me (earlier on twitter), "Well, turn it off then!" but really that's not the point is it? Of course I can, but surely a television company don't want you to do that? They want you to stay tuned? Keep the schedule as it is, and I won't be.

I don't have a problem with any of the programmes: Numtums seems a little simplistic but that's just me; I'm not a personal fan of The Numberjacks but The Boy loves it; and you can't go wrong with Alphablocks or Abadas as far as I'm concerned. Each of these programmes is good, however combined together into a 35 minute block I think has been a wrong decision. I think they have more effect when they are interspersed with the other programmes; more of a drip-drip gentle learning than 'here are letters and numbers: learn them'.

And yes, I'm a teacher. And yes, my son knows his colours, shapes, recognises single digit numbers and can count to 39 (40 is 30-10 according to him). And yes, he typed his name on the laptop the other day. However, this has all happened through gradual play activities and learning through play. Not through 'here, you must learn' activities or television programmes.

Now, anyone who knows my blog will know that I adore CBeebies and feel that they never get it wrong.

However, CBeebies, you've got it wrong: put Show Me, Show Me back on at 9 o'clock and lose the 'Love to Learn' block please. It's not helping the channel or our children's education.

Tags: CBeebies, learning, television

Competition: 'Everything's Rosie: The Greatest Show In The Garden' DVD

February 6, 2012 in Competitions | 58 comments

I recently reviewed the Everything's Rosie: The Greatest Show In The Garden DVD and promised you a competition. Well here it is.

If you'd like to win one of two copies of this fabulous, first-ever Rosie DVD, then please fill in the Rafflecopter form below:

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: CBeebies, competition, Everything's Rosie, television

Rosie-Tinted Glasses

February 3, 2012 in Reviews | 3 comments

Five years ago I could often be heard in the shower singing the latest Keane or Kaiser Chiefs song.

Today?

Today I sang about "Raggles and Blue Bird, Big Bear and O-o-o-ak-l-e-e-y!" The last time this happened, the theme tune was in my head for weeks. I'd be driving home from work singing it! It's just one of those tunes that gets into your head and happily stays there.

And I am happy for it to stay there because it's such a lovely programme. Everything about the programme, including Rosie, is friendly, happy and attractive.

My personal favourites are Raggles and Oakley, The Boy is very fond of Big Bear and Blue Bird, and of course we both adore Rosie! I hate it when CBeebies move the programming around because it's one of those shows that we prefer not to miss, the morals and stories told in it are excellent resources to help The Boy understand how to be kind to his friends.

On 6th February, will be the first Everything's Rosie DVD release date, and we've been very lucky to have previewed the disc. Everything's Rosie: ‘The Greatest Show In The Garden And Other Stories’ has over two hours of fun, and features thirteen episodes from the show, including:

Raggles and the Reporter
The Mystery of the Four Feathers
How to Teach a Bear to Meet the Queen
Little Bear
How Rosie Mislaid Her Raggles

and many more!

Over the past four days, there has been much television watching in this house thanks to the lovely bug we've all had. Everything's Rosie: The Greatest Show in the Garden has been a saving grace and a welcome distraction from a certain Mr. Fletcher in his various guises. A really lovely DVD for all pre-schoolers, it is available for pre-order through Amazon here (released 6th February 2012).

Keep your eyes peeled though over the next few days as I will have a competition for two of you to win a copy of this DVD!

I was sent a check-disc of the series for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Tags: CBeebies, Everything's Rosie, television

Competition: Merlin DVD

November 27, 2011 in Competitions | 17 comments

Saturday nights in this household have been in need of a little magic recently. Gary is losing his sparkly appeal as he continues to make smide comments, Russell will no longer be shaking his glitter presence in the magic box in the corner and our only saving grace is the mysticism of the relationship between Arthur and Merlin.

Merlin has to be one of the best programmes to have been produced by the BBC in a good few years; a good quality family drama series perfect for a Saturday evening. Humorous, good acting, an underlying plot line punctuated by the ludicrous antics of the hapless Merlin and clean storylines with some old-fashioned swashbucking action!

This new series (series 4) is coming up to the halfway mark and I have been sent the latest DVD to review ahead of its release date on Monday 28th November.

With the bi-line: The darkest hour is just before the dawn the series promises more progress on the revelation of Merlin's magical ability, but will Arthur understand and tolerate it?

This DVD is really good; it uses CGI to whizz the viewer around the palace at Camelot when navigating the menu system to the individual episodes or the Bonus Features. Bonus Features include deleted scenes, out-takes and storyboards and really add to the DVD.

Volume 1 of series 4 DVD is released on Monday 28th November 2011, and voume 2 (and the complete series) will be out on 23rd January 2012.

However, three of you lucky people can receive one of these DVDs by entering this competition using the form below. These would make perfect Christmas presents, so get entering!

I was sent a check disc for this DVD for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Tags: competitions, DVD, Merlin, television

Competition: The Strawberry Shortcake Movie

November 25, 2011 in Competitions | 29 comments

Remember this little lady?

When I was in primary school I craved anything Strawberry Shortcake, but as the youngest of four money was not available for frivolities like that and so I would take comfort in playing with my friends' dolls etc.

About twelve years ago I went to play with my three year old niece and I found my longed-for friend but in a different guise: she'd been revamped! My niece had a Strawberry Shortcake doll which was 'infused' with the aroma of strawberries. As a 20 something it's not the done thing to covet the toys of a child, but I did.

And now they've done it again: Strawberry Shortcake has had a makeover for the 21st century, really bringing her up to date and something that little girls nowadays can enjoy.

In The Strawberry Shortcake Movie: Sky’s The Limit, Strawberry is working on a new smoothie recipe for her café when a big storm hits Berry Bitty City and puts the water supply in jeopardy. It’s up to the girls to find a way to get the water they need to save Berry Bitty City. The girls learn a meaningful lesson about teamwork and how it’s okay to make mistakes. When you have good friends and work together, berry magical things can happen!

At just under 70 minutes long, The Strawberry Shortcake Movie: Sky’s The Limit is a great movie for all little girls who enjoy the world of the little pink-haired lady! (RRP £7.99 and released by Abbey Home Media)

However, I have five copies of this to give away, thanks to Abbey Home Media. If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning one, then please fill in the Rafflecopter form below (never done this before, so you are my test subjects!).

We were sent a copy of the DVD for the purpose of this review. Our opinions are honest and unbiased.

Tags: competition, television

Sunday 6th November 2011 – 'ShowMe ShowMe' (309/365)

November 6, 2011 in 365 | 3 comments

Tags: 365, television, The Boy, theatre

Wednesday 21st September 2011 – 'Hewwo Justin' (263/365)

September 21, 2011 in 365 | 1 comment

Tags: 365, television, The Boy

Olive the Ostrich

September 14, 2011 in Reviews | 4 comments

It's been well documented on this blog that I'm a children's television snob. I like The Boy to watch quality children's programmes which isn't heavy on the cutesy factor or indoctrinates my child into the materialistic way of life. I like him to learn something if possible. I like British accents ideally.

There's a new programme on Nick Jnr that fits the bill (see what I did there?).

Olive the Ostrich is a brand-new animated show with a difference. The animations aren't brash, aren't harsh, aren't cutesy. The backgrounds are created by children aged 6-9 years of age, who were selected from schools across the UK and took part in workshops to inspire creativity and story-telling skills. The pupils learnt about the film-making process and created artwork which was brought to life by the show's animators.

What a fabulous opportunity for those children, which is one of the reasons why I love this programme. It might have opened up an opportunity that those children might not normally have encountered.

Ok, so teacher hat off.

Olive the Ostrich is narrated by one of the UK's best loved voices. Adopted unofficially by the nation a few decades ago, Rolf Harris has one of the most captivating voices to listen to while enjoying the huge imagination of the doe-eyed big-bird. Once Olive buries her head in the sand, her imagination takes over and she goes on fantastical adventures, popping up somewhere new in every episode.

Olive ensures everyone she meets is endeared to her by her friendly and enthusiastic personality, and loves to solve problems wherever she goes.

The Boy is very keen on her, and learnt her name extremely quickly. I find her northern accent quite amusing in contrast to Rolf's Aussie tones. This programme is a must to develop imagination and fantasy; pure, new-fashioned fun!

Olive the Ostrich is on Nick Jnr (Sky 615, Virgin 715 & Talk Talk 318) daily at 8.15am.

We were provided with a review disc of two episodes for the purpose of this review. Our opinions are, as always, honest and unbiased.

Tags: television

A Special Birthday Delivery

September 5, 2011 in Reviews | 2 comments

Can you believe that Postman Pat has been going 30 years? I know, me neither! Although, I used to watch it as a child, and seeing as though I'm 34 now, it shouldn't come as a surprise. However, it is true: Postman Pat, celebrates 30 years of delivery adventure this September. As the longest running animated TV series on the BBC, Postman Pat has captivated audiences for three decades and will be celebrating his birthday in style this autumn with a very 'special delivery'.

I don't know what it is about Pat that draws people in, and I say people because it's not just little ones that like him, parents enjoy watching his stories too. Well, we certainly do. However, we never seem to catch him at the right time of day, therefore when we were sent an advance copy of the limited edition ‘Happy Birthday Pat’ DVD to review, I was over the moon.

This special DVD will be available from 12^thSeptember from all retailers, and includes eight special episodes with more than three hours of fun.

"Everyone in Greendale is helping to arrange a surprise party for a special someone’s birthday… Postman Pat! The preparations are underway with kids, adults and even Ted’s machines helping out. But all the while Pat thinks friends and family have forgotten his special day. Will everything go to plan and be ready in time for the big surprise?"

There's also a free limited edition party CD with 15 tracks to sing along to; we've been listening to it while doing craft activities and The Boy has started dancing to it.

I really would recommend buying this DVD as it is excellent value and is traditional Postman Pat at his very best!

For more frivolity visit www.postmanpat.com

We were provided with this DVD for the purpose of this review. Our honest opinions of him are based on thirty years watching (although clearly not continuosly) and our enjoyment.