children's video & dvd review

blue's clues: telling time with blue 

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Product Overview
Waiting for something special to happen at a specific time of day can be tough for young children, especially when time is still a very abstract concept. This new video from the exceptional Blue's Clues series doesn't teach kids all the ins and outs of telling time, but it does a great job of exploring the meaning behind time and waiting. This video challenges kids to think, problem-solve, and predict outcomes as they spend time with the playful pooch Blue, his animated friends, and live-action host Steve.

In the first of the video's two episodes, Blue has a surprise for Steve and little viewers. Sounds like lots of fun, but the surprise will only be ready at 2:00. Kids discover that the seconds hand on Steve's watch moves quickly enough, but the big hand certainly takes its time. And the hour hand? How will they ever survive the wait? With a game of Blue's Clues, of course!

Plenty of counting and lessons about time are in store as Steve and viewers hunt for the series' signature three clues. Perhaps as educationally valuable as these lessons is the video's exploration of what it means to be patient as kids wait. As viewers participate in the hunt for clues, they solve smaller problems, like helping Tickety the clock whose hands are stuck at 1:00. Mail time is a routine that comes up in every Blue's Clues episode, and it takes on a little more significance given the theme of the video. Mailbox says he'll be "just a minute", and Steve discovers how a minute can feel like forever when he just sits and waits for it to pass. When kids are challenged to solve puzzles in 15-second sets, time passes very quickly! Kids learn the meaning of the word "clockwise", count the seconds in a minute, and wait for Blue's surprise in real time. After gathering the three clues (orange juice, popsicle stick, and ice cube tray), Steve is off to the thinking chair to figure out Blue's surprise, just in the nick of time. Finally, the wait is over, and kids have made some very constructive use of their time.

The second episode takes kids on a hunt for clues to uncover what time of day it is for Blue. In the process, kids help a lion prince find animals in a jungle by listening to sound clues, extend patterns in Steve's closet, and help reconstruct Tickety Tock's clock face. A naptime story at the end of the episode provides a fun recap of the events.

With Telling Time with Blue, children learn some of the theory behind telling time, explore the value of patience, engage in guessing and counting games, and develop listening skills.

Dollar Value
The video retails for approximately $10 US.

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