You Won't See These on Nick Jr.!

Ok, I'll admit it, I have this obsession with Courtney's books and videos. I can't stop buying them or suggesting them as gifts for her when people ask for ideas for her birthday or Christmas. I think I've been able to justify this obsession too.....books and videos (or DVDs) will grow with her for a lot longer than most of her toys. While Easter shopping for her, I ran across Blue's Clues - Classic Clues and had to get it for her because this was literally the only Blue's Clues tape that she doesn't have and I had to keep her collection up to date!

All About Blue's Clues - Classic Clues

This epinion is going to be on the VHS tape and not the DVD, although I will give details about the DVD at the end so that you can decide which one you might want to buy. I normally buy DVDs for my daughter but in this case I chose the VHS tape because the 2 bonus episodes on the DVD were ones I had already taped off tv and so I knew that Courtney has already seen them many many times.

The VHS copy of Classic Clues is a 49 minute tape that was released on January 27th of this year and it's considered "classic" because it has 2 never before seen episodes starring Steve instead of Joe. The episodes are Blue's School and Something To Do Blue. I will describe each one below:

Blue's School

Steve, Blue, Tickety and Periwinkle are playing school and Blue is the teacher. Steve even has a school bus made from cardboard that he picks Tickety up with on the way to school. At school they first discuss the weather outside and then they decide to play Blue's Clues to see where Blue wants to go on the school bus (kind of like a field trip). Next it's story time and they read "I'm a Yellow School Bus" and right after story time we find our first clue, which is a circle. Art time is next and they all paint pictures of themselves but unfortunately, they don't have all the color paints they need. Steve has the idea to mix the paints together to make new colors. They make green paint by mixing together yellow and blue, and they make pink paint by mixing together red and white. Next comes snack time and Mr. Salt made a special snack of school buses made from swiss cheese and crackers. Our 2nd clue is cheese, which we find in the kitchen. After snack time, it's mail time and Mailbox brings us a letter from a little girl who shows us around her school. Our last activity of the day is ABC time and Blue pulls a letter out of a bag and they look around the room and try to find an object beginning with that letter. One of the objects is guitar for the letter G. We finally find the last clue and it turns out to be tomato sauce. Hmmm.....a circle, cheese, and tomato sauce......where does Blue want to go on the school bus??

Something To Do Blue

Steve and Blue are bored and are looking for something to do. Steve offers to play the guitar and sing some song but Blue doesn't want to. Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper tell them about a game they play when they're bored. It's called "Something to do stew!". What you have to do is to find 3 things, mix them together to come up with a new game. Steve picks paint, sponge and paper and comes up with sponge painting! Blue decides she wants to play Blue's Clues but for the first time there is a twist. This time, even Blue isn't going to know the outcome. She is just going to put her paw prints on 3 random objects and at the end we'll all figure out what new game she could play with those 3 objects. They practice making something new out of socks and the handy dandy notebook just to get the hang of everything. Steve finds the first clue when he's done with the socks and the notebook and it turns out to be books. They run into Periwinkle next and he's got a new magic trick. He's using 2 different size squares and a marker to make different pictures. Periwinkle ends up making a truck, a kite, and a robot, all with just 2 squares and some drawing with the marker! The 2nd clue is found right after doing this and it's a lunch box. Next comes mail time and Mailbox brings us a letter about a couple of children making people out of stick on googly eyes. After mail time, Steve and Blue skidoo into a diorama of a place where everyone is sad. Hum and Drum don't know what to play with even though they have a hoola hoop and a ball. Steve helps them to see that they could play basketball and make the planet Saturn out of the hoola hoop and ball. Blue and Steve also help another little boy and girl find new uses for a table and a blanket. Steve find the last clue when they skidoo back home and it's a chalkboard. Blue does the thinking this time in the Thinking Chair. What new game does she come up with with books, a lunch box and a chalkboard??

Why I Recommend Blue's Clues - Classic Clues

What first drew me to Classic Clues was the fact that these episodes have never been aired on tv and may never be, so I knew Courtney may never get to see these episodes unless I bought her the tape. Another thing that drew me to Classic Clues was the fact that these are Steve episodes. Don't get me wrong, we enjoy Joe very much but we all, including my husband, prefer Steve and it was great to be able to buy a tape with episodes we had never seen before.

As with all Blue's Clues episodes, these 2 are very educational. In Blue's School, they teach beginning reading and comprehension, preschool rituals, and color-mixing skills. The preschool rituals was something I've been wanting to expose Courtney to because she will be going next year. I actually could send her this year because she will be 3 in September but all the preschools around here require that your child be potty trained and Courtney is no where near potty trained yet. I even so much as place her bare little bottom on the potty chair and she absolutely freaks out, so the possibility of preschool this fall is probably slim. Not that I care because I would rather have her home with me for another year and I've already taught her more than what she'll learn in preschool for both years combined and believe me, I'm not just saying that. So, for the next year, as Courtney watches Classic Clues now and then, she'll start to get an understanding of what preschool is all about and what to expect when she goes next fall.

The episode Something To Do Blue promotes creative problem solving, construction & combination, and imagination. I really liked the idea that Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper come up with to solve a boring day. This is something that Courtney and I will be able to do on those days when I'm told "Mommy, there's nothing to do!". You parents know exactly what I'm talking about too! This is something I never would have thought of doing and it sounds fun and it should really get Courtney's imagination going strong!

For those of you who have the Blue's Clues Boogie CD you will recognize the song Something To Do Stew from this episode.

There is one con that I have and it isn't with the episodes but with the tape itself. I think the episodes should have been shown the other way around. If you knew the ending to Something To Do Blue, then you would see why I think they should have played that episode first with Blue's School coming on after that. It really makes the continuity of the whole tape feel off because the 2 episodes really do go together but not in the order Nickelodeon shows them. I can't explain it any better than that without giving away the ending to Something To Do Blue so I hope you understand some of what I'm saying.

All in all, Classic Clues is an awesome tape that really does belong in your child's Blue's Clues collection because these are the only 2 episodes that you won't be able to tape off of television, which is something I've been doing with episodes that aren't offered on DVD or VHS.

The DVD

Like I mentioned above, I opted not to buy the DVD because the 2 bonus episodes are ones that I've already taped off tv and Courtney has seen them a dozen times already. However, if you want to buy the DVD instead of the VHS tape you will find that it comes with "Puppets" and "Rhyme Time" as the 2 bonus episodes and it also has a game called "Blue's Poetry Class Game".

Related Websites

Blue's Clues on Nick Jr. :

http://www.nickjr.com/grownups/home/shows/blue/

Clue Into Safety :

http://www.clueintosafety.com/cis/www/asp/neighborhood.asp

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Blue's Clues Boogie
Telling Time With Blue
Magenta's Visit
Blue's Best Rainy Day
Blue's Clues Racing Collectible Playset
Blue's Clues Safari Collectible Playset
Blue's Clues Underwater Collectible Playset
Blue's Clues Solar System Skidoo 'n' Learn
Blue's Clues Schoolhouse
Blue's Buddies Sportstime 3-Figure Set