On Monday, January 24, at 11:00 a.m. (ET/PT), Nick Jr. will premiere a new educational and entertaining show for preschoolers, Bubble Guppies. The Bubble Guppies are a diverse group of colorful fish-tailed friends who take preschoolers along on their underwater adventures as they laugh, sing, play and learn about life and everything around them. The Bubble Guppies come from the same creative team who brought us The Backyardigans -- talk about setting the bar high! I'm going to hold off on a full and complete review of the show until more episodes are available, but in anticipation of the premiere, here are my thoughts on episode 1:
In the series premiere, "Call a Clambulance," little Avi takes a spill and breaks a bone in his tail. Preschoolers learn about doctors, hospitals, bodies and bones as the Bubble Guppies go to school and then to visit Avi in the hospital. I watched this episode with my three girls -- ages 8, 5, and almost 3. Now, the Bubble Guppies aren't mermaids, but they look like mermaids -- mermaids with adorably colorful hair and fishy tails, in fact -- so my girls were hooked on that from the start. Of course, my 8-year-old is not going to admit to loving a show for preschoolers, but it was obvious she thought it was cute. The other two are head over heels. In fact, the youngest asks to watch the episode daily now. She walks around singing the preschool pop-style song, "Got a Bunch of Bones Inside Me," and I love the way she calls the dogg, Bubble Puppy, "Gubble Buppie Puppy" when she gets talking too fast.
Unlike the Backyardigans, Bubble Guppies is a variety style show, meaning the show changes up the format throughout the episode. So, instead of having the singing and dancing integrated within the story, for example, the story is interrupted and the scene cuts to the Bubble Guppies doing their musical number, or going on an exploring adventure. The variety format hasn't particularly been my favorite in the past. Even those that are hugely popular, like Yo Gabba Gabba! have always bothered me a little because of all the jumping around from thing to thing. In the case of "Call a Clambulance," though, the transitions are fairly seamless, and each segment ties strongly to the story and theme of the show. The story, musical numbers, educational elements, and characters work together cohesively, and the end result is a swimmingly great time for young children.
As always, Nick Jr. gives us a wealth of online fun to go along with this great new show. Check out the Bubble Guppies website for videos, activities, printables and more.
(Photo courtesy of Nick Jr.)
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