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Several weeks ago, I did a review on children’s TV, and in particular Mr Tumble, you know, the loveable Justin Fletcher and Mr Tumble his alter ego that incorporates Makaton into his show.
Well I couldn’t speak highly enough about it, very educational, very appealing, and very easy to watch, me and the kids were pretty much hooked.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and my kids have been introduced to a new character, one based online, with MILLIONS of hits on Youtube – Blippi. Some of you may know him as the squeaky voiced dancing fellow clad in orange and blue with the catchy theme tune – and my goodness, a revolution!
My kids had been spending some time with relatives who had came up from Dublin, and their little boy had been watching him for quite some time, my kids were introduced and they were immediately hooked. This was a curveball for me, because later that evening, when I asked the kids what they wanted to watch on tv, they kept saying Blippi and I hadn’t a notion what this was – tears soon followed, daddy was the bad guy, mummy comes in and saves the day.
If you haven’t seen this, the premise is pretty much educational. Blippi interacts with things such as police cars, buses, farm machinery, animals and play areas and so on. He teaches children about colours and sounds and shapes and different parts of the engine and vehicles and so on. But this is done with silly dancing, big smiles and lots of enthusiasm, and when I mean lots, I mean LOTS! But that isn’t a bad thing!
The first ever episode I watched was what is known to my kids as Blippi Bus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eINQdeux2yg) and it is straight forward and pretty much self explanatory! But even as a 30 year old, I myself wanted to see more episodes, and I am now a fan.
Its daft, light hearted, inviting, colourful, it hits all the senses, but guess what….it works! Practically! My son knows where the engine is in our car, he knows what certain types of farm machines are. It brings it up a level from Mr Tumble.
And because its on Youtube, its always there, not like On Demand services where its on for 30 days then gone. You can take it anywhere you want….even to the relatives that don’t believe in having cartoon channels on Sky!
Its not surprising to see why Blippi has become such a popular brand, and why he has so many hits on Youtube (im sure my kids contributed at least 1 million) what this guy has done is to find a market and go wayyy over the top with it, and it works. If I were to remake one of his videos and people had never seen Blippi, people would think I was stupid and cheesy, but this sells!
I really can’t recommend him highly enough for your kids to watch, its wholesome educational TV and your children will very quickly learn new things! Even as a parent you find yourself singing along to all the songs!
So much to learn about, it’ll make you want to shout BLIPPI!