Okay Nick Jr. Collection of Shows, But Not All That Spring Themed

This DVD contains a selection of Nick Jr. shows that are all at least slightly spring themed. It contains one episode of four different shows. Overall it is a great DVD for preschoolers that enjoy Nick Jr. shows. It, however, really only touches on the Easter aspect of spring, although it does not ever actually mention Easter. It disappointingly barely touches on the new life aspect of spring and even then does not touch on plants, such as flowers.

The first episode on this DVD is the “Egg Hunt” episode of Dora the Explorer. In this episode Dora and Boots the Monkey go searching for eggs. The main one they are looking for is the giant yellow egg, but the viewer is also encouraged to help them in finding the other eggs that have been hidden. This episode teaches the Spanish for egg. It is a fun Easter themed episode and does not overtly refer to Easter, although it is obviously an Easter Egg Hunt.

The second episode on this DVD is the “Max’s Chocolate Chicken” episode of Max & Ruby. In this episode Ruby tries to teach her brother Max to look for the eggs the Easter bunny has hidden in the yard. Max is more interested in playing in the puddle, though. The one that find the most eggs gets the chocolate chicken. When Ruby finds all the eggs and tries to claim the chicken she finds Max has taken it and eaten it. This is good episode for preschoolers that like Max & Ruby, but it is not all that interesting otherwise. I know some preschoolers like this show, but I have also noticed a lot find this boring, especially compared to the other Nick Jr. shows.

The third episode is “The Skating Lesson/Mr. Moth” episode of Little Bill. The first part of the episode is not exactly spring themed and is about Little Bill learning to skate. It is a well-done episode showing the frustration that often goes along with learning new things and wanting to give up, which Little Bill does at first. In the end, however, he learns that it is okay to fall down and to keep trying as he takes lessons from his older sister. The second part of the episode can be seen as spring themed as it is about butterflies and moths coming out of their cocoons. In the episode Little Bill is the only one in his class with a moth cocoon. In the beginning he does not like having a moth, but he learns that moths can be cool just like butterflies. Most of the episode is about his impatience waiting for the moth to emerge from its cocoon.

The final episode on this DVD is the “Our Neighborhood Festival” of Blue’s Clues. I guess this can be a spring theme kind of thing, but to me I always associate big neighborhood get togethers with summer even though I have lived in neighborhoods that have them once every season. Thus I just do not see this as being an exclusively spring episode and just another of Nickelodeon’s DVDs where they pretend to have a theme, but have poor follow through. Anyways this is a great episode of Blue’s Clues. It is obviously about a neighborhood festival. As Joe looks for Blue’s Clues about what Blue is looking forward to at the festival Joe participates in different games at the festival. One of the most interesting parts is the showing of the Librarian, who speaks only in sign language and Joe kind of translates. Blue’s Clues has always at least subtly used sign language, but this is the first time I had seen it so obviously incorporated in the show to the point even if you do not know sign language you actually know it is going on.

The special features on this DVD includes an episode of Rugrats, which is actually very spring themed with the babies enjoying the flowers that are blooming in the yard and being able to play outside again. There is also a spring things game, which asks questions related to the Nick Jr. episodes on this DVD. It is not all that great though because it just shows the questions and the three possible answers as pictures and does not even have an answer key. You would think that you would select the one you think is right, but all you can do is hit more to go to the next page of questions or go back to the menu.