Dora’s Enchanted Forest Adventures

Everyone has a favourite kids show and some stick in your mind for life. For me it was Choc-a-block and Finger Mouse, but for kids these days it is likely to be Dora the Explorer. I remember watching when B was about 3 years old and now it’s come round again as H is starting to interact with the show, so I was so excited when I heard about what Nick Jr have in store for Dora fans this month!

Dora’s Enchanted Forest Adventures is a three part special which sees Dora travelling to a magical world ruled by a unicorn king. All is not well in the kingdom though, so Dora and her friends have to be brave, kind, smart and strong to restore peace in the kingdom. With Elves, Fairies and Unicorns it is set to be a magical adventure for all!

I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the DVD and I have to say it is fantastic. The first two episodes are the usual half hour, with an hour long finale. This is great because H won’t sit through a film yet, but she can watch each episode independently without me feeling mean turning it off when she gets bored!

Dora really is one of those feel good adventure kids shows that is educational too. I’m not sure if we went to Spain H would need to shout that she has seen a “Unicornio” but she’s actually picked up some of the punctuation really well!!

In true Nick Jr fashion, if you miss it the first time you can catch it again, but the three part special premiers on Tuesday 8th November at 4.30pm, followed by part two on Wednesday 9th at 4.30pm and concluding with the hour special on Thursday 10th November, again at 4:30pm. Not only is it guaranteed to catch your kids imagination but it will keep them out of trouble while tea is being cooked!! Each episode is repeated at 6:30pm too, so if 4:30pm doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t matter!

The full trilogy is being shown back to back on 7 other dates in November, including every Sunday, times vary but Nick Jr have done a great job at covering all time slots, your guaranteed to catch it at some point!

Olive the Ostrich

Kids TV is great isn’t it? Ok, maybe some of it is and some of it can drive parents mad. Every once in a while a new show pops up and as a parent I think, yes, that’s a good one.

Nick Jr have just launched one of those kids programmes  and if you haven’t yet seen it look out for Olive the Ostrich.

Olive is an ostrich with a huge heart and a big imagination. When she buries her head in the sand she goes on fantastical adventures, popping up somewhere new in every episode. She is friendly, enthusiastic and loves to solve problems wherever she goes.

Narrated by Rolf Harris, each episode of Olive the Ostrich features characters, props and backgrounds created by children aged 6 to 9 years. Selected schools from across the UK hosted workshops to inspire creativity and develop storytelling skills. Pupils learnt about the film making process and created artwork which was used in the finished episodes, after being brought to life by the show’s animators.

Olive the Ostrich is created in partnership with The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts.

I was asked to review the program with H so this evening we sat after dinner and watched 2 episodes. H thought it was great, she commented on how colourful and happy it was. She then spent 10 minutes singing the theme tune!  Now in my eyes, that means she enjoyed it!! Even B watched it with us and she was engrossed, considering she is 8 that just shows how versatile this program is.

As for me, well I found myself chuckling along. Rolf Harris narrates wonderfully clearly, and hearing him reminded me of my own childhood. The episodes we watched saw Olive travel to a theatre to see William Shakesbear and to a cowboy ranch where she met a goat called Billy the Kid, oh and not to mention at one point we saw Olive crowd surfing!

Olive the Ostrich can also be found on the Nick Jr website where you can find colouring activities and clips to watch so why not check it out here.

Each episode is just 5 minutes long, which is ideal for little minds as it’s not to long that they lose interest half way through. At 8:15am and 6:30pm you can find Olive the Ostrich on Nick Jr, so let your little ones check it out. I’ve not got Nick Jr until my Sky gets installed in a fortnight, but I have already promised H that she can watch it once we have the channel!!