The Curious Buddies are part of Baby Nick Jr., which is of course part of Nickelodeon, the children’s television network. There is a series of videos with these cute little puppets that are geared toward infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. “Helping at Home” is one of the videos in the Curious Buddies series, and it continues the Curious Buddies’ tradition of teaching your child about life.
My daughter only had “Curious Buddies: Let’s Make Music” on DVD, and she apparently saw it in the store when we were walking through the DVD section. I was looking at a different children’s video when she said, “Buddy, buddy!” When I looked up, I saw that she was pointing at a DVD with the Curious Buddies on it. I was impressed since I had never heard her call them that before. I asked her, “Do you want Mommy to get this for you?” She promptly grabbed it out of my hands and shouted, “Buddy!” for everyone else in the department to hear. Of course, I had to buy it for her.
At the beginning of this video, just like “Let’s Make Music,” you are introduced to all of the main characters. The narrator says hello to each animal – a dog, a pig, a cat, a bear, and an elephant. Each animal then responds by making whatever sound each animal makes (e.g., the cat meows, the bear growls, etc.), except for the elephant which seems to be “voiced” by a harmonica. After the introduction, the rest of the video begins.
There is a song at the beginning called “I Can Help” which is all about the different tasks around the house that a child can help complete. The chorus goes, “I can help you, yes I can, yes I can, I know I can. I can help you, yes I can. Let me help you,” and is sung to the tune of “London Bridge is Falling Down.” The video sequence during the song shows children helping their parents with laundry, yard work, and other household chores.
This video also teaches your child about different objects and matching. In one segment, the Curious Buddies are cleaning up their toys. The narrator asks the audience (your child, for example) to help show each animal where to put his toy. Each toy goes in a box with the toy’s picture on it, as well as the same kind of toy in the box. In another segment, the Curious Buddies are getting ready to make fruit salad and each animal gets a different fruit. The narrator then asks the audience to help each animal find his fruit. You later see a video with children helping their parents make a fruit salad.
“Curious Buddies: Helping at Home” is a great way to encourage your toddler to help out around the house. The Buddies will make these chores look like great fun and you can make sure that they are.
The age listed on the “Curious Buddies: Helping at Home” video is 12-36 months, and is available for purchase at Wal-Mart, Amazon, and the Nick Jr. Shop.