If you've got young kids, there's a good chance you already know Bluey (if not you will do very soon!). But if you haven't met Bluey and her family yet, let me introduce you, because there's a reason this show has taken over so many homes, ours very much included!
Bluey is an Aussie show about a family of Blue Heeler dogs and their everyday lives together. It's such a sweet show with a beautifully soft, yet bright colour palette and the designer in me loves the gorgeous art style! Most of all, it is charming, real and deeply emotional in the most unexpected way for a kids show. The main family includes of course Bluey, her little sister Bingo (our toddler's favourite), and their parents Bandit (an archaeologist who hilariously digs up bones for a living) and Chilli (works at the airport). The whole world around them is made up of different dog breeds, which is part of the charm. Everyone is a dog, and somehow it works... The episodes are only about six or seven minutes long but somehow they fit a lot of story into every episode! This wonderful little show about cartoon dogs has become one of the best things on TV for families.
What makes it different
The show revolves around Bluey and her family turning everyday, mundane tasks into extraordinary games and imaginative role-play. Bluey and Bingo make something up, Bandit or Chilli gets dragged into it (sound familiar?). But alongside the games, Bluey is really about doing family life.
That’s what makes it so great for the family to watch. Your kids see the game and the fun. Parents see themselves and relate to the situations! My three-year-old is laughing at Bluey and Bingo jumping around the house, while I’m watching Bandit and Chilli trying to create these magical little moments for their kids.
A few episodes have definitely caught me off guard. 'Onesies' gets me every time. We loved 'Cricket' so much we watched it with Tim's parents one night after the kids had gone to bed, we laughed out loud, we cried and we loved it as if it was an episode of 'Modern Family'. 'Baby Race' is basically designed to make tired mums cry... But it never feels forced. It just manages to say something true about this stage of life, then moves on before you’ve had time to recover.
It has made us better at playing
One thing I really love about Bluey is that it gives you ideas for games! When you’re in the toddler years, your imagination can be running pretty low by 4pm. Bluey has reminded us how simple play can be. You don’t need fancy toys or a big setup. Sometimes it’s just Keepy Uppy with a balloon or lining up our dining chairs to for everyone to climb aboard 'the train'.
It’s also one of the few shows we all happily watch together. Our boy absolutely loves it. He reenacts scenes before the episode has even finished, and he won’t sit down to watch unless his Bluey and Bingo soft toys are beside him so they can “watch too.” If Bingo has gone missing under the couch, we all hear about it.
The baby mostly just stares at the screen like she’s found her people.
Bluey in our house...
Of course we've now got Bluey books, puzzles, board games and soft toys around the place, and Walter plays with all of them. The books have become part of bedtime, especially the ones based on episodes he already knows. He can “read” along because he remembers what happens, which is a lovely little way to make books feel exciting and familiar.
He also loves the Bluey Wooden Tumbling Tower. He’ll play the actual game with us, but the blocks also get used for all sorts of other things... houses, towers, trains, roads, or whatever he has decided they are that day!
The 24-piece Bluey floor puzzle has been another favourite. He does it over and over again, and somehow still looks just as proud every time he finishes it. He also loves reenacting the Bingo missing puzzle piece moment, which is very dramatic and very serious in our house.
And then there are the soft toys. Bluey, Bingo, Chilli and Bandit are basically part of the family now. Walter brings them over to watch the show with him, lines them up beside him on the couch, and takes them to bed at night. If one of them goes missing, we all know about it!
So yes, we’re a Bluey family!
Bluey is warm, funny, and heart-achingly honest about the joy of raising kids. It has made us giggle, made me cry more than once, and given us a whole bunch of little games, precious moments with our little ones and inside jokes that have become part of our family. As I mum I'm so grateful to have the magic of Bluey in our lives, so yes, we are absolutely a Bluey family!