Bob the Builder: Did We Watch It? Yes, We Did!

My sons and I were familiar with Bob the Builder. We had never watched any of the episodes, but we knew Bob. We knew his work and we respected him as one fine builder. When we received the Bob the Builder: Big Build Collection, I had mixed feelings. I try to choose shows that are going to teach something and, honestly, I didn’t know enough about Bob the Builder to know whether or not it would just be mindless entertainment (which, of course, has its place!). When he saw what was in the package, my 2-year-old son could hardly control his excitement. He is going through an all-things-construction phase and to have not one but three DVDs about talking construction friends, well that was almost too much! Our set contained three DVDs: When Bob Became a Builder, Scoop’s Favorite Adventures and Teamwork!

When Bob Became a Builder
Bob the Builder and his Can-Do Crew can build just about anything! Like any great builder, he had to start with a dream, the right tools, and the right team! Join Benny and Scrambler and be there are they learn about When Bob Became a Builder! See Bob’s first building job with his Dad and Robert and see when he became partners with Wendy! Travel back to Bob’s early years as he meets Scoop, Muck, Dizzy, Lofty, and Roley and watch as he starts a building yard of his own! From his very first brick to his latest plan, it’s the story of Bob from boy to builder! Running time is approximately 50 minutes.

Scoop’s Favorite Adventures
This DVD contains four episodes and a special feature: “Scoop Saves the Day” (The crew has to clean-up after a bad storm.), “Scoop’s In Charge” (Scoop is in charge while Bob is at an awards ceremony, but the responsibility goes to his head.), “Mr. Ellis’s Art Exhibition” (never seen before episode), “Scoop Has Some Fun” (Spud persuades Scoop to play tricks on the team that create more work for everybody.), and “Clean Up Fun with Bob” game. Running time is approximately 40 minutes (including special feature).

Teamwork
Bob the Builder gets the job done with help from the entire team, including Wendy, the machines, and even the pets! Although Scoop is so busy helping others that he misses the town’s snowman-building contest, the whole town teams up to make him a winner. Dizzy rounds up the crew to finish building Farmer Pickles’ barn, and Wendy gives Dizzy and Trix a hand with bricklaying. Even Pilchard proves to be a team player. Bob and his team work together to get the job done. Now that’s a constructive crew! Running time: 45 minutes.

“Teamwork” is, hands down, our favorite of these DVDs. We’ve watched it 10 or 12 or 50 times (or does it just seem that way?!). Your kids won’t learn the alphabet or how to count from these videos, but there are good messages of sharing, caring, and helping (in addition to lots of entertainment value). The day after we first watched the video, I walked by my son’s room as he and his 4-year-old brother were cleaning up and I heard “Can we do it? Yes, we can!” Nice.

A couple of things that this Mommy picked up on: (1) The action in these videos moves a little faster than I would like. The characters sometimes seem a little jerky. (2) The toy that came in the package (ours was Scoop) is plastic and is made in a country that has recently been in the news quite a bit for using dangerous ingredients in their products.

The bottom line is that, while I wouldn’t have thought to buy these videos myself, I’m glad we had the chance to review them and I’m sure that we’ll be viewing them for a long time to come.

Written by Christine, who is mom to two wild-and-crazy little guys and wife to one pretty spectacular dude. When she isn’t reading the same books over and over and over, playing cars, having a snack or blowing bubbles, she is trying to make her house and the products her family uses a little more people- and Earth-friendly.