We are a family where nostalgia is integral to many of the things we do. We read our children stories from our youth. We take them on vacation to places we loved as children. We really go all in on showing them cartoons from our youth. You will often find our kids watching Danger Mouse, The Flumps or Big Comfy Couch alongside Gravity Falls and Hilda. My husband’s family has long held an affection for Blue’s Clues, caused by his sister’s obsession with it, but it has taken ten years of parenting for one of our kids to really get into the bright blue dog. Don’t get me wrong, they can all belt out “Mail Time” with the best of them. But not until our third child, did anyone take the show to heart.
This has turned out to be great timing for us. Blues Clues & You! premiered in 2019, with Steve and Joe’s cousin Josh replacing Joe on the show. The re-release of the show means that we have a plethora of books and toys to choose from for our daughter this year. She has a handy dandy notebook of course, but the big one, the ultimate prize for a young Blue’s Clues fan is of course, The Thinking Chair.
My Sister in Law had a Thinking Chair. It was a real chair that was reupholstered to look like the genuine article, and it was glorious. Our Thinking Chair is just as amazing, but is turbo charged. This is The 2020 Thinking Chair from LeapFrog.
While the Blue’s Clues & You! Play and Learn Thinking Chair has many bells and whistles to appeal to the young Blue’s Clues fan, it is the familiar style, and color that speaks to me. Holding true to the original, though in plastic rather than upholstery, this red and black chair with swirly patterns is a heart stealer. It comes with Blue, mailbox and handy dandy notebook attached (frustratingly the notebook is not removable) and has many features to explore.
When you sit down, a blue button is pushed that is partially hidden by the seat. You hear the melodic voice of Blue, and then Josh invites you to play. By pushing the buttons on the chair, and interacting with the notebook and mailbox you get to hear the clues, and work with Josh and Blue to solve the mystery. At mail time you will get mail from Blue and Magenta, you can even remove the mailbox, and use the slot as a cup holder, though only for a very small cup. While the handy dandy notebook contains six pages of learning games for you to work on, the chair plays music so that you can get up and dance. And dance we did.
The chair is small but the plastic is sturdy. It has storage under the seat for very small treasures, great for kids like mine who like to squirrel things away. Literally, I have found acorns in the strangest places. It is for ages two and up, my daughter is a small five year old and I wouldn’t want anyone bigger than her on there. Her brothers will be kept at bay. It’s easy to clean, comes with batteries, and is easy to put together. It’s one of those great big ticket items for a toddler at Christmas that you can go ahead and just wrap up in the box. Because putting it together on Christmas morning will take no time at all, but you can’t put a price on being able to wrap a square box as opposed to a chair shaped gift.
If your child is a fan of Blue and Josh, or if you are a fan of Blue and Steve, this gift will delight you all. It can be easily disassembled and reassembled if anyone is actually traveling on Christmas this year. If like us, you are staying home, it is going to be great to zoom the sounds of this chair to the grandparents! The Blue’s Clues & You!™ Play and Learn Thinking Chair is available this year exclusively at Walmart and retails at $49.99.
GeekMom received the Blue’s Clues & You!™ Play and Learn Thinking Chair for review but we come across our love for story and mystery naturally.
It has storage under the seat for very small treasures, great for kids like mine who like to squirrel things away. Literally, I have found acorns in the strangest places. It can be easily disassembled and reassembled if anyone is actually traveling on Christmas this year. it is the familiar style, and color that speaks to me. Holding true to the original, though in plastic rather than upholstery, this red and black chair with swirly patterns is a heart stealer.