Olive the Ostrich Review

Someone new has joined the gang at Nick Jr.  Someone tall, with a BIG imagination!  Olive the Ostrich!  Olive lives in the outback of Australia with her mum, dad and brother.  While they've got other interests, Olive likes to bury her head in the sand and have amazing adventures.

 The show is narrated by Rolf Harris (love), which gets big bonus points from me, not just for the sheer longevity of his career, but also because his ancestors came from Merthyr, where we live.  Maybe there's something in the air around here, it's all art & design-y types (Laura Ashley & Julien McDonald came from here too!)

Each show features props, sets & characters that were made by children in schools across the UK.  Seriously how cool is that?  I think it's a great way to encourage children to get involved with art & craft - if they see other children's creations on TV, then they don't believe everything they do has to be perfect to compare, which gives them more likelihood of sticking with it as they grow up.  (There's a reason why you'll never see me posting my drawings on this blog. Craft maybe, but art, never.)

Squeaky settled down with me to watch a couple of episodes of Olive The Ostrich, and she really seemed to enjoy it, talking to the screen and trying to touch Olive.  She's at a stage at the moment where she gets really into certain shows, and completely ignores others.  Olive looks to be a big hit, it's colourful, exciting, and short enough to retain her attention.

You can catch up with Olive every day on Nick Jr at 8.15am and 6.30pm.  And if you're still wondering what you're missing, here's a little taster...

You can find out more at Olive's own corner of the internet at http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/olive-the-ostrich/ where you can watch some more clips, and play with the online art studio. You'll do way better than me!

Disclosure: I was provided with a taster dvd and promo pack free of charge for the purpose of this review.  I was not told what to write, and all opinions are my own.  Links are provided for your convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

Update August 2013. Due to the arrest of Rolf Harris as part of Operation Yewtree, Olive The Ostrich was removed from the Nick Jr schedules for a period. New episodes are now being shown with Alexei Sayle as the narrator.