The popular Nickelodeon Jr. show for the 2-4 age group does an excellent job of introducing simple vocabulary and numerical concepts in these two episodes. In the first, Steve and his dog Blue's house is labeled to discover what book Blue wants to have read to her. The labels (everything from "refrigerator" to "wall") are treated lightly, Steve mostly asking the audience to name the first letter of each word. Steve and Blue also work on constructing a simple sentence. In the second episode, Blue wants to buy something. Simple counting games and a shopping trip to The Present Store make for a solid exploration of numbers. Addition, subtraction, and even fractions are on the menu. --Doug Thomas
