Children’s television show Bluey has made quite an impact since its release in 2021, tackling difficult topics that most would avoid with youngsters. Bluey follows a young blue dog of the same name, her sister Bingo, parents Chilli and Bandit, and an assortment of characters including family, friends, and teachers. Each episode only has a runtime of seven minutes, but Bluey still manages to convey important life lessons each time.
Bluey has been praised by parents for its approach to explaining more serious topics to children, with many adults being able to relate and connect to it too. The show has covered everything from birth through death, and societal expectations such as parenthood and living with impairments. Even with the darker themes, Bluey always keeps it light for children, teaching them not to be scared when things get difficult.
10 Grandparents Slowing Down
Upon visiting their grandfather, Bluey and Bingo are disappointed their grandfather Mort can’t take them on his canoe as he’s just had heartworm and needs to rest. Regardless, the two end up taking Mort on an adventure, and he struggles to keep up with them. Chilli chases them across a multitude of locations, and when she eventually catches up with them, is relieved to see her father laughing and watching the children swimming.
Chilli begs her father to slow down, clearly concerned for his age and well-being. Embracing the scenery, two reminisce over her time with him as a child. This scene is a perfect representation for children that the ones they love do eventually grow older and slow down, but weren’t always that way, and are still young in their hearts.
9 Letting Go Of A Loved One
After a bedtime story about planets, Bingo attempts to be a big girl and sleep in her own bed. The episode entitled “Sleepytime” covers not just the topic of separation anxiety, but also knowing when it’s time to move on to the next step in life, whatever that may be. This is shown through the stuffed toy of Floppy, who upon their journey encounters an entire species of Floppies, and Bingo is devastated when Floppy decides to join the rest of them.
Bingo eventually comes to term with Floppy leaving, realizing it was her time to be a big girl, and when her mother checks on her the next morning she’s overjoyed to find Bingo asleep in her own bed. This episode teaches youngsters that it’s not only okay to feel nervous about making a big change but to trust yourself when feel like it’s time to try. “Sleepytime” is highly rated by parents for the topics it discusses, encouraging children that letting go of a comfort isn’t as scary as it may seem.
8 Infertility
When Aunt Brandy comes to visit, she brings onesies for Bingo and Bluey. After it’s revealed that it’s been four years since they last saw Brandy, she watches Bingo filled with emotion, and Chilli tells Bluey it’s because she wants something she can’t have. Brandy apologizes to Chilli for staying out of their lives for so long, but it’s clear seeing her sister as a happy mother is difficult for Brandy.
Although the episode “Onesies” is primarily focused on Bluey and Bingo’s adventure of the week, the details dotted throughout created an emotional response in a lot of watching parents. The topic of infertility is presented in such a way that young children can understand, and that even without children, someone can still be a part of a family. As the episode came towards the end, Brandy watches her nieces happily, once again showing the different variations of family.
7 The Struggles Of Parenting
Bluey plays Mum School, an imaginary game where she looks after five balloons, pretending to be their mother, and asks Chilli to score her. Chilli watches Bluey attempt to look after her balloons, frequently losing them as they float to the ceiling, avoiding anyone sitting on them and even trying to bathe them. Bluey starts to realize how much work is involved in looking after her five balloons.
At the end of the episode, one of the balloons floats out of the window and off across the sky, and Chilli tells Bluey that even though she lost the balloon, she hasn’t failed Mum School and that she can try again tomorrow. This is a statement on parenting as a whole: some days, you can only try to do your best, and if you can’t, you try again the next day. Even through the guise of Bluey’s game, it’s a great way of presenting the difficulties of being a parent to children, and how every day, parents are just trying their best.
6 Premature Birth
In the episode “Early Baby”, Bluey plays doctors with her friend Indy at playgroup, who uses the game to tell Bluey the story of her new baby sister. The young child clearly is aware of what may have happened to her sister when she was born, and is reflected into the game. The girls recreate an incubation crib and handwashing station, as well as mentions of reassurance to mothers for their bravery. “Early Baby” is a great example of how young children pick up on more than adults may realize. This episode struck a chord with a lot of watching parents, praising its ability to frame such a difficult topic.
5 The Concept Of The Afterlife
As Bandit and Chilli build a flatpack porch swing, Bluey and Bingo turn the boxes into a make-believe world. The two play a few different games, before constructing a city with the boxes, and Bluey tells Chilli she is now a grown up and ready to fly away in her spaceship. The games they play throughout, including appearances from dinosaurs and birds, are a representation of Darwin’s theory of evolution. As an aged Chilli with a cane waves Bluey away, she’s unsure what to do without her child. As Bingo continues to play, Bluey joins her parents on the swing, representing the entering of the afterlife.
4 Traumatic Childhood Memories
In “Space”, Bluey and her friends embark on an in-depth space adventure, leading to Mackenzie revealing a traumatic memory that is still sticking with him. Mackenzie remembers being left on a slide in a playground, panicking that his mother had left him on purpose. Stuck in a flashback of the event, Calypso reassures Mackenzie that this wasn’t the case, and wasn’t abandoned. Although hesitant, Mackenzie accepts this and is reassured by the sight of his mother, but this scene shows how easy it is for children to remember something as a molehill, but to them feels like a mountain.
3 Separated Families
In the episode “Curry Quest,” Bluey is disappointed to find out Bandit is leaving for a six-week work trip. Faced with knowing her father will be away from home for that long, Bluey is concerned for Bandit, seeing him as a hero going into battle, scared he may not return. Chilli reassures her that heroes go on quests because they are brave, and Bandit leaves but stays in contact with his family over video call before finally returning home. This isn’t the only episode that covers this topic, another notable one being “The Decider” which talks about divorce, further proving Bluey‘s ability to deal with sensitive topics in a way kids understand.
2 Invisible Illnesses
Invisible illnesses are covered multiple times in the show, including in the episode “Army,” which introduces Jack, who appears to be neurodivergent in some form, and also through Dougie, who is deaf. Both characters beautifully display invisible illnesses, and both display the challenges they face due to them. Dougie learns sign language in an attempt to communicate better, and Jack complains about his inability to sit still or focus, although the other children still embrace both of them with open arms. Bluey‘s presentation of this topic shows children that having a hidden disability doesn’t make someone different from others deep down, and that ultimately, they all have the same goal: to play together.
1 Dealing With Insecurity
It could be argued that the flashback episode “Baby Race” is aimed more towards parents than children, as it follows Chilli as a first-time mother to Bluey. While at a baby group with their neighbor, Chilli feels pressure over the other children hitting major milestones before Bluey. This is something a lot of parents can relate to, comparing children against one another. What the episode does teach is that everyone goes at their own pace, and that’s okay – which applies to both parents and children.
