a b Norris, Chris (9 February 2004). "Me and You and a Dog Named Blue". Spin . Retrieved 15 June 2021. Carlozo, Louis R. (22 August 2006). " 'Clues' turns 10; 'Arthur' enters new sphere". Chicago Tribune. According to Dhingra and her colleagues, the researchers represented the preschool viewer. After coming up with an idea for an episode, the writers met with Alice Wilder, head of the research department for Blue's Clues, to discuss their idea. The research department and writers then discussed if the topic and approach to the topic was appropriate for preschoolers, and if they accepted it, the content of the episode was further developed. They would often bring in outside consultants who were experts in the subject matter and the processes in teaching it to preschoolers. Wilder considered the researchers experts in how the concepts they wanted to present would translate to the medium of television rather than in a classroom or museum, but they considered preschoolers, who evaluated each script from their perspective, to be their " true experts". [93] The writer took the information they gathered from the research department, preschoolers, and experts and wrote a treatment, or detailed outline of the script, which included goals for the entire episode and for each game. [94] The writers, Wilder, and the research team had a treatment meeting, which Dhingra and her colleagues described as "an organized creative brainstorm", [95] which was rooted in the philosophy and mission of the show, the art of good storytelling, and the point of view of their viewers. The goal of the treatment meeting was to give the writers everything they needed to create a workable second draft of the episode script, and to ensure that it fit the needs of their viewers. [93] The 2002 studies demonstrated that experience with watching one TV series affects how children watch other programs, especially in the way they interact with them. [141] They also showed that since children are selective in the material they attend to and that their interaction increases with comprehension and mastery, children tend to pay more attention to novel information and interact more with material they have seen before and mastered. According to Crawley and her colleagues, Blue's Clues demonstrated that television could empower and influence children's long-term motivation for and a love of learning. As they stated, "One need only to watch children watch Blue’s Clues to realize that they respond to it with enormous enthusiasm". [146] Garcia, Cathy Rose A. (28 October 2013). "Meet the woman behind Blue's Clues, Cha-Ching". ABS-CBN Corporation. Quezon City, Philippines . Retrieved 6 June 2021.

The One Show: Kevin Duala". BBC. Archived from the original on 2018-04-26 . Retrieved 29 December 2021. The most important casting decision was that of the host, the only human character in the show. The host's role was to empower and challenge the show's young viewers, to help increase their self-esteem, and to strongly connect with them through the television screen. The producers originally wanted a female host. [47] After months of research and over 1,000 auditions, they hired actor/performer Steve Burns based on the strength of his audition. [47] [48] Burns received the strongest and most enthusiastic response in tests with the young audience. [49] Johnson said what made Burns a great children's TV host was that "he didn't want to be a children's host... He loved kids, but he didn't want to make a career out of it". [50] Burns decided to leave the show in the autumn of 2000, departing in January 2001. [51] He was in over 100 episodes of Blue's Clues when his final episodes aired in April 2002. [44] [52] Burns himself stated, "I knew I wasn't gonna be doing children's television all my life, mostly because I refused to lose my hair on a kid's TV show, and it was happenin' – fast." [53] Erin Ryan and her colleagues performed a 2009 study on the effect of the use of American Sign Language (ASL) in Blue's Clues episodes. They analyzed 16 episodes over two weeks for the content and frequency of the signs used and found a high incidence of ASL use by various characters, but that it was inconsistent, especially in the connection between English words and their corresponding signs. The purpose of signed communication and its connection with ASL and the Deaf community was also not clearly explained. The researchers speculated that hearing children with no previous ASL exposure would become familiar with ASL and with deaf people by these episodes, thus reducing the stigma attached to deafness and hard of hearing individuals. Based on other research about the positive effects of teaching ASL to hearing children, the researchers also speculated that it could lead to an increase of vocabulary skills and IQ, as well as improve interpersonal communication. They surmised that deaf children would feel more included and less isolated and have more opportunities to view positive models of ASL and deaf people. [153] [154]a b Dominguez, Noah (20 January 2021). "Blue's Clues Co-Creator Says She Has the Lost Pilot". CBR.com . Retrieved 4 June 2021. Troseth, Georgene L.; Megan M. Saylor. Allison H. Archer. (May/June 2006). "Young Children's Use of Video as a Source of Socially Relevant Information". Child Development 77 (3): 786–799. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00903.x

Lee, Felicia R. (22 April 2000). "A Children's Adventure in a Deaf World". The New York Times . Retrieved 29 December 2021.Research was part of the creative and decision-making process in the production of the show, and was integrated into all aspects and stages of the creative process. Blue's Clues was the first cutout animation series for preschoolers in the United States and resembles a storybook in its use of primary colors and its simple construction paper shapes of familiar objects with varied colors and textures. Its home-based setting is familiar to American children, but has a look unlike previous children's TV shows. a b Kiesewetter, John (29 April 2002). " 'Blue's Clues' puts on new host, new shirts". Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on 2013-01-02 . Retrieved 15 June 2021. Pedersen, Erik (26 August 2019). " 'Blue's Clues & You' Teaser & Premiere Date: Ex-Hosts Return For First Episode". Deadline. Archived from the original on 2019-08-27 . Retrieved 29 December 2021.

The thinking games presented in each episode used what Anderson called "a layered approach" [86] that took the varying capabilities of the audience into account. Santomero said that they used scaffolding and that layering was inherent in the script and design of each game. They purposely presented the problem presented in increasing levels of difficulty, to prevent children from feeling frustrated and to master concepts, experience success, and feel empowered to attempt to solve more challenging concepts presented to them. The producers' goal was that all viewers understood the problem, even if they did not know how to solve it. As a result, the child was temporary frustrated by not knowing the answer because after giving them time to come up with it, child voice-overs provided the answers for them, so that they learned the correct answers, even if they were unable to come up with them. [86] [69] If the child was able to come up with the answers, however, they felt "part of a larger, knowing, child audience" [86] when their answers were confirmed by the voice-overs. [86] The child voice-overs also helped viewers maintain high levels of attention during critical educational portions of the episode and modelled the audience involvement encouraged by the program. [34] [69] The audience was told how they could help problem-solve by the host explaining how, by the child voice-overs modeling verbal participation, and by giving them enough time to respond. According to Johnson, the slow pace of the program was challenging for television directors used to the fast pace of television production and for parents, who praised the pace but expressed concerns that their children would find it boring. [30] According to Tracy, Wilder, who had a doctorate in educational psychology, reinvented the role of research in children's television, and helped train the writers and animators to trust and use research. Wilder also developed the curriculum that guided the program's script development and implemented its formative research. [34] [35] a b Santomero, Angela (21 February 2018). "I Admired Mr. Rogers As a Mentor from Afar – Now I'm Walking in His Sneakers". USA Today . Retrieved 4 August 2021. Goodall, Gloria (29 September 2000). " 'Blue's Clues' Movie, a Video Treat". Christian Science Monitor . Retrieved 29 December 2021.

Tracy, Diane. (2002). Blue's Clues for Success: The 8 Secrets Behind a Phenomenal Business. New York: Kaplan Publishing. ISBN 0-7931-5376-X. Crawley, Alisha M.;Daniel R. Anderson; Angela Santomero; Alice Wilder; Marsha Williams; Marie K. Evans; Jennings Bryant (June 2002). "Do Children Learn How to Watch Television? The Impact of Extensive Experience With Blue's Clues on Preschool Children's Television Viewing Behavior". Journal of Communication 52 (2): 264–280. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2002.tb02544.x Heffernan, Jennifer (26 January 2007). "Calling Blue: And on That Farm He Had a Cellphone". The New York Times . Retrieved 5 June 2021. a b c d Mifflin, Lawrie (3 August 1997). "The Joy of Repetition, Repetition, Repetition". The New York Times . Retrieved 6 June 2021.