Keeping preschoolers entertained and mentally stimulated is no easy task and Steve Burns should know. The grown up, live host of Nickelodeon's animated show Blue's Clues keeps over 10 million 2 - 5 year olds around the world captivated each week. We caught up with Steve during his recent visit to Australia and he clued us in on the secrets of the show's extraordinary success.

Nothing less than a preschool phenomenon, Blue's Clues consistently wins its 12.30pm time slot amongst all Pay TV viewers Australia wide and is the most watched kid's program in the US. It also won the US Television Critic's Award for Outstanding Children's Show in 1998 and 1999. Set in a vibrantly animated storybook world, the show revolves around only three central characters, energetic live action host Steve, his animated dog Blue and the home viewer. Steve conveys a child's sense of curiosity and wonder as he helps to solve the puzzles in each episode - turning learning into an adventure. His character's ability to engage kids and draw them into the action is an important part of that process and the young actor appears to have a rare talent for it - he could even teach some parents a thing or two as Steve explains, it's very simple. "All I try to do is not condescend to them. I try to treat them with respect and communicate at their level of understanding and not above. If you're sincere and direct it's very empowering, compelling and engaging to them." He's quick to point out that there are many other factors which put the show in a league of its own.. "The cool thing about it is that's it's extremely interactive. There's a conceit that the home viewer can hear me and I can hear them - the home viewer is the star." The interactivity undoubtedly gives kids a voice. Steve asks kids for their opinion and help and they feel they have a stake in the outcome of the story - something which can be a unique experience for preschoolers. "It's the Rocky Horror Children's Show!," he smiles.

While empowering kids is a major part of the show's continuing success, Blue's Clues is strongly geared to assisting kids with their learning. The show was conceived from the ground up by Nickelodeon in association with learning experts with its prime objective being to captivate, involve and empower preschoolers to exercise a complex range of thinking and learning skills as they play. Each episode airs Monday to Friday, allowing young viewers ample time to master the problem solving games at their own pace. With repeated exposure to the same Blue's Clues episode viewers tend to participate with more enthusiasm and confidence. Having them write down each clue in their handy dandy notebooks also provides an important educational message that they'll need to write things down as adults. Blue's Clues underlying premise is that TV can encourage active as opposed to passive viewing. "What we're really trying to do is get them to play and think along throughout an episode until we sit in the thinking chair at the end and ask them to make this inferential leap' this plus this plus this - what does that equal?' That's a big deal if you're four!"