Scooby-Doo! Where are YOUUU??

With so many TV channels available to watch at any time of day or night, it is hard to imagine how we ever got by with just BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. I remember what a big deal it was when Channel 4 was launched - we felt spoilt having FOUR channels to pick from.

I don't think my children would know what had hit them if they didn't have their own dedicated kids channels. It was so different in my youth (I'm starting to sound really old now!) We had much less availability and choice, but we made the most of what we had.

I have such fond memories of the TV shows I grew up with and one such show was Scooby Doo. I would try to solve the mysteries along with the gang of 'meddling kids' and their faithful Great Dane. It has been lovely to see how Scooby-Doo has evolved over the years to appeal to new generations without ever losing the magic that made it great (although I have to confess I was never very enamoured by the talking pup, Scrappy).

I was excited to see that Scooby Doo now has its own Official Facebook Page, sharing fun facts, games, artwork, chat, news, details of TV shows and the latest Scooby-Doo products (video games, DVDs, toys and books) and featuring Monster Mondays and Fun Fridays.

I was even more excited to be sent a Hide & Seek Scooby to review.

Hide & Seek Scooby is an impressively large plush toy with all the loveable features of the mystery solving canine. It needed four AAA batteries to be inserted into the battery compartment tucked behind a velcro opening on Scooby's back. This enables communication via a bone-shaped Hand Held Unit.

The object of the game is simply to hide Scooby then have the Seeker find him with the help and encouragement of messages received through the Hand Held Unit. Lights on the Unit change from green to amber to red as the Seeker gets closer to the hiding place.

My three year old has recently discovered Hide and Seek but it is not generally a game I  encourage. The potential dangers from over ambitious hiding places and the whole idea of hiding do alarm me. Also, the reward for being good at hiding is a long boring wait until you are eventually found.

The Scooby game totally satisfied her Hide and Seek desires and eliminated all of the objections I have to the original version of the game. Hide and Seek (Scooby style!) is definitely back on the play agenda at our house. Thank you, Scooby-Doo!

Join Scooby-Doo on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ScoobyDooUK