Parents, Blippi is here to answer all of your preschooler's questions

Inspired by the educational YouTuber's love of learning, we wanted a crash course on what makes the beloved children's entertainer tick. So when the star of Netflix series like Blippi's Adventures and Blippi's Job Show sat down with E! News ahead of his April 19 appearance at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, we clocked in, starting with the question he receives most often from his tiniest viewers.

"They love to ask if my watch really works," he explained of the timepiece he uses to transport himself on various adventures. "And it does, it just frequently doesn't have a charge in it."

Most times, excited fans ask "'Is that your wonder watch? Does it work? Can we go somewhere right now?'" Blippi continued. But since it requires a special set of batteries, more often than not, "I'm like, 'Well, it's not charged right now.'"

The content creator (played by Ben Mayer), however, is always rarin' to go, gamely submitting to a roundup of questions from his preschool-aged fans.

What Is Blippi's Favorite Part of His Job?

Admittedly, said Blippi, "every part is maybe my favorite." But the one that most often has him yelling "Yahoo!" is meeting new people.

"One of my favorite things to do is being with people on the streets, getting to know them and just chatting," he shared. "Because the coolest thing for a kid is to see their favorite character that they grow up watching on TV in person. And so I just love talking to them about, 'What's your favorite thing to learn about? Can you tell me something new? What's going on with your day?'"

It's part of the reason he and best friend Meekah (Cashae Monya) are performing on the children's stage at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. His tiniest fans "get to see that there's another whole universe out there that's between two covers of a book and that's just such a cool thing to do," Blippi explained. "So, inspiring kids to find new ways to learn and to explore the things that they're interested is, is maybe one of the coolest parts of my job."

Brett Farmer/Shutterstock

What Is the Coolest Activity Blippi Has Tried?

While Blippi acknowledged he's attempted a lot of amazing jobs, the one that really got his heart racing was a 2024 trip to the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

"I got to be on the track," he detailed to E!. "I got to sit in a car and meet tons of drivers. It was so cool. I got to race around the track and I went, like, 170 miles an hours, which is really, really fast."

He also enjoys speeding toward new science experiments, which is why he found a recent volcano-making activity so explosive. "We took some baking soda and you mix that with vinegar," he detailed, "and then it makes it bubble up just like a volcano. It is super cool."

Another phenomenon that spins him into a frenzy? "Tornadoes are fascinating," he answered in response to one query about where the natural disasters most frequently take place. "When you have hot air and cold air, they kind of chase each other around in a circle, and then they form a big funnel."

They most often take place in the Midwest, he added. "If there's a lot of stuff in the way, the wind can't really spin," he noted. "So when you have a lot of flat land, that makes it really easy for a tornado to form."

What Activity Would Blippi Like to Try Next?

Expect to see Blippi cooking up some fun in the near future. "I would love to do a cooking show," he shared. "Because then you can learn about science, too, because baking and cooking is chemistry, right? It's mixing things of certain weights and volumes and then making a loaf of bread or a cake or something like that."

Plus, added Blippi, "I also like food."

Who Does Blippi Look Up To?

No surprise Blippi is a fan of finding the helpers. Fred Rogers—i.e. the titular star of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood—"was such a lovely, wholesome, just good person to emulate and to learn from," raved Blippi. "He has so many good little phrases and just great morals for people to learn. And he also inspires kids to explore their imagination and their curiosity and to live in that world, and that's what I want to do."

He also has some pretty big feelings about his "great friend" Ms. Rachel. "She's awesome," he noted of his sometime collaborator (real name: Rachel Accurso). "She teaches so many great things to little kids that I also teach to, so she is an awesome resource."

Courtesy of Netflix

Who is Blippi's Best Friend?

While there's so much to learn about Blippi, this one was a no-brainer for him, making him want to shout, "Meekah!" And his bestie serves as a bit of a grounding force when he's setting off on adventures.

"She is a wonderful person to help regulate and to teach me how to problem solve and to think critically about things and, you know, rein it in," he raved of Meekah. "Sometimes if I get too excited, it's good to take a step back and be like, 'I can be excited, but maybe let's be a little patient.'"

Another aspect of Meekah that's quite the draw, he added, "She's a really great artist, so I've become a pretty decent artist because of her."

Who is Blippi's Favorite Author?

Oh, the places he's gone with a Dr. Seuss book. "It's a great way to learn rhyming schemes and to learn syllables and pronunciation," he noted of the author's vast collection. Though he also thinks his 5 Minute Stories is worth a read, admitting, "I'm a little biased!"

As for those learners who haven't yet flipped for reading, "The easiest things you can do is ask your kid what interests them," he advised. "They have so many things that they're fascinated in, and the next step from there is taking them to a library or a festival where they can learn about that thing that they really enjoy, and they can pick up a book that they really love."

The key is to "lean into your child's interests," he added. "That'll be a really easy way for you to get them interested in reading."

And if you're on the hunt for your next page-turner, take a crack at this list of new reads.