FOR more than 50 years it has entertained and educated the nation's children, through showing the versatility of sticky-backed plastic to the antics of its resident pets.

But the BBC's flagship children's show Blue Peter is now to be cut to just one regular edition a week and its first showing will no longer be on BBC 1.

Instead, the programme will be screened first on digital channel CBBC, with a repeat on BBC1 the following day.

It marks a profound change for the show, which has been screened on BBC1 since its launch in 1958.

The series, which has become a cornerstone of children's lives for generations, will begin to premiere on the digital station from January 12.

A spokeswoman for the programme said: "The amount of airtime we devote to Blue Peter remains exactly the same, we are just scheduling it differently.

"It will still have a regular slot – now all year round – but we'll have flexibility to introduce additional specials that will go into more depth on events and activities."

Blue Peter brought us the phrase "here's one I made earlier", and for years children would stash toilet roll tubes and sticky-backed plastic to recreate items made on the show.

It is currently presented by Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood, but over the years has been a launchpad for TV stars such as Matt Baker, Konnie Huq and Anthea Turner. Other famous names from the show's past include Janet Ellis, John Noakes, Diane-Louise Jordan and Simon Groom.

One of its best remembered features was when Anthea Turner built a replica of Thunderbirds's Tracy Island in 1993, using papier-mache and toilet roll tubes. The creation sparked 100,000 factsheet requests.

However, it has lost large numbers of viewers over the past decade. In 2002, the BBC said more than 1.4 million people watched Blue Peter. By 2008, when it was moved forward by half an hour to 4.30pm, only 580,000 people watched it. This year's average viewing figures are 370,000 to date.

At one stage the programme was broadcast three times a week, plus spin-off shows, and currently it is broadcast twice a week. Production recently moved from London to the BBC's new hub at Salford.

The Blue Peter spokeswoman said the additional shows would include a "Stargazing Live" special next month, and there will be a nine-part series following Skelton's attempt to cycle to the South Pole. There will also be a series of shows following the Olympic torch relay.

From January, the programme will be screened for the first time on Thursday, with the BBC1 repeat the following day. It will get a further airing on CBBC over the weekend.

Channel bosses had already increased the emphasis on the programme's digital screenings and a move to a CBBC premiere had been mooted some months ago. The BBC also emphasised that the show would run throughout the year, rather than taking a summer break.