The Parent Blogger Network asked me to review a DVD for the baby toddler set. Honestly, I’m skeptical of television programs aimed at babies but I do know that there are a few good ones out there.I’m glad to say this is one of those good ones.
Baby IQ’s “The World Around Us” is a keeper for a few good reasons:
- It has high quality, delightful images mixed with fantastic puppetry
- Beautiful classic music pieces preformed by the London Symphony Orchestra
- Educational themes that aren’t overbearing for each segment - colors, animals, counting, seasons, shapes, patterns, and movement
Even though she is a toddler, I still need some inspiration and encouragement on those long rainy or sick days with Bumper. I can only describe what I’m doing so many times before I want to run away from myself.
When I first became a parent I was shocked how difficult I found the one-sided “conversations” between us, yet I understood the importance of talking to her. It is difficult to talk to someone who is non-responsive and I could have used something inspirational like this.
Baby IQ’s “The World Around Us” made Bumper point, laugh, and babble right off the bat. The blasts of colour in the first sequence always get her talking. It is very relaxing to watch and I found it easy to talk about with B.
The images are perfectly set to the music, which is preformed flawlessly by LSO. I was impressed that instead of having the movement in the images dictate the rhythm, the images move to the music like a well-choreographed dance. The puppets are cute and incredibly expressive (for puppets) and Bumper always yells “OHHH” each time the orangutan or owl appears on the screen.
In my opinion, Baby IQ’s The World Around Us DVD fulfills what it sets out to do; it is engaging, visually appealing and inspires conversation between adult and child. I like this quote from Baby IQ:
"We can't promise to make babies brighter, but we will make them smile."And it’s true.
Running time: approximately 35 minutes
4 comments:
Letting a baby watch television should be a last-resort item to do only if you have no other choice. I.e. you're doing some activities that don't allow you to interact with your baby, and there's no one else available to keep him/her entertained. Which, being honest, unless you have additional family members helping with parenting, is a fairly common occurance.
But I don't like the marketing that is carried out with products like this. It makes it sound like this is actually a "good" product for your baby when in reality it's not when compared with using that time to actually play with your baby yourself.
It's all based on what are you comparing this to. Is it better for the baby to watch this DVD than just sit and stair at a blank wall? Of course it is. But is this DVD/TV-watching better than the baby playing with a real person? No it's not.
The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) does not recommend ANY television watching for children age 2 or younger. Zero, nada, nothing. How products like this can be marketed as helping your babies intellectual growth when the AAP actually says it can be harmful is a mystery to me.
Great review!
Unless Rick's a stay-at-home-dad I'll be taking his comment with a very, very big grain of salt. And a robust HA!
We loved this too. NOT because WB sits down in front of the TV to get her fix, but because ANY distraction is, sometimes, a good distraction, and better one with classical music than one with WonderPets.
I know that I felt crazy a lot of the time, talking to myself all day long. Strawberry learned to talk early. Those first three letter words were gold!
By the way both my girls watched television regularly. I've seen no damage and only rewards. I don't get how people blame that box as the root of evil. Letting my children watch television has never meant that I would ignore them. It has been an activity that we do together.
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