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Find me a kiddo who doesn’t like puppets, and well, I’ll be really surprised.  Puppets are at the top of most little ones’ hit lists, right beside kittens and cookies.  As one mother noted, “[These are] some of the cutest puppets out there; I’m sure they could sell them by the thousands.” So why not use some super-cute puppets to engage kids in learning about shapes?

My Baby A to Z does exactly that.  This DVD presents basic concepts with a funky soundtrack, but it’s puppets Moo and Beans that are the big draw, getting kids up off the sofa and moving along.  From little kids - “She loved to wiggle to the music, and she laughed whenever the puppets came on screen” to big kids - “She did stand up and follow along whenever they showed real kids making shapes with their bodies” - the format really got them involved.

A few parents commented on how My Baby A to Z isn’t just about sitting and watching: “My favorite part has to be the occasional moments when the puppets announce “It’s time to move!” and then groove to the music. It’s a reminder for kids to get up and move instead of sitting passively watching TV.“  Another mother agreed: “What I liked was that it was easy for parents to get involved and ask kids questions.  After it was over we looked for various shapes around the room and they were really into that.”

Other kids and parents thought the shape-finding exercises were especially valuable too.  One dad commented: “The show did a good job of identifying shapes as not only abstract concepts on a piece of paper, but rather concrete objects in everyday life.“  This mother reported: “Since watching the DVD over the weekend, [my son] has been pointing out circles, triangles, squares and stars to me all over the place…I think maybe having those characters demonstrate how to find shapes in everyday life clued him into his ability to find them all over the place too. It’s been exciting to see him make the connections!”

The shape-finding was fun for both older and younger kids.  A mother of an older girl agreed: “For someone who can already identify shapes, the DVD’s strongest segments were the video clips, which pointed out squares, rectangles and circles on real-world images of things such as trains and monuments.“  Meanwhile, the mother of a little one enthused: “To help [my daughter], I shouted out shapes and answered questions for her. Watching her do double takes between the TV and me was pretty hilarious.”

A couple bloggers commented positively on the production itself.  One loved that “There are some great little skits that remind me of something you might see on Sesame Street, my favorite being the gloved hands that construct the word circle.“  Another wrote: “I feel strangely gratified that a program which (obviously deliberately and cleverly) employs a less slick and more retro approach is still able to stimulate my son: parents these days are lead to believe this generation of children have attention spans so short they need state-of-the-art bells and whistles to help them learn.”

She went on to conclude: “My Baby A to Z proves that…solid concepts, goofy engaging characters and a phat, funky bass line does the job very nicely, thank-you-very-much.”

More reviews of My Baby A to Z are coming up - check out the schedule below.

In the meantime, congratulations to all fifteen commenters from the Campaign Launch post - you’ll each get a copy of My Baby A to Z!  That means we’ve got five copies left - we’ll draw at random from commenters on this post here.  Good luck!

Friday, 10/31 - Chaos Theory
Monday, 11/3 - Chefdruck Reviews
Tuesday, 11/4 - Ovolina
Wednesday, 11/5 - Taste Like Crazy
Thursday, 11/6 - Sarah’s Dandelions
Friday, 11/7 - Cool Zebras
Tuesday, 11/11 - Round-Up Review on PBN

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Baby, Giveaways, Kids, Media, Pre-school, Toddler. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.