Kids' videotape recommendations ...

[merpk]

I posted this on the rating-kids-tv thread, but it might get past you and it's so good I didn't want it to get lost ...

A company called Vermont Storyworks puts out a video about life on a dairy farm called "Let's Go to the Farm." I can't praise it highly enough. It's interesting enough for adults, and my kids can't get enough of it. It absolutely does not talk down to the children, and the filming itself is lovely to look at. And the soundtrack is great, too.

They have another video called "Animal Babies," which is also wonderful, maybe for kids a tad younger ...

And no, I'm not related to/involved in this company. We just found these videos at the library and kept taking them out and bringing it back so late ... that we had to buy our own copies.

Any other recommendations?

- Amy

[merpk]

Okay. Well, I knew I was a thread-killer, but my own thread killed at the starting gate ... hey, that must be some sort of record for thread-homicide.

So, I'll answer myself. Expecting only my own sorry self to read this.

There's a "Yoga Kids" video that's good, too, but it starts with a long advertizement.

Only animated kids show I'd buy is the Kipper series. Very, very sweet and gentle, no real conflicts involved, except for one "nervous" dog, and one who's a little self-centered and is actually a pig. But even those personality traits are couched in sweetness. As opposed to other kids' shows where they're so thick you can cut 'em with a knife.

Okay, thread, go back to sleep now.

- Amy

[darlindeliasmom]

Hey, amy, these are great ideas! My dd and I are taking a kid's' yoga class that is really very nice (she's learning poses without really realizing it...)

I always recommend My Neighbor Totoro, Panda Go Panda, and Kiki's Delivery Service. They are Japanese animation, and just warm and delightful. Also my SIL gave DD a tape of The Little Twins (I gather that is/was a TV show). It's very gentle. But DD herself wants Arthur videos (and I think those kids are just awful to each other!)

[merpk]

Thank you thank you thank you, d'smom ... I was getting ready to go sulk in a corner or something ...

- Amy

[youngnhappymamma]

My kids love any video about animals. I will check out your suggestion. Plus add my own! We love the National Geographic Kid's videos with Spin (an animated Earth with the voice of Dudley Moore) They are super imformative and really cute and fun with silly songs that we end up singing all the time. I wish they had an album.
My kids' also like Marty Staufer videos. His voice is so gentle and sweet and he loves the wildlife tons.
Our all-time favorite shows about animals are the Croc Files and Crocodile Hunter (croc files are aimed more at kids). We LOVE Steve and Terri Irwin!!!!

[khrisday]

Maybe my son's just a freak, but he loves those dry made-for-adult documentaries from TLC and Discovery Channel, etc. Who says they are just for adults?

[glad2bemama]

Amy, you beat me to it! I was going to suggest the "Yoga Kids" video! They loooove it! The only problem is that now whenever I want to do MY yoga, they insist on theirs...

As for their faves... my kids are fanatical about the BBC series " Walking with Dinosaurs". We have the entire series and I think that they are going to be worn out soon. Even my 2 and a half year old asks for " When Dinosaurs Roamed America".

next in line would be the "Land Before Time" series. Can you tell they love dinosaurs?

Khrisday, then my kids are freaks, too. They love documentaries and honestly seem to retain more than we do: I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

[Mamax3]

I found a video at the dollar tree by Crayola kids, I think it is called The Trojan Horse, my 5 year old loves it, he is really into knights and medieval stories right now. The price was right $1.00.

[merpk]

Here's another strong recommendation. We found some of these at our library.

Rabbit Ears Productions made a series of videos called "American Heroes and Legends."

We just took the one about "Johnny Appleseed" out, narrated by Garrison Keiller. It's wonderful. As is the music soundtrack.

The whole series is narrated by huge stars: Anjelica Huston, Denzel Washington, Danny Glover, Michael Keaton, etc.

They also have a series of international folk tales, also with huge names, Robin Williams, Cher ... all narrating the tales over a very sweet video track that is very ... unusual ... in its simplicity.

Really wonderful.

Okay, this thread can go back to sleep now ...

- Amy

[3girls1boy]

We have a video call "Farm Animals" that is just film of animals, with no voice overs, no songs. My kids really liked it when they were little. My aunt gave it to us and she knew the producer (Stage Fright Productions). We also have one from the same company which is just trains. Never a big hit with the girls--maybe my little boy will like it someday.

I also really like these Beatrix Potter stories that we have--it starts out with live action of an actress portraying Potter and then goes into animation based on her drawings.

[lorrielink]

ok my recommendation is definatly more mainstream than the rest of yours but i thought id throw it out neway, the blues clues movie, imo is just fabulous

ds has enjoyed documentories too when hes seen them but we dont have cable so he doesnt really get a chance to see them o rmuch of nething else on tv.

[halah]

My son....LOVES....Blue's Clues. I thought it would be stupid, but I actually like that show too. It's not in your face, and it's got these nice quiet reflective moments in it...
I don't know much about non mainstream videos, but of the commercial ones, my 2 yr old likes Baby Doolittle Animal videos (there are 2) and Winnie the Pooh (either animated or the new Disney Channel one). He also loves Sesame Street, but I found that he was a lot crankier and hyper after watching elmo. Did anyone else ever see this?
He also just got into Mr. Rogers, which I can't complain about. I'm a Mr. Rogers aficianado from the cradle....

[merpk]

Actually Blue's Clues is fine here. We like Joe. Though we've come to the conclusion that it's really for really, really young children, younger than the ones they show on it.

And since we just cancelled our cable two days ago, we'll have to watch Steve and Blue and Joe on video, now, won't we.

- Amy

[ladylee]

Oh, but Amy-CBS runs Blue's Clues on Saturday AMS--it's on at 8 am here on the west coast. The shows are two weeks behind Nick Jr.'s schedule.

[beccaboo]

One we like is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories" or something like that. It has five Eric Carle stories, and is very well done - animation that is faithful to Carle's art, nice music, and good narrators. We also enjoy the three "Wallace and Gromit" videos (claymation made at the Aardman studios). Really funny and clever, even upon repeated viewings. One caveat: there's a gun shown in the episode with the penguin.

[lorrielink]

we just rented Good night moon, from the book, it has other sweat stories on there as well. theres a little bit about monster in it, but in a not to be scared of it sense. were going to buy it definately, i would reccomend checking this one out and watching it before showing it to your child.

[merpk]

Thanks, ladylee, but we don't do TV on Saturdays at all. Our Sabbath, so no TV nor electric gizmo toys ... ie., peace and quiet (in theory, at least) ...

- Amy

[Dov]

holiday vids?

Anyone know of any non-Christmas/Easter holiday vids (Hannukah, Purim, etc.)? One of the things that freaks us out is that our kids want to watch all the non-Jewish holiday films and we're wondering what that's about. *sigh*I'm contemplating writing some scripts for a short of Esther's story, Ruth, Na'amah, et al. just to have something more culturally applicable for ourselves... presuming other Jewish families may want this also. Anything like this already out there, other than Prince of Egypt and Joseph the Dreamer or whatever it's called?

Our dd (age 5) loves Star Trek, any of the series (although I realize that's not specifically age-appropriate), as well as any documentary to do with dinosaurs and animals. She loves "In the Tribe of the Tiger" by Natl Geographic. She's also trying to get our cat to "fall" in slow-mo like the one on the show... not something we try to encourage, mind you.

Amyrpk, our Shabbat usually ends up outside as the cabin fever gets to us... usually someplace peaceful in nature after the morning at synagogue. Did you ever hear the story of the Rabbi's son and the skateboard on Shabbat? How do you guys convince toddlers about the gizmos? Our approach has been distraction, hence the move outside for the afternoon. Havdalah on the beach is really cool... except for trying to hold the havdalah candle which is like a bonfire in the wind gets a bit dicey.

[merpk]

Dov, we'll do the Shabbat thing somewhere else, maybe a new thread on Shabbos parenting in Spirituality?

Sad to say, though, but there is *only one* good Jewish holiday video we've found. It's called "Lights," about Chanukah, and it's absolutely beautiful, and the story is told using light as the center (which is what Chanuka is about anyway), really beautifully done. I've tried to find out if the folks that made it (I think it's by Gesher, an organization based up in Tzfat) are making more videos, got a "yes" response a few years back, and never heard anything else.

Well, we can always hope.

We've seen the "Bubbe's Boarding House" videos for Chanuka and Passover, and while they were cute, we didn't find them to be particularly good, and didn't like the way some of the characters interacted. And the "Rugrats" were just awful, real negativity and obnoxiousness, they're not allowed in our house, plain and simple.

Oh, I almost forgot, there's a new series of "personality" videos that's come out, made by some organization run by R' Berel Wein, animated in a most beautifully watercolor-drawn way, one about Rashi (French rabbi about 1000 yrs ago) and another of Chassidic tales.

- Amy

[ladylee]

Amy-of course. Should have put that together .