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educational movies?

991 views 27 replies 23 participants last post by  annethcz 
#1 ·
i'm pretty picky about what i let my son watch. however, i work overnights 3 nights a week and on one of the days, he gets to have movie day because i have to get some sleep. i'm looking for some movies to add to our library, we only have the leapfrog ones so far and he's pretty sick of them by now


what are you and your kids favorite movies?
 
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#4 ·
We love Popular Mechanics for Kids DVDs. We have a French 6 DVD set on the human body called (translating) Once Upon a Time There Was... Life. It's got an English version on it so maybe it's available over there too? It's very early 80s looking but kids seem to love it!

Walking With Dinosaurs (BBC) if he likes dinosaurs.
 
#6 ·
Cyberchase is on video-check your library. My kids love this one too and the Liberty Kids.
Also check out the Reading Rainbow videos at your library-they are from the PBS series and they have a theme for each one and highlight books about the theme, my kids like these and are good for about ages 5 to10?
There are alot of non-fiction kids videos on about any topic if you check your library in that topic area (ie nature, history, etc)
 
#7 ·
Here's just a few we have in our library (over 300 films!):

David Attenborough's:

Life On Earth
Life Of Birds
Secret Life Of Plants
Blue Planet
Life Of Mammals
Trials Of Life
Living Planet
Jewel Of the Earth (all about amber)
Life In the Freezer
Life In the Undergrowth (all about insects)

NOVA:

Japan's Secret Garden (David Attenborough)
Garden Of Eden (on the Seychelle Islands)
The Unknown World (microscopic life)
Treasures Of the Great Barrier Reef
Miracle Of Life (in the womb)

IMAX:

The Great Barrier Reef
The Living Sea
Coral Reef Adventure
Galapagos
Blue Planet (different from the David Attenborough series above)
Origins Of Life

PBS Home Video:

Secrets Of the Ocean Realm

Winged Migration

Microcosmos

Insectia

BBC:

Walking With Dinosaurs
Walking With Cavemen
Walking With Prehistoric Beasts
Allosaurus
Chased By Dinosaurs
Prehistoric America

Discovery:

When Dinosaurs Roamed America
Dinosaur Planet

National Geographic:

Any of the Really Wild Animals videos (set of 10 available, any and all are terrific for kids AND adults!)
any National Geographic specials
 
#8 ·
MythBusters is verrrrrry popuar at our house, as is This Old House, Modern Marvels (we're selective about the topics with this one), a lot of the IMAX films (some of these are rather short, so they might not fulfill your "getting some sleep" goals, though!), Reading Rainbow, Cyberchase and Magic Schoolbus.
 
#9 ·
Let me add another vote for Magic School Bus. I've learned a lot from watching them with DS. We bought most of ours used from Amazon. Although theywere sold as used, most were still factorysealed. The pirces weren't bad at all. And we get the ones we don't own from the library.

Kathi
 
#10 ·
We also really like Magic School Bus videos.
Zoboomafoo is another hit (we have a couple we bought and also one that I just recorded from PBS for a few mornings in a row). Cyberchase too is popular here, and my oldest (5 1/2) was getting into an episode of Liberty Kids he saw at my mom's.
 
#13 ·
Bill Nye the Science Guy videos (a library here has 'em) are a bit hyper but older kids, at least, enjoy them. Maybe some little ones, too.

Zaboomafoo videos

Quiet, good-quality family films like The Secret of Roan (sp?) Innish (not educational, but like good literature), Black Beauty (recent one--has some dramatic moments). How old is your son?

Quote:

Originally Posted by granolapunk View Post
i'm pretty picky about what i let my son watch. however, i work overnights 3 nights a week and on one of the days, he gets to have movie day because i have to get some sleep. i'm looking for some movies to add to our library, we only have the leapfrog ones so far and he's pretty sick of them by now


what are you and your kids favorite movies?
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by HikeYosemite View Post
Bill Nye the Science Guy videos (a library here has 'em) are a bit hyper but older kids, at least, enjoy them. Maybe some little ones, too.

Zaboomafoo videos

Quiet, good-quality family films like The Secret of Roan (sp?) Innish (not educational, but like good literature), Black Beauty (recent one--has some dramatic moments). How old is your son?

he's 5.5.

Thank ALL of you for responding, i can't wait to go find some of these, i really appreciate it!
 
#16 ·
Well, we *love* Over The Hedge. You could link it to a respecting the earth/environment/rejecting suburban McMansions/ covenants studies. Also, recycling , waste, and disrespect for lives that are not human are other important ideas reflected in the movie.

Plus, bnus points if you discuss the line, "Humans are slowly loosing their ability to *walk*!" . It is particularly telling commentary.

That movie is really good. Good music, too.
 
#18 ·
Another vote for magic school bus! We just scored a bunch of reading rainbow and ds 1 and I are really enjoying them! We also got the Cosmos box set and I'll admit that I though it would not interest the boys yet but they actually are enjoying it.
 
#20 ·
Do you think a 5 1/2 year old would be interested in Walking with Dinosaurs? I have wanted to look for it at the video store but I don't know much about it. Oh, is it "scary" at all? (He is quite sensitive to "scariness".
)
 
#21 ·
we really like the cable in the classroom stuff on tlc, discovery, and the history channel (maybe other channels too?) its on from like 4 or so in the morning until maybe 7 so you'd prolly need to tape it. and pbs has a show called salsa that comes on at like 3:30 in the morning. i love it because it is completely in spanish.

as far as actual movies sesame streets follow that bird is good, as well as muppets take manhatten, i'll have to think on this...
 
#23 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders View Post
Do you think a 5 1/2 year old would be interested in Walking with Dinosaurs? I have wanted to look for it at the video store but I don't know much about it. Oh, is it "scary" at all? (He is quite sensitive to "scariness".
)
If he likes dinosaurs, he'd almost certainly be interested, but think of it like nature shows - sometimes, the dinosaurs get eaten, or die in a fire, or... And, many times, it's the smallest and weakest of the bunch. So, if he's sensitive about that kind of thing, you might want to hold off for a while.

My son can watch it (loves it, in fact), but I have a hard time with it - and the dinosaurs aren't even real! But, it feels the same as the nature shows do to me.... I just can't bear to see animals die.

Wikipedia has episode guides that might give you a good idea of what the series entails:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_with_Dinosaurs

Here's a sample of what I was talking about earlier (from the episode "New Blood"):

Quote:
This episode follows a female Coelophysis as she tries to survive in the dry season. She trails a herd of Placerias, looking for weak members of the herd. Pterosaurs known as Peteinosaurus splash in the little water that is left. A female Postosuchus also follows the Placerias, and the Coelophysis finds a burrow of Thrinaxodon, trying to get at the young. At night, the pair of Thrinaxodon eat their remaining young, then move away. If the Coelophysis keep on disturbing them, they will not be at peace for a long time. The Postosuchus is slashed by a Placeras's tusks, and is later beaten out of her territory by a male Postosuchus. Wounded, sick and without a territory, she is feasted on by a pack of Coelophysis, unable to defend herself. Finally, the wet season comes again, and the Coelophysis have survived, along with the Thrinaxodon pair. A herd of huge Plateosaurus arrive scaring the female Coelophysis.
 
#24 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders View Post
Do you think a 5 1/2 year old would be interested in Walking with Dinosaurs? I have wanted to look for it at the video store but I don't know much about it. Oh, is it "scary" at all? (He is quite sensitive to "scariness".
)
DS was totally into it at 4.5 so it just depends on the child.
 
#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders
Do you think a 5 1/2 year old would be interested in Walking with Dinosaurs? I have wanted to look for it at the video store but I don't know much about it. Oh, is it "scary" at all? (He is quite sensitive to "scariness". )
Our son started watching "Jurassic Park" and "WWD" when he was just 18 months old! Never bothered him at all.

He loved them then and he still loves them. We have the complete JP series as well as all the BBC WWD films.

The only films that ever gave our son scares were "Dumbo" (the pink elephants) and "Winnie The Pooh" (heffalumps and woozels)!!
 
#26 ·
Little Mammoth Media makes a series that are titled "The Big....."

We have
"The big spaceship"
"The big Boom"
"the big Newspaper"
and
"The big TrainTrip"

My oldest has enjoyed these forever, and they are really intersting, and pretty informative on each subject, with very minimal "flash" (I can't stand videos with crazy songs and quick moving pictures
: )

This is a great thread, we've been looking for more ed movies too
 
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