IceFairy Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 My kids are 4.5 and 5.5. I am trying to keep Christmas "junk free" so I am doing mostly educational gifts (microscope, innotab 2s, peg board toy for DDs fine motor delays, etc...) I want to stuff their stockings with a couple of educational or at least purposeful, DVDs, but I am not sure which ones. They have fully outgrown Leap Frog stuff (in fact, I just sold theirs) so I need ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Have they watched any Magic School Bus dvds yet? They just came out with the complete set on dvd. You can preview on youtube to see if they like them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warriormom Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Liberty Kids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 National Geographic Wild videos are for a younger audience. I second Liberty's Kids and the Magic School Bus too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Ariel really liked The Jeff Corwin Experience, Sid the Science Kid, and Wee Bee Tunes (geography) videos at that age. I've heard Wishbone, Reading Between the Lions and Wordgirl (or most anything on PBS) are good, but I don't have any personal experience with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 My son loved David Attenborough by that age. Life of Birds is a great place to start. There are also audio books. At 5 my son was riveted by Tantoo Cardinal's reading of Island of the Blue Dolphin, the 60s recording of Stuart Little, MPOsbourne's Odyssey, the Vox Music Masters, which you can get cheap on Amazon, and a recorded play of the Hobbit, also from Amazon. It is the one in the wooden box. He would put all his toys out on the carpet and play while listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eschuetter Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I'll add Peep and the Big Wide World to the list - my kids all love them ages 11, 8 and 5 - both boys and girls. Science and fun. I agree with Magic School Bus and Liberty's Kids (though my younger ones get a bit scared at the suspense in some of these). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I'll add Peep and the Big Wide World to the list - my kids all love them ages 11, 8 and 5 - both boys and girls. Science and fun. I agree with Magic School Bus and Liberty's Kids (though my younger ones get a bit scared at the suspense in some of these). Liberty Kids wasn't a good fit for my sensitive 6yo. But if the children aren't sensitive, they are very popular. We, like kalanamak above, have gotten a lot out of Attenborough videos. Also How the Universe Works was very popular with Button. These are all explicitly Old Earth/Evolution, if that matters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Liberty Kids wasn't a good fit for my sensitive 6yo. But if the children aren't sensitive, they are very popular. We, like kalanamak above, have gotten a lot out of Attenborough videos. Also How the Universe Works was very popular with Button. These are all explicitly Old Earth/Evolution, if that matters... One of the things I really love about DA is how logical and clear he is. Like a truely superb lecturer for the layman. I think it helps a child learn to follow something closely, as he is certainly enthusiastic and appealing. When kiddo was little, he did a very funny imitation of him, saying nonsense words in a British accent and ticking off, e.g. all the reasons a wildfire is beneficial to a prairie. It was hysterical. Around 6, I found the first Sister Wendy DVD, the one about art and the Ancients, VERY eye-opening. My son mentioned she was a "female DA for art". There is one mention of bOOks on the tomb wall, showing the head mourner was an older woman because of her drooping bOOks, but since I don't mind that kind of thing, and in fact want such, to me, mundane facts of life *de-escalated*, this was fine. As her History of Art series goes on, it gets a bit more expilicit, but the first one really glued my son, especially the Pompeii part. Ties in the Ancients beautifully. It does cover this work: http://www.ancient.eu.com/image/512/ which was also fine by us because we'd read The Trojan War already, but some might find it disturbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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