Did you know that Baby Einstien has been around for 10 years?  I can’t believe it either.  Granted, my oldest child is only going to be five, so I’ve only been able to enjoy them for half the time they have been around.  That being said I love baby Einstein and all of their products.  We own a ton of Baby Einstein DVDs and books.  I can totally see how they are the #1 selling infant DVD line.  The best part of their DVDs is that they are timeless.  Madison will still watch the DVDs with her little brother Will (who is now 18 months old).  Their DVDs are some of the best ones out there in my opinion.  Not only do they entertain your children, they also learn from them. You can easily interact with your children and talk about what’s on the screen.  It is almost amazing how memorized little kids get while watching these DVDs.  I also love that their music collection.  We have used their Lullaby Classics CD with both of my children.  Baby Enstein’s book collection is also great.  Their books are very interactive.  They include your children as part of the story and require your children to interact with the book.  For example, in Touch and Feel Farm animals, they are able to feel a sheep’s wool, a cow’s nose, and a horses mane.  Will is very much into textures right now, so this is one of his favorite books. Madison still reads their See and Spy shapes book!  Each page asks you to look for a count certain items, and no matter how many times we do it, she still loves it!

Having been a huge fan of Baby Einstein for 5 years, I can only tell you that I highly recommend all of their products.  We have yet to have a product of theirs that we didn’t like.  Their products make great presents for you kids, a baby shower, or just for the fun of it.

Let me start by saying up until now, I was not a huge fan of Barbie. As a kid, I didn’t really play with her, and Madison is too little for them. I actually had no idea that Barbie even had DVDs out (and sold more than 58 million units!) till I came across Barbie & The Diamond Castle.  I was all ready to not like it.  However, I was surprised to find that I did like it (and the really sad thing is that I have one of the songs stuck in my head, and we watched it over two hours ago!).  The story was fast moving enough that it kept Madison’s attention.  Will absolutely loved the dogs in this movie.  Ever time they came on the screen, he screamed and giggled.  The animation was great — they almost looked real.  At no point did the movie get too scary either (sometimes when bad things happen in movies it scares the kids).  I like the moral of the story too.  It was about friendship being the greatest gift of all.  The DVD didn’t really push the moral either, but with the great story, really got it across.  The music in this movie is good too (see note above about having it stuck in my head).  Madison was singing the songs from it immediately after watching it.  After watching this movie, we will definitely be getting more Barbie movies.

If you have little ones in your house, check out Baby Rodenburg. This DVD teaches you child sign language, A-B-C’s, numbers, colors, and animals.  The DVD was a huge hit here.  Madison (my 4 year old) is learning sign language in preschool, so she loved the reinforcement.  My son who is 15 months loved it due to the music and seeing other babies.  I am not sure if he really “understood” any of the sign language.  Mom like it, because I got to actually learn some sign language (like how to sign eat) that is actually quite useful at my house.

My only complaint about the DVD is that it seems a bit disorganized at times.  I wish they correlated the signing to whichever letter they were on.  Meaning, when they did the sign for eat, I think they should have been talking about the letter E.  That being said, they really reinforced each sign and what it means using several different ways.  As each thing was signed, Madison often repeated the sign several times and repeated the word that went with the sign.  Will danced with the music and pointed to the screen and said “seeeeeee” every time an animal, baby, or toddler was on.

This DVD was created by a set of parents who couldn’t find any DVDs out there that fit their needs for their child.  Instead of complaining, they made their own DVD to use with their own child and to share with the rest of us!

I never thought Braincandy would infiltrate my household like it has. My 4 year old and my 1 year old are absolutely in love with the Hear My World DVD from Braincandy. My daughter (the 4 year old) has begged me to buy the rest of the series. That is how much she enjoys this movie.

Now this DVD does not go by Hear My World in this house.  Instead, it is referred to as the ear movie (can you figure out why?).  The movie is all about the sounds you hear.  There is a lot of singing and they have short little skits.  My kids love it.  The skits are just long enough to hold their attention.  Every time the singing starts, Will (my 1 year old) starts dancing.  It is both cute and funny at the same time.

The great part of these movies is that they are both learning and not realizing it.  Braincandy has won 35 awards and industry endorsements, so they must be doing something right!  I know that Madison goes around singing their theme song “Braincandy” that plays at the beginning of the video.  I know Santa will be bringing some of these videos come Christmas time at my house.  If you need an awesome present, definitely look into getting some of these DVDs.