Hi. I am looking for a few good videos for my two year old son. He loves trucks, trains, cars, motorcycles, etc. Also animals, kids, and music. He doesn't care much for cartoons, except for the LeapFrog Letter Factory, he loves that one. What videos do your toddler sons love?
I highly recommend the "signing time" videos. My daughter loves them but they are good for both sexes. Each video teaches them several signs. Its really fun. They have ones for babies now but he would be ready for the regular series.
There's a trio of movies called The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit (half an hour each) that our boys loved when they were little. They're British claymation and are fairly gentle, although he'll get more out of them when he gets older. There's also a series of movies by (sp?) Hayzo Miyazaki that he's grow into...starting with My Neighbor Totoro. My boys (5 and 8) still love them.
For movies: Finding Nemo
For DVD TV:
The biggest winner would be: British ones! :)
Specifically: Thomas the Train, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Kipper, Fireman Sam, etc. The British children's shows seem to respect a child's intelligence more, and every child I've ever seen, has responded much more warmly to that. Add in the fact that as an adult, they're pretty fun to watch (ahem, save Pingu, pingu is NOT fun for adults most of the time), and you have a hit.
Other favorites were Sagwa; Adventures of the Chinese Siamese Cat, and Between the Lions. By 3 he was also super enamored of the Magic School Bus.
Disney scared the bejeebers out of him (and to this day, he only likes one or two of the classics. The reason he gave me was that the bad people are so very very very bad, and the good people just aren't very smart...how could they ever get away from the bad smart people??? Are good people in these movies only good because they're not smart, mama?" Put that way? I can definitely see his point, and be grateful he didn't make the next cognitive leap, to people in real life.)
Another great thing that we started at about 2 1/2 was www.starfall.com
Thomas the Train, Kid Songs Sing Alongs (there are a lot of them), Bob the Builder (it's claymation animation), there are also a lot of fire-truck, construction, truck, car, animal documentary type shows made for very small children. You can get them pretty much anywhere, my son loved them.
Thomas the train (tank engine chugachuga) LOL...
My son loved Thomas when he was 2. Also, the DVD movie called CARS. All little boys love that one.
The Brave Little Toaster is a classic that kids love to. I have some dvd movies and vhs' I could maybe send you if you cannot find any for your boy. Let me know. You can email me at ____@____.com. I have TONS of VHS and DVD here from when my boy was younger. I don't use them for my 17 month old daughter. She isn't into the same things he was as a young boy.
M.
My son's favorites are Little Einstein and Baby Einstein.
My son absolutely LOVED Thomas The Train videas. HE also really enjoyed the different videos of machinery that the library carries (cars, big trucks, earth movers, trains, etc).
Children really shouldn't watch any kind of tv until they are 5 years or older. Do the research to see how it effects them. Loveandlogic.com is a good place to check out why.
My son absolutely loves the movie CARS. He also likes Thomas the Train, Clifford the big red Dog. But above all CARS is his #1 favorite. Oh and Lady and the Tramp (Baby is what he calls it because of the baby in the movie). On netflix there is a part where you can watch instantly on the computer and he loves Calliou as well. We only have OPB at our house - we don't have cable access. Netflix is awesome for an alternative source of videos and shows.
Both my boys, 2 & 5, enjoy watching the Baby Einstein DVD's. Now worries about inappropriate behavior or language, that's for sure. My 2 year old also enjoys Barney (don't know why, but he does).
S.,
My son did, and still does at 5 years old, loved the Baby Einstein videos. There is a lot of selection when it comes to those DVD's. There is also the Little Einstein DVD's for the older crowd.
Melissa
My son loves the series I Love Toy Trains. Not cartoon, just real toy trains that the narrator talks about.
Check out the I Love Toy Trains video series. They are fabulous. Lots toy and real trains, animals, great music. They are wonderful and have been my son's favorites for quite a long time. They are also video's by the same people on all kinds of things like construction equipment - bulldozers and such. You won't be dissappointed!
~N.
My son loves John Deere Action, John Deere Special Edition, and Big Machines 2 (number 1 cuts too fast between scenes and makes me motion sick).
We also like Peep and the Big Wide World, Curious George (the movie and the cartoon), Thomas, Handy Manny, and the little People videos that come with the toys.
We got most of these using our Netflix. The rest are on PBS and/ or the Disney Channel.
S.,
My 2 year old loves all the John Deere movies...he can name all the types of farm vehicles and what they do. Very fun.
We also like Richard Scary...harder to find. I inherited them from my brothers. But they are really fun and there are lots of great books.
We have been watching Dinosaur Train on PBS...8:30 - 9:00. He really finds that fascinating and wants to read all the books on dinosaurs.
Have fun!!
