Looking for a Fun and Engaging DVD for My Toddler

Updated on May 01, 2008
E.B. asks from Kathleen, GA
25 answers

Hello! My daughter doesn't watch TV or movies (except maybe Matt Lauer on the Today show, ha) however I'm looking to introduce her to some type of DVD as a Christmas gift. I think she's ready to maybe follow along with songs and movements...such as "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." I don't want something that she'll zone out with, but something that she'll enjoy dancing along with. Thanks for your ideas!

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So What Happened?

Wow, thanks for all the responses! I'm definitely going to check out the sign language DVDs and the many others that were mentioned. I'm looking forward to using these as a new activity for us in the afternoons!

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N.L.

answers from Washington DC on

I had so much fun with my daughter watching "Wee Sing" videos. You can get them through Amazon. They have great songs, dances andcharacters with colorful outfits. She is now older, but it is a great childhood memory. Especially the ones of Mom doing the dances.

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J.S.

answers from Colorado Springs on

My son loved the baby einstein stuff.
i have the whole collection.
you can go on ebay and get the entire set for a good price.

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H.E.

answers from Washington DC on

My three little ones all enjoy the Baby Signing Times DVDs. They've all learned the signs in the two DVDs we have so they're definitely learning something useful from them.

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J.N.

answers from Houston on

I may be late on the advice, and someone else may have suggested this, but Cedarmont Kids has a WONDERFUL selection of DVDs that are composed of children singing & dancing to children's songs. My kids love them. You can find them at most stores, and definately at a Christian book store. Good luck & God bless!

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D.B.

answers from Dover on

The Wiggles are great for engaging your child--LOTS of dancing and movements. I suggest videos, though. It seems the TV programs have a lot of cartoon/puppet songs since Greg (yellow Wiggle) got sick. The videos are almost strictly real Wiggles, either in concert or in their little skits. My son and I both loved them and had lots of fun doing the dancing and singing the songs.

D.

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L.B.

answers from Norfolk on

There are some Baby Einstein DVDs that won't make your toddler zone out. My daughter loves them. She's already four but she loves them. Another one I recommend is the Leap Frog DVDs. My daughter loves to say the ABCs along with it. Although I also taught her ABCs separately, I think she also has fun sounding out the letters with the program. These two series are fun and educational, I think! :)

L.

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S.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Hi E.,

My girls liked the Baby Einstein animal DVDs (they never got into the ones with more abstract themes like colors or seasons when they were very young). Also, they LOVE ELMOs World. They are short, easy to follow and usually have something to learn, but are full of fun monsters dancing and singing. As they have gotten just a little older, we expanded to the other Sesame Street DVDs with lessons like sharing and telling the truth, counting, etc.

Pick something that won't drive you nuts and has enough variety for you to choose from when your daughter demands "ELMO" or "Wiggles" or "Dora" etc that you are not playing the same one every time. Currently we are stuck on "Mogley" (better known in some circles as Jungle Book) at my house and I would give anything to be allowed ANYTHING else. Have fun and watch her learn.

S.

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K.O.

answers from Norfolk on

deffinately baby einstein or little einsteins... My son loves them and sings along with the songs, Sesame street is also a sure win!

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M.M.

answers from Norfolk on

My son gets really in to the Wonder Pets and Blue's Clues. When he thinks no one is paying attention, we hear him singing the songs.

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S.B.

answers from Richmond on

Baby Signs(R) DVDs are engaging and interactive! They teach simple signs and gestures and are very stimulating. They are great to watch together with your baby/toddler. For more info go to www.babysign.com!!

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J.K.

answers from Washington DC on

Blues clues, the wonder pets, or baby einsteins all great! my 20 month old loves all of these. I don't let her watch anything else!! Hope this helps.

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C.C.

answers from Washington DC on

My daughter and I love the Mommy & Me videos - there are 2 that I know of. The songs and dances are great. We also love The Wiggles...lots of dancing and singing.

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V.O.

answers from Washington DC on

I also really love the Signing Time series. They have an older version (age 2ish to 7) and a Baby Signing Time series. These are wonderfully interactive shows that really do engage my children. The best part is that it that it teaches another way to communicate. My 14 month old daughter can sign more words than she can say. The songs are also well done. They are songs that I find myself singing along with.

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D.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Hi E.,

I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but I had my daughter watch a DVD series called Signing Times. It is a DVD that has children your daughter's age signing. It has great music to go along with it. In the meantime, they are learning to communicate with you. My daughter signed long before she ever began speaking and it cut down on meltdowns because she was able to communicate her needs. When she did begin speaking, she used sentences because she had been linking signs together for like 6 months. I enjoy watching the DVDs with her, or I could put one in and it would allow me to get some cleaning done. I hope you will at least check it out and read the reviews on these. Enjoy! www.SigningTime.com

Take care,
D.

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J.E.

answers from Norfolk on

If you are looking for "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" in particular, Baby Einstein Baby DaVinci is good. It teaches about body parts. Also, any of the Curious Buddies videos (made by Nick Jr.) are fantastic, though they are hard to find in stores. My daughter's favorite of those is "Let's Make Music" and I like that one too. :-)

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E.B.

answers from Dover on

Hi, E. B. I'm E. B, too! :-) Anyways, my daughter is 20 months old and I have all those Brainy Baby, Baby Einstein DVDs, but a few months ago, my boyfriends mother bought her her own portable DVD player (to save us during our long trips from MD to TN) and she got her Dora's La Maestra de Musica DVD to go along with the player (and Strawberry Shortcake and an Elmo's World DVD, too). My daughter has NEVER been one to sit in front of the TV..she'd rather play or read a book than watch TV. In the beginning, I would of rather my daughter learn to like something else other than Dora because I want her to learn ENGLISH before she learns a different language. But, this Dora DVD has singing and dancing and my daughter loves it (at least the first two shows out of the four on there...her attention span doesn't run much farther than those two). But, the first show on there has the wheels on the bus and some other sing songy songs and to be honest...her watching that show has made her sing herself some of the words "Hola, Hola, Hello, Hello" and she loves doing the motions when the wheels on the bus song comes on and Swiper comes, too. She has learned some new words and animal sounds from it, too (Dora, Diego, Snake and it hisses, crocodile and it chomps, and she actually has begun to count a bit with saying them and using her fingers to count, too).She only watches this DVD to settle her down right before her bedtime (she will go and get her player when she knows it's time to settle down) and she absolutely loves it. I haven't tried a few of the DVD's mentioned on here and I may try them soon because I am trying to get her interested in something other than that ONE Dora DVD. :-) Good luck though! Hope this helps.

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J.J.

answers from Norfolk on

Sesame Street, especially the Elmo's world ones. They all have sections where they encourage your child to sing and dance and clap etc...

Also, I really like the little Einstein series that has come out recently. i think it is made by the same people as Baby Einstein, but there is more movement and involvement to the Little Einstein ones.

My daughter is 5 and she has never been 'restricted from' watching tv, I just keep a close eye on WHAT she is watching. Now, as she has grown and evolved, tv is not her 1st, 2nd or even 5th choice of something to do. We actually spend less then an hour a day in front of it. I think by 'forbidding it' it, it adds to the appeal for the child, (my nephews were that way and now that is ALL they want to do when they are away from Mom) if it is a normal part of life it loses its mystery.

Hope this helps,

Jen

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T.D.

answers from Lynchburg on

I know this was written before Christmas, however I just wanted to share my daughters (and mine!) favorite DVD. It's called BOZ the green bear. It's a Christian video so I don't know if that is appealing or not. =) It's designed specifically for toddlers. All the songs are songs my daughter (2 1/2) has memorized and sings throughout the day. They teach things like shapes, colors, how to eat your veggies, body parts, how to share with chores, and they all use a story and music. It's low key (not in your face) and the songs are all simple and easy to remember. They have a website Bozthebear.com. Hope you can at least check it out! I love signing time, too. My daughter will only watch signing time, curious george (from PBS), and BOZ (the all time favorite!). =)

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F.B.

answers from Charlottesville on

My son was 2 at the end of May and for his birthday he got a dora the explorer dvd pack and there are a few things I really like about these. We have started trying to teach him Spanish right along as he learns English, since that's the easiest way to learn a second language, but we only have our high school spanish background, so we can help him with these videos, now he counts and says several words in Spanish and he knows it is a different language because they introduce it in english and spanish in the video. The other thing I like about these are they are interactive. They ask your child questions, like do you see a star/estrella (spanish) and your child is given time to respond. They also will say we have to jump high, can you get up and jump high. There are songs he sings to and he really enjoys "participating" with the movie. Also, we always watch with him, even if it's while I'm making dinner, I pay attention, so if he makes a mistake, I can help correct it before they say good job, so he feels a real sense of doing something right. Best of luck!!

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K.M.

answers from Washington DC on

The Laurie Berkner band DVD is the best my 2 1/2 year old loves it and it has been her favorite for over a year now. They sing songs and dance, my daughter asks to see it everyday. Her 2yr. old boy cousin and her will dance non-stop!

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E.D.

answers from Richmond on

Baby Einsteins and Little Einsteins are great too. My 3 and 1 year olds love them. I like them too because of the classical music. In Baby Einsteins, the classical music plays while simple actions like a toy going across the screen in beat to the music. In Little Einsteins, it's more of a story that involves the classical music.
The Wiggles were good too, but my daughter(who's now 3) quit enjoying it as much. She also liked Blues Clues and carebears.

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N.B.

answers from Washington DC on

Any of the Wiggles movies. I have 2 children. They both loved the Wiggles. Thier movies are fun for both kids and parents.

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C.T.

answers from Norfolk on

One of my daughters Einsteins has that..they are so good..

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C.W.

answers from Washington DC on

My daughter loved the Wiggles. Barney, if you can tolerate it, was also loved, as was Baby Songs.

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A.L.

answers from Washington DC on

Laurie Berkner is GREAT! Try that one - they outgrow Wiggles quickly (we have a lot of them just sitting on our shelf now), but Laurie is asked for each and every time my daughter watches a video

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