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Artsy, Fun Educational DVDs for Mother and Child

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I recently had the chance to review the “My World” educational DVD series by Little Laureate. Little Laureate’s aim is to expose children to art, music and world culture.

There are currently three DVDs in the My World Series. Each DVD comes with a 60-minute CD of classical music and a 24 page book of art history, family art activities and parenting tips.

“My World Gallery” features masterpieces by 45 artists synchronized with a fully-orchestrated score that includes Mozart and Beethoven.

“My World Adventure” features art, architecture and animals from all the continents set to the sound of Mozart symphonies, African tribal rhythms, Chinese lullabies and more.

“My World Colors” presents the colors of the rainbow in order using art, architecture and even international street signs, set to beautiful music by Bizet, Bellini and more.

Since this mom-owned company encourages parents to use their DVDs as part of a shared-viewing experience, one of Little Laureate’s goals was to create DVDs that were parent as well as kid-friendly. Founder and President Heather Maclean explains, “The precious few minutes when my perpetually active toddler will actually sit still on my lap and watch videos with me are the only minutes I can hold, cuddle and kiss on him all day. I live for those moments. I wanted, however, to enjoy what we were both watching.”

The Little Laureate DVDs were a hit with my friend’s 2 1/2 year old daughter, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. (I should disclose that I am not a big fan of most children’s DVDs since I was forced to watch the Wiggles far too many times when I was a teenage babysitter.)

Unlike some traditional children’s DVDs, the My World Series by Little Laureate does not rely on hypnotic images and puppets to entertain. Instead, they’ve taken some of the world’s greatest art and animated it to great works of classical music. In my opinion, it’s worth buying the DVD just to get a copy of the amazing soundtrack. After watching the videos, I can understand why Little Laureate has won so many awards, including “Video of the Year” by Parents Magazine.

While Mamanista reviewed Little Laureate with a 2 1/2 year old child, we understand that many of our readers are the parents of younger babies. Over the past several months, there has been a lot of publicity around the AAP’s recommendation that children under two shouldn’t watch television.

At Mamanista, we try to be realistic about all these recommendations. While BabyDiva, under the guidance of Mama Luxe, doesn’t watch any television, Mama-to-Be isn’t so sure she’ll be able to stick to the “no TV before 2 years” rule despite her best intentions.
In fact, a recent study by the University of Washington showed that 40% of 3-month old babies and 90% of 2 year olds are regularly watching TV. Since so many young children are going to be exposed to TV despite the recommendations of the AAP, Mama-to-Be thinks using a specially-designed educational video like Little Laureate is much better than the alternative viewing choices.
You can purchase Little Laureate DVDs online for $34.95 at http://www.littlelaureate.com/. For a limited time, we have an exclusive Buy 1/Get 1 Free coupon for Mamanista readers. To redeem your coupon, put 2 items in your shopping cart, then enter the coupon code “Mamanista.” Your second DVD will be immediately credited to your account. The coupon is good through the end of December 2007.
The opinions expressed on Mamanista.com are based on a single consumer user testing, and are solely those of the author. Any factual claims, including but not limited to safety testing, are based on information from the manufacturer. Mamanista.com receives sample products for testing. Paid placements, such as announcements of sales or sponsored contests are clearly marked. See our disclosure policy.