Wednesday, May 6, 2009

DVD Review: It’s Hip Hop, Baby!

It's Hip Hop, Baby! is a new children's DVD series for ages 2 to 6. These videos educate toddlers and preschoolers with fun child-friendly hip hop music. Yes, that's correct - hip hop for pre-schoolers!

The hip beats and catchy tunes of "
It's Hip Hop, Baby! Get Healthy Get Fit!” make learning about food and exercise fun. It teaches kids to follow simple instructions, encourages dance and movement, and helps kids with key concepts like repetition and rhyme. And it even teaches them a bit about hip hop dance from the lessons given by Miss Dre.

The first time TemTem and I watched "Get Healthy, Get Fit!", she honestly was not all that interested. I passed it off as the simple fact that she is a two year old with a short attention span. We watched it a few more times, and she showed a little more interest each time.I decided to set the DVD up on the shelf and try again in a few weeks (I, of course, already formed my own opinion of the DVD, but really wanted to get the toddler's perspective). So we tried again today, and during this viewing, she was entranced with the DVD! I'm not kidding, she was singing right along with Hip Hip Simon, Miss Drew, and the Hip Hop Kids. It was rather charming to hear her sing "Exercise, it’s what we do” and “fruit, fruit, fruit” with that cute little smirk on her face.

Pros: It's the perfect video for those days you are stuck inside and need the kids to burn off some energy. It really gets them moving and singing. What I really loved about the DVD is knowing that it's an iParenting Media Award Winner.

Cons: I mentioned the word "catchy" with regards to the tunes. That's great for the kids, but if you watch this with them, you will still have those "catchy" tunes running through your head hours later!

Funny Observation: TemTem was immediately drawn to Miss Dre - she thought she was her gymnastics teacher. But at first glance, I thought she looked more like a character out of SNL.


Overall Review: It's a cute video. If you have children ages 2-6, I think it's a fun video to add to your collection.

The series contains four DVDs: All Your Child's Favorites, Get Healthy Get Fit, Things We Do Everyday, and Rockin' Dance Party! You can preview songs and videos of the various DVDs in the series on the
It's Hip Hop, Baby website. The entire collection is now available for purchase on Amazon.com or directly through the It's Hip Hop, Baby website.

P.S. Justin Chambers (Grey's Anatomy), Nancy O'Dell (Access Hollywood), and Holly Robinson Peete (actress) also really like these DVDs. You can check out their reviews here.