Do we really need another line of baby videos?

I’m sitting at the Local over lunch hour with two guys from New York who are trying to convince me that yes, we really, really do. I’d like to tell you they flew to Minneapolis to court Cribsheet. But no, they’re here for a much bigger target. Uhm, yes, Target.

Stephen Gass is the creative one, a child psychologist who’s worked for the Sesame Street theme park, CBS and Viacom, among others. The one in the open-necked shirt. Don Burton is the business guy, with the Harvard MBA and Goldman Sachs and McKinsey on his resume. The one in the suit. They were friends in college and now they’re the proud daddies of eebee’s adventures, a DVD set for babies aged 8 to 24 months.

Some of you may already have stumbled upon the orange-faced baby puppet with puppy-dog eyes and what looks like purple multi-color-tipped dreadlocks on pay-per-view. Pretty soon, it may be tough to escape eebee – Barnes and Noble is going to start selling the DVD’s and dolls sometimes this year and a whole line of toys are in development. I’ve seen the black duffel bag full of samples so I can vouch for this.

So. The question must be asked. Just how is eebee different from Baby Einstein?

“The world view of a six-month-old is not filled with wild creatures, undersea creatures…or seasons. A baby doesn’t understand voice-over!” Gass says. “A baby’s world is filled with lights and shadows and water and balls. They are interacting with the physical world.” Or as Burton puts it, “We want to be the Elmo for infants.”

Accordingly, eebee stays in his playroom, exploring balls and ramps and a “pillow mountain” and even a flashlight.

You know of course, I tell them, that parents have a love-hate relationship with DVD’s. We hate the idea of tv as babysitter, but without it, we’d never get the clothes folded, dinner ready or any e-mail sent. Isn’t a DVD of a dreadlocked puppet playing with everyday objects just a sorry substitute for parents actually playing with their babies?

“This one is different,” says Gass. ”It’s about doing. It’s not about my child knowing every animal in the kingdom. The younger they are, the more reality. That’s why they love your purse, and your necklace.” Plus, he adds, “it gets you your 10 minutes.”

I liked these guys, I really did. What they said made sense. I especially liked some of the prototypes of books they fished out of the duffel bag, with their moveable, slideable parts and – oops! that’s all I’m allowed to say. I liked that they needed help figuring out how to find a cab in downtown Minneapolis. And who among us hasn’t dreamt of chucking their day job and creating the next big baby product, the next, dare I say it, Baby Einstein.

But I don’t know. It’s been a month since they overnighted the DVD’s to me and I have yet to test-market them on the 19-month-old. She’s been too busy playing outside. With a real ball in a real yard. On real grass.

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StarTribune.com

While some studies recommend no television for toddlers, the reality is that kids will watch TV and DVDs. So parents have to choose content wisely. eebee’s adventures, created by New Yorkers, is a new DVD series that is based on the concept “every baby learns by doing.”

Co-founder Don Burton, who lives on the Upper East Side, and who created A-Ha! Learning Partners play centers for kids up to age 4, is the father of two; Upper West Sider Stephen Gass, also a co-founder, is a child psychologist who was an executive at Sesame Street. The company’s goal, says Gass, is for parents to “use the screen in a healthy, responsible way.”

Each eebee story is 10 minutes long — “a reasonable amount of time for young kids,” Burton believes. Each half-hour video (from Sony Wonder, $17.95) has three segments: There’s Exploring Real Stuff!, for 6 months and up, with “Brimming with Ideas”, “Out of the Box”, and “On a Roll”. All in a Day’s Play, also for ages 6 months and up, has “Laundry List”, Just You and Me”, and “Little Objects Big Ideas”. Figuring Things Out!, for 12 months and up, has “The Lightbulb Goes On”, “Blocks and Tackling Ideas”, and “On the Go”. The “adventures” are either open-ended play or a series of play patterns, and cover such concepts as taking turns, solving problems, creative expression and dramatic play — scaled right down to the toddler learn-by-doing level.

The videos feature a mix of adults, kids (Burton’s 5-year-old son is seen in the videos; he also has a 3-year-old) and the colorful, animated eebee. The videos, shot in New York, are learning experiences for parents and toddlers. Babies watch a rolling ball; this builds to eebee rolling a ball, then babies on screen rolling balls. The idea is that babies at home will be encouraged to push the spherical object in front of them. And parents are privy to the baby’s point of view, the thought process that goes behind a baby seeing a ball, and being able to use it.

The rolling ball concept is further expanded when ramps are introduced, along with balls with holes or different textures. Ramps can be bumpy or smooth, and balls rolling down ramps can be used to knock things down. Sometimes, a ball is not just a ball!

Burton emphasizes that videos do not replace “getting down on the floor and playing with a kid,” but says the eebee videos can help parents support infant and toddler play. The classic play patterns — scooping, dumping, pouring — are all doable at home, he points out, and parents need to learn to “savor classic moments.” Gass adds, “This is joyful play, relaxing, less pressure.”

A plush version of eebee was just launched at FAO Schwarz and eebee videos are going to be released in Spanish. In addition to the three already out, new videos in development include a focus on water play, and different ways to read to a baby. For more information, go to
www.eebee.com.

Baby Media: DVD

Every baby learns by doing—that’s the thinking behind the eebee’s adventures series.  Three DVDs feature babies, parents, and eebee, a colorful puppet, playing games with balls, paper and pillows.  Be silly with your little one while she explores her world and builds skills.

ASK MR. DAD: Key to child’s TV viewing is sensible moderation

Q: I’ve heard varying expert opinions about children younger than 2 watching television and have become confused as to what is best for my child. I usually have my 15-month-old daughter watch TV while I shower and get a few things done around the house, or sometimes we watch baby programming together. What are your thoughts?

A: According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children older than 2 should limit television watching to no more than 1-2 hours of quality television per day. Kids younger than 2 shouldn’t watch TV at all. And there’s good reason. Research shows that children who watch a lot of television tend to have more traditional (and stereotyped) views of gender and race. They’re also much more likely to be overweight. Because very young children can’t tell the difference between realty and what’s happening on screen, they can find images of violence or adult situations — even in cartoons — confusing or frightening.

Nevertheless, I seriously doubt that there are too many people who go along with the AAP’s recommendations. In fact, a recent study by the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital found that 90 percent of children younger than 2 watch television and DVDs on a regular basis. And some surveys indicate that as many as 70 percent of day cares regularly turn on the television while the kids are there.

The reality is that with the busy lives most of us lead, cutting out television entirely is a pretty tall order. Instead, the key, as in most other areas of life, is moderation. Ideally, you should never use your television as a baby sitter or park your kids in front of it for hours on end. But an occasional DVD or kids’ show while you’re making dinner or making an important phone call isn’t going to scar your child for life. Keep it to a minimum, though.

If you absolutely have to watch television or a DVD, make sure that the content is appropriate for your child’s age and development. There are some educational programs designed specifically for children your daughter’s age that can help her get the most out of what she’s watching. A toddler can be thoroughly entertained and learn about the world around her through an OnDemand show like "Eebee’s Adventures" or programs like "Sesame Street" or the Noggin channel. If you’re looking for other suggestions, you might want to check out the Coalition for Quality Children’s Media (www.kidsfirst.org).

For children older than 2, even the AAP acknowledges that television has some redeeming values. "Children who watch educational TV do better on reading and math test than children who do not watch those programs," they say. The trick is to turn television watching into a learning experience. The best way to do that is to watch together and spend time talking about what you’re seeing. What are the characters doing and why? How are they treating each other? Be sure to pre-screen shows for images of violence, sex, smoking, alcohol and poor nutrition. And finally, insist that your child gets plenty of exercise and spends time interacting with friends and family.

Armin Brott’s latest DVD is "Toolbox for New Dads." You can listen to Brott’s radio show, "Positive Parenting," every Sunday morning on KOIT-FM 96.5. For information and other resources for fathers, visit http://www.mrdad.com or e-mail armin@mrdad.com.

If you gave birth within the last ten years, the odds are about 4 in 5 that you’ve got one of those make your baby a rocket scientist DVDs on your shelf. Because even if you steered away from such things yourself, someone else thought it was a fabulous shower gift. Am I right?

Babies really don’t care about learning to count in a dozen languages. Babies dig watching other babies – especially when those other babies are doing cool things like crawling through tunnels, banging spoons against pots, and noticing their own shadows. eebee’s adventures, a new DVD series from people with a common sense approach that sane moms will dig, offers this very thing. Their three DVDs feature wee tots exploring their world alongside a charming (and natural for a change!) young woman and her little puppet, eebee. The idea is that kids can learn from watching–and then doing themselves.

Any infant or toddler, whether destined to be a MENSA member or not, will totally enjoy these shows. I know mine did. Let’s save the cramming for college. -Julie

From coolmompicks.com

In the shadow of the China-made toy scare came a separate cause for parental angst:A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that for every hour of baby-video viewing per day, children ages 8 to 16 months knew six to eight fewer words than those who watched no videos.

New parents hear such reports and pledge to burn the Baby Einsteins and turn off the TV for two years. But then harsh realities set in — such as the need for Mom to bathe before a harsh aroma sets in.

That’s one reason that the makers of “Eebee’s Adventures,” a DVD and on-demand series for babies and toddlers, have mounted a countercampaign — against a blanket ban on baby DVDs.

Their champion is Eebee (above), who stars in the videos as a Muppet-like baby puppet, who plays on the floor with a real-life adult or tot, using simple household objects, such as the laundry basket.

The idea is not just to engage baby but also to inspire parents with uncomplicated but beneficial activities.

“The goal is interaction,” said Stephen Gass, a previous director of education for “Sesame Street” and a child psychologist who co-founded the Every Baby Co. with Don Burton, a former honcho with Disney Education.

The warm exchanges in the 10-minute episodes captivated our 15-month-old test viewer, for 5 minutes at a time, anyway, which is enough to switch the laundry before returning to baby’s side to imitate the push-pull tricks with fresh clothes — then go for a joy ride in the basket.

Our tester wasn’t writing HTML afterward. But she was giggling. (And no lead-paint test was necessary!)

The three DVDs of “Eebee’s Adventures” are $15.99 at amazon.com. Eebee books and toys are in the works for the holidays.