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(More customer reviews)I first encountered Little Einsteins when I had to take a 6-hour road trip with a cousin and his wife who had a toddler who just had to be entertained. While the mother did her part to entertain the youngin' for some stretches, the main weight of the load came to bear on the heads of Disney's four sing-song educators. They bring tidings of a smarter generation of youth and a level of classical education that hasn't existed for kids in ages. What matters though is their ability to do it in a way that keeps kids enraptured even when it repeats itself using Disney's Fastplay option.
Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood had their place. Muppets, puppets and old men can pass for entertainment with slight hues of education, but Little Einsteins takes the opposite route. The entertainment clearly comes second in terms of importance with a set curriculum for each 24-minute episode involving a famous piece of classical music, basic functions and operations. How does a fire truck work? What are the duties involved with owning a pet? The concepts are all quite rudimentary and simplistic in their presentation but in such a way that kids latch on to the ideas and play along.
"Fire Truck Rocket"
A volcano is on the verge of erupting and the Little Einsteins jump at the chance to use Rocket's transformative abilities. Pair that with a piece of music by Tchaikovsky and you've got a catchy lesson about ladders, hoses and the jaws of life. Yes. The jaws of life. They cleverly weave an emergency tool which pries the twisted metal of automotive wreckage away from the victims huddled inside into a children's program. This may show my age but when I was young a special on fire trucks would have focused on the ladder, the hose and a Dalmatian. I can't decided whose generation is getting cheated.
"Melody the Music Pet"
When a musical animal misses its chance to ride on the pet train, the Little Einsteins gang takes it under their wing and names it Melody. They travel along looking for Melody's ticket for the train and, wouldn't you know it, learn about music along the way.
"Carmine's Big Race"
Carmine should be more upset with the automanufacturers than anyone else. A car made from musical instrument parts is just a bad idea. Sure, it offers kids a chance to place a grand prix race in a musical context, which proves educational all the way through, but it's still just awful engineering. It's an entertaining endeavor and will most likely find the kids starry-eyed staring at the screen.
"Mr. Penguin's Ice-Cream Adventure"
Penguins. Ice Cream. One is a cute animal that's gotten full court press from the film industry in the last few years and the other is a snack children adore. When you think of it like that, it's a brilliant tactic. Kids are gaga over the tuxedoed bird and delicious treat and while they're looking the other way the Little Einsteins are cramming a lesson on music down their throats. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
DVD Extra Features:
What makes Little Einsteins such a valuable tool is the interactive factor. Beyond just encouraging the kids to shout at the screen, the DVD includes a two-tiered remote program that works as a trivia track begging to be answered by the children. The questions are answered with a remote control and features two levels of difficulty according to two different age groups (ages 2-3 or 4-6). Otherwise there are no extras.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Little Einsteins: Fire Truck Rocket's Blastoff (2011)
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