Customer Reviews

Baby Einstein - Discovering Shapes

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have both of the Baby Einstein shapes videos (Baby Newton - All About Shapes and Discovering Shapes - Circles, Squares, and More!). Both of my sons LOVE the new video (Discovering Shapes - Circles, Squares, and More!). Baby Newton has never kept their attention but they are eating up the new one. The Baby Einstein group did a much better job with the new one. I highly recommend Discovering Shapes - Circles, Squares, and More!!!!

This was Baby Newton minus the clown. I felt cheated, the format was so similar even my son picked up on it. No new material. He got bored after just a few minutes. I love the movies, my cildren learn a lot from them, but I think the producers got lazy on this one. (I have a two year old and six month old) We love doing the discovery cards together and learning new words, as well as watching the extra puppet shows- again nothing new for him to learn- and there were only three extra puppet shows...

I haven't been inpressed with the comapny since Baby on the Go, and for the record- I have seen, and own EVERY einstein dvd!

I have to admit I was skeptical that Baby Einstein had come out with a new shapes DVD but this is a much better shapes DVD than Baby Newton. My 1 year old had no interest in Baby Newton but loves Discovering Shapes. My 4 year old loves it too! Especially since he is the one who picked it out for his brother's first birthday present. I think the editing has definitely gotten better with time.

Teaching simple messages at a gentle pace -- with vivid color, crisp sound and perfect focus and lighting -- the Baby Einstein DVDs just keep getting better. Assuming you're watching them with your child, and that you don't overdose him or her on video, they offer a fun and rewarding way to spend time together. This one, I think, is the best yet.

The 30-minute main feature consists of five brief lessons about five basic shapes -- circles, ovals, squares, rectangles and triangles. Each shape is explored using animation, photographs, video and puppets, which are all mixed together in a sweet, simple style that is never rushed but always interesting.

Here, for example, is what happens during the sequence on squares:

After a blue line draws itself into a square, the line transforms into a photo of a soda cracker, which itself is remade into part of a grid. Then a piece of bread becomes a yellow-lined square, which changes into a live-action waffle that's being chewed on by an infant. Next, a gentle video montage shows square glass windows, a little boy playing with a square toy, an overhead shot of two older kids playing checkers, toy blocks, a checkered flag blowing in the breeze, a mom tracing the edges of a box with her young daughter, kids peering out of the windows of a school bus, some square carpet remnants, a young girl playing with boxes, movers carrying cardboard boxes, Rhino the puppet drawing a square on a whiteboard, and finally a young girl jumping out of a box. The square segment concludes with Rhino doing some short, silly skits. Throughout it all, the audio is simply light music, accented by voices saying "Square!" every now and then.

(By the way, that's the first time I've ever written "live-action waffle.")

The disc also has some good bonus features.

I especially liked the "Discovery Cards" feature, a collection of still-frame sequences that review the shapes in the main video and introduce stars, hearts, diamonds and crescents. Each shape is shown just by itself, then with its name underneath, then with a voice pronunciation of the name, and then as part of a photo which shows how the shape exists in real life.

Similar to the skits Jim Henson did with his Muppets back in the 1960s, three 45-second puppet shows present sock-puppet animals squeaking their way through brief encounters with an "Enormous Egg," "Nesting Box" or "House of Cards."

Also included is a 90-second long "Locate the Shape" game, which presents still photos and asks viewers to find the shapes located within them, such as the rectangles that exist on the front of a house; a 3:30 "Story Time," which encourages viewers to find the shapes within the illustrations of the book Baby Einstein: See and Spy Shapes (Baby Einstein Books), a handy "Toy Chest" that identifies the colorful and creative toys used in the DVD; and a 3:30 Baby Einstein informercial.

The only downside: a commercial for "Einstein Pals," a toddler series that premieres on DVD next year. The one-minute spot is teased before the main feature, then, if you wait long enough, plays automatically afterward.

My older child grew up with Baby Newton and enjoyed it, but my younger child loves Discovering Shapes. At 20 months, he loved and started recognizing the shapes as they came on the screen. At 22 months, he now likes to point out circles and ovals to me wherever we go. This is by far one of our family favorites.

We love this one-I really feel that it has helped my son with learning some of his shapes-have watched it over and over (and over)

the video is hit or miss as to whether it will play. Sometimes it will, and often times it won't. It will more likely play on our computer, but that is not convenient for our children to sit around and watch. Otherwise it's a great educational tool I wish we could view more often. We love Baby Einstein.

yet another genius item, my son is only 11 months old and sits down and watches these all the way through, yay, plus he's learning lots

We like this video as with most Baby Einsteins, however, have a problem with the sound on our home stereo system. The sound for music comes out load and clear but the speech for the shapes is very, very quiet. When you want to learn the names, it creates a problem.

We bought this DVD to expand our collection. We have the Old MacDonald Baby Einstein DVD and our son loved it. We liked the fact that these older DVD's teach the words as well as display them. The Shapes DVD is a lot of repetition, but it shows the shapes by themselves as well as in context, i.e., eggs are ovals, balls are cirles. I honestly use videos like this as a chance to get a shower and keep him occupied and happy. Because he is learning the shapes, it gives me an opportunity to quiz him when we are playing, reading books, or at the grocery store. The puppets are always a favorite and my son just laughs at the characters because they are so silly!