Customer Reviews

Get Fit Kids Vol. 1 - Hustle-Bustle Move Your Muscles!

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My kids aren't couch potatoes, but they are introverts. After various failed attempts to get them involved in this or that sport, martial arts class, or age-appropriate gym activity, I'd finally decided that all my kids (ages 4 and 7) needed was the enjoyment of chasing one another at the park or jumping on the bed. Still, I fretted a little about their physical engagement in the world. Early readers both, they preferred the quiet company of each other and their books. I tried modeling good exercise habits. They smiled and nodded. "Nice Tai Chi moves, Mom!"

I wasn't expecting much from an exercise DVD, but Kristi Dear's Get Fit Kids was an immediate hit. The top-notch graphics captivated my four-year-old daughter right away, and although her older brother thought the show was a bit "babyish," he eventually joined in. Well, knock me over with a feather! This short video is led by an engaging certified personal trainer (and a computer-generated teddy bear) and is a thorough aerobic work-out, complete with warm-up, sing-along songs about the major muscle groups in the body, and tips on how to avoid sugary snacks. We never had a real issue with healthy eating in this household, but given the constant media onslaught of junk food commercials kids are exposed to, it's nice to have our family's eating style so gently reinforced in this video.

I highly recommend this DVD to any parent who wants to give young children a wholesome head-start on positive lifestyle habits. -Deb Salazar

PROS: This DVD is appropriate for younger children. It encourages movement and works major muscle groups. The movements are pretty simple, but technique is not the emphasis anyway. The instructor is kid-friendly, not overly made-up or emphasizing body image. Rather, she could be the babysitter or the kindergarten teacher. Emphasis is on health, not appearance, which is great. She teaches the names of some major muscles (biceps, quads, hamstrings, etc.) and talks a little bit about healthy food and energy. (Healthy snacks give you better energy to play!) It is great for my 4 & 6 yr. old girls. They are not frustrated with complex moves or too fast a pace. They are not thinking about how they look or whether they are doing the movements "correctly." It is fun, holds their attention, and keeps them moving. If you are wanting a DVD that promotes health, good snack habits, and exercise without stressing specific exercise techniques or how your body "should" look, this meets that criteria.

CONS: I will say that it could be a little longer. It's less than 30 minutes so I don't know how much of a workout they are getting. Not to be used as a substitute for outdoor activity, but better than none on a rainy day. Some of the activities are not very vigorous, like wiggling fingers. It's definitely not a DVD for older kids. The children in the video are focused on using the right muscles rather than specific technique. I was also a little annoyed at the "snack break" segment. I think it lasts 2 or 3 minutes and just shows healthy food choices, but it interrupts because it comes between the workout and the cool down. And of course, the kids think they need a snack during this few minutes of time, which just doesn't work! I understand wanting to end the DVD with the cool down because it is focused on relaxing, but the snack part just doesn't work well where it is. I suppose you could always have your child begin cool down during this time by doing some simple stretches while watching the fruit go by... :)

Overall, this was a good choice for my kids at their level.

As a father of four, and a teacher, I have seen so many children's exercise videos, but none of them live up to this one. Get Fit Kids is so creative and unique, and that's what makes it #1 in my book. Instead of just dancing around, Kristi, the kids, and the animated bear named JoJo Fitz, do real exercise moves that improves motor skills, balance, flexibility, coordination, self-esteem, and the list goes on. Kristi actually interacts with the children asking question's like do you know were your muscles are? She has the children feel for their muscles, teaching them why it's important to strengthen them, and move around.


I love the nutrition section of this video!!! Every time I show my classroom this section each one of them ask to eat healthy, such as asking for an apple, carrot, or grapes. Get Fit Kids is a must have!!!! Every child needs to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle from Kristi Dear. She makes it so much fun.

Sure it's a little cheesy to adults but it's not FOR adults is it?? My kids (ages 2 & 4) just love this dvd. The great thing about it is that it's not a talking routine with aerobic instructor cues. She sings the routine and the cues are within the cute upbeat songs. She takes time in between segments to explain about different muscle groups too and the importance of eating healthy snacks. Not long after we got this dvd my 4 year old was out in the yard and was jumping up and down. He turned to me and said, "whew, I sure am using my hamstrings and quadraceps!!" which he sure was but I thought he was just guessing so I asked him to point to where those things are on his body and he nailed it!! A great dvd to get them moving in the winter and on rainy days and a learning experience too!!

I was looking for a tape for older children and this tape was not it. This tape is definitely geared for the preschool crowd. For that age group, I imagine it is great. I was pretty disappointed.

As a mom of 3, I am always looking for ways in which my children can have fun and learn. With this video they are able to do that, plus get some physical exercise as well. My 5 1/2 year old loves to do the exercises and sing all the songs, my 3 1/2 year old acts the whole video out with Kristi, and my 15 month daugher has so much fun dancing around and trying to do the exercises. We all have so much fun following the video together!

I am a mom of three young children, and a teacher. I bought this DVD because of all the great reviews, and my children love Get Fit Kids. I have also been using the DVD in my classroom, and they also love the DVD. It has been a big hit! I love the fact that the sections are broken down, so one day we could do arms, nutrition, cardio, ect. The video is so informative that it is perfect in a classroom setting.

I am so glad that I found this DVD!!

When I was looking for a fitness DVD for me and my two oldest children (girls, ages 3 1/2 and 2) to do together, I was impressed with the reviews of this DVD and it sounded intriguing. Though I wasn't really willing to shell out 16 bucks quite yet, so we rented it from Netflixs to try it out first.

As adults my husband and I were really turned off by the "animated" bear, though our girls liked him. Another thing that I wasn't really impressed with was the camera was at times only focusing on Kristi Dear's face or the animated bear and it was hard for me and our girls to follow exactly what moves she was doing when. We had to run through the DVD a second time to really get the routine. The total time of the DVD is 30 minutes, but only about 20-22 minutes of that is actual warm-up or workout time. The rest is filler about why we need to exercise and eat healthy foods and snacks, which is fine to watch for the first time or two, but then I found myself fast forwarding through it to get to the workout sections. Which if I had to do that every single time I watched it with my girls, I would get annoyed really fast. My husband really did not think it was worth 16 dollars, he'd be willing to spend maybe 5-7 dollars on it, but no more.

I gave the DVD 2 stars because Kristi Dear really does a good job of communicating with kids, has a pleasant voice, and demonstrates easy moves and routines for kids to do. I highly recommend that you rent this first to see what you really think about it.

My 5yo son and 3 1/2yo daughter loved exercising to Get Fit Kids. I watched the video with them as they moved around and sang along. And my 11 month old loved dancing around to the songs!

The songs are catchy and fun to sing along with (which we all did!). My children were able to follow along with all of the exercises. I like how Kristi interacts with and educates her viewers in a child-friendly way. As another reviewer posted, I too loved the nutritional information.

I'm so glad I bought this DVD for my children!

I don't recommend this for children over 4. The exercise portion is so limited and too much time is spent talking rather than working out.