Mama Says…

***Congratulations, KATIE! You win the Soccer! DVD! It’s going in the mail soon.***

“Can we watch the soccer movie? Can we watch the soccer movie? Can we watch the soccer movie?”

That’s pretty much all I’ve heard since I put on athleticBaby’s award-winning Soccer! DVD, the newest installment in a series of videos geared toward getting toddlers excited about sports and physical activity, for my three-and-a-half year old soccer enthusiast last week.

I put it on for her, sat down on the couch and had a hard time deciding what I wanted to focus on more: the video itself or my daughter, who alternated between kicking her brother’s Batman ball off of the fireplace – “I’m scoring goals, Mummy!” and shakin’ her groove thang to the video’s catchy music.

In a day and age where more and more children are opting for video games and the boob tube instead of extracurricular activities and physical activity, a video series like this is needed for young kids. Aimed at kids aged three months plus, Soccer! introduces them to the sport and to the idea of regular fitness. Children from about 18 months up to about ten years of age are shown warming up and playing soccer as part of a team, as well as just having fun being physically active.

All of this is set to catchy, kid-friendly music that I find myself humming while making dinner and doing the dishes. Award-winning children’s singer/songwriter Eddie Coker’s musical stylings really add flair and pizzazz to this video and singer/songwriter Susie Tallman’s contribution, a song called “Let’s Go”, marries nicely with video’s theme and footage.

Something I really liked (besides the soundtrack) was how kids of all ages were featured playing and enjoying soccer, which I felt shows kids that soccer – and sports in general – will grow with them as they get older. I also think it’s pretty cool that athleticBaby was created by a working mom of three with the goal of creating a product that encourages children to get out there and get active.

The only aspect of the video that didn’t grab me was the colour identifying and number counting that was mixed in with the ‘active’ footage. In a sports-themed video, it seemed a little out of place to me.

Mama Says: Clearly, this video was a big hit with my budding Beckham, and it’s something that as a parent, I’d be pleased to give (or receive) as a gift. And at $16.99, the price is right. For more information about athleticBaby and the other videos in this series, visit www.athleticbaby.com

Inspired by Mrs. Chicken, I’ve decided to raffle off my copy of Soccer! to one of you lovely readers, after clearing it with my daughter first, of course. Leave me a comment here by Saturday, February 10^th and I’ll pick a winner at random. Score!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 8:26 am and is filed under DVD's, Kids, Sports.
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