Elmo's World - Dancing Music Books

Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Video!
Review: My kids, ages 2 & 3, just LOVE this video! They have always loved the "Elmo's World" segments on Sesame Street and now they get to watch 3 of them in a row...they are mesmerized throughout the entire video! As a mother, I don't feel guilty about letting them watch because it contains so much learning material on dancing, books and music...a must-have for a toddler/pre-schooler's video library!

Rating:
Summary: Good show, he loved the dancing the best
Review: My son (21 mos) enjoys this video and is now trying to dance with Mr. Noodle. He loves Elmo!

Rating:
Summary: Good show, he loved the dancing the best
Review: My son (21 mos) enjoys this video and is now trying to dance with Mr. Noodle. He loves Elmo!

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Educational - an Immediate Favorite
Review: Our two-year old loves all things Elmo but this DVD stands out among all of the others.

It contains three episodes of "Elmo's World". Each episode follows a similar flow of events while covering different topics: dancing, books and music. Each episode contains

* funny skits (Our son always laughs at the misadventures of Mr. Noodle. In case you have a preference, all three episodes on this DVD have the "original" Mr. Noodle played by Bill Irwin rather than the newer one played by the late Michael Jeter)

* songs and counting exercises that encourage active participation (he mimics the hokey pokey and points to the counting objects as they appear on the screen)

* instructional live-action video clips. For example, the "Reading" episode has a clip on the basics of how the library works and encourages kids to have their parents take them there. This will obviously be lost on younger toddlers, but shows how the content will be interesting to a wide variety of ages.

The episode format is great for younger toddlers because they can key in on what type of skit or song is upcoming after only a few viewings. Other Elmo DVDs (i.e. "The Best of Elmo") don't follow this pattern, and so he's not as interested in them at this young age; those DVDs function more as sing-alongs for older toddlers.

I disagree with some of the other negative reviews based on the disc's inability to hold a toddler's complete attention for the whole hour. First off, I doubt that there's anything in the world that could hold a two-year old's complete attention for more than ten minutes. Second, I believe that programs like this one are most beneficial when your child enjoys its content interactively along with others. We love watching this DVD along with him and he loves showing off how he can dance along with it and point out and name specific objects.

Another criticism that I've seen stems from the commercials that are at the very beginning of the main program. You can skip past these trailers for other Sesame Street DVDs just by advancing to the next chapter. One button - not hard at all.

In summary, this DVD has great educational content for kids within a wide range of ages and it's very entertaining as well.

Rating:
Summary: Just OK
Review: Parents may want to consider before purchasing: can you tolerate Elmo for almost an hour with very little break ? Well, if you think you can, you may find this an adequate video. I am surprised to see it advertised as appropriate for 2 through 5-year-olds because the material is extremely basic. The video contains three episodes devoted to music, dancing and books respectively. The music segment,for example, shows brief snippets of three children playing drums, an amusing cartoon about the first musical group on earth, and Mr. Noodles pondering the intricacies of wearing and playing a bass drum. If you compare the way music is approached in the "Blues Clues" series, the latter comes off much better because listening skills are actually taught. Too often the Elmo tape is just silly and I cannot imagine children learning anything about music from it. I certainly cannot imagine a child beyond the age of three being interested in it. Really you'd do better to buy a tin drum which at least would provide an authentic experience for your child. On the other hand, sometimes silly is good and I cannot fault Elmo's enthusiasm. Still, I wish it were directed in a more interesting way.

Rating:
Summary: Great Entertainment for Kids and Parents!
Review: This is an aweseome video that everyone in my family loves. Although Mom and Dad (us) get really tired of Barney, we never
get tired of the Sesame Street Videos. This one is especially good for younger (18 mos. +) viewers. It really grabs their attention and they ENJOY IT!!!

Rating:
Summary: Encourages participation in my little guy
Review: This is by far the best Elmo video we've bought. Why? Because it never fails to get my 2-1/2 year old moving! He dances throughout the "Dancing" segment, grunts enthusiastically with the "First Band" cartoon and really wants us to join in, too. The repetition and familiarity of Elmo's World seems very comforting to children and allows them to take charge and anticipate what comes next. My son loves "Mr. Nunu" and "ELMO!" so much that we tolerate the grating high-pitched voice of the little red host. I like the fact that this video makes my son want to participate, rather than lulling him into a trance like some videos do (namely, Barney).

Rating:
Summary: Babies love it too!
Review: This is our first Elmo video, and my eight month old has been watching it for over a month. He has done the "Einstein" series and loves that too, but he laughs out loud at many segments in this video, including "the girl who loves books" which really cracks him up for some reason. Parents who said this video is too basic for older kids may be right... it is quite simple, and likely why my 8 month old LOVES it!!! He watches the entire 50 minutes... spellbound and amused by the music, puppets, kids, and Mr. Noodle. Parents of younger children should not hesitate to try this one... even if it takes two or three tries for them to warm up to it (as with any videos).

Rating:
Summary: Just ok...
Review: this is the third Elmo DVD we have purchased for our Elmo-obsessed 18 month old and I have to say it is our least favorite. My husband and I are very disappointed in how the ads for other Elmo-Sesame Street products play automatically with this DVD (as opposed to a preview other products option in the main menu). As to the specific Elmo material, my son doesn't seem as interested in this DVD as he is in the other two - the Great Outdoors and Babies, Dogs and On the Farm. I'm sorry that I can't explain why, to us adults it seems like typical Elmo fare. Having to skip past the ads in the first segment and stop them at the end of the third is what keeps my review at three stars rather than four.

Rating:
Summary: There is a difference in Elmo tapes!
Review: This tape is especially good, even for Elmo videos, which of course we have every one. My 17 month old loves to sing, dance and "read", so this video is very entertaining. I also think it is cute, and we try to watch it every other day to break up the monotony of Elmo's World.