Penny's Birthday
Penny's Birthday Party - Interactive DVD
I am the head of a nursery school in Sheffield and when first asked to review this product I approached it with a fair amount of skepticism. I had never heard of 'interactive DVD', Early Years Entertainment or Wigglebottom Farm. The names did grab my attention somewhat. I felt that should have I should already heard of Early Years Entertainment and Wigglebottom Farm sounded quite nice. As for interactive DVD I had no idea. I didn't even know my DVD player was interactive. I had always thought interactive came from a PC or satellite TV.
I liked what I saw on the packaging, strong, bold yet simple images. The information on the box told me who it was aimed at, "early learners" and what it was going to cover, "helps your child practise skills they learn in their formal education". Everything seemed positive enough.
My first thoughts when reviewing the DVD privately were that this may be a little slow and pedantic. I liked the fact that it was a stroybook and not animation, straight forward imagery is a rarity today. I was unsure about the regional accents of the characters (a Yorkshire pig, a Cockney fox and a Liverpudlian spider to name 3, there are 10 characters in all!) and on the surface it did seem rather long. I was looking forward to showing the children because as a teacher I could certainly see more plus points than minuses. I was a little worried that the children would lose interest, if they were interested at all. It did cover all the areas it claimed to cover and I liked the idea of including PSE material.
I didn't really know what to expect when I let my 32 little ones loose on it. All I can say is 'never, ever, judge a book by its cover'! They all loved it from the very start. Within 2 minutes all my skepticism had vanished completely. I sat at the back of the room and watched 32 little people get totally engaged by something they had never seen before. With very little input from me they were spellbound. It got instant attention. The children loved the characters and they grew on me as I watched the children reaction to them. The gentle voice of the narrator ensured good listening. Each one wanted to 'interact' with the DVD and after only a couple of attempts they all managed to use the remote control (which did surprise me). Whenever a question came on they all rushed to the screen, pointing and shouting out the answers. At the end of each character's task the animal sings a little song to a traditional nursery rhyme tune. I found myself singing "Cups and saucers, spoons and bowls..." to London Bridge Is Falling Down for the rest of the afternoon. It was very powerful stuff. At several stages I asked if anyone wanted to leave the room and nobody did. At the end of the session they asked "can we watch Wigglebottom Farm again!"
The interactive sections are very cleverly woven into the story. The children want the characters to hold a party for Penny so they want to help. There was no disengagement when these came on. They were all shouting "my go next" or "can I do it". The DVD covers Stepping Stones leading to Early Learning Goals as set out in the Curriculum Guidance and Foundation Stage. The areas covered were words, matching, shapes, numbers, colours and just for added value a jigsaw puzzle (I don't know anyone who does not like jigsaw puzzles). The level of difficulty was fairly well balanced so even the youngest of the group could try and answer. Even when they got it wrong they were encouraged to try again by the narrator and not one of them got frustrated or fed up.
One of the things that really surprised me was that the section of the story where the characters do their little bit came in a different order when I played it at home. Also the games within the stories had different questions too. It is different everytime you play it, which adds another dimension and one which I think is great. Which character will you get next?
I never knew that a DVD could do this. I am not in anyway technically minded but I thought I knew what DVDs were for i.e. watching. Not any more. The idea of engaging children away from the computer/internet and in the family living room is very clever and I am sure it will work for every parent out there. Early Years Entertainment, through Wigglebottom Farm, have made the DVD player come alive.
My only critisms are that after the party the story labours on a little, but this did not affect the children's enjoyment. Although the children managed the remote control something bigger and less cluttered would be helpful.
I am amazed if the truth be known. I've been in nursery education for many years and thought I had seen it all. At this stage in their lives children learn through play and Wigglebottom Farm certainly does this. I would strongly recommend this product and have done to all my children's parents.
Tina Eagleton, June 2005