When a copy of Tara's Music Magic - Snuggles in Scotland popped through the door recently, 2-year-old Pierre instantly grabbed it and ran to the DVD player. Not knowing what to expect at all, I popped in the disc, pushed play and settled back to see what he - and I - would think.
The DVD reminds me a bit of Balamory with appealing real-life characters - in particular Tara, who does all the singing and much of the commentary - children, animals and Scottish landscapes, but also a cute larger-than-life panda called Snuggles who gets up to all sorts of adventures which kept making Pierre smile. The DVD features twenty songs, some well-known and some new ones, all of which have a certain CBeebies feel that kids will instantly recognise and that won't drive you mad as a parent after you've sat through numerous reruns !
Pierre immediately laid on the settee and calmly watched the whole DVD from beginning to end, every now and then grinning, wiggling his legs or nodding his head in time to the music ! His favourite seemed to be the infectious "Wiggle To Get Warm", and few times he started singing or humming along, which was incredibly cute as he sounded just like the Gremlins singing (if you're old enough to remember that 80's classic !).
It's obviously a really low-budget production but I think that adds to the charm, getting back to basics (and the programmes I remember from my youth) and showing kids real life situations that they will recognise. The creators explain : "Our DVD ‘Snuggles in Scotland’ was filmed in Aberdeenshire and includes Tara our presenter, a giant panda called Snuggles, children and real animals. The emphasis for making this DVD was that we thought there was nothing available to children 0-5 years that was showing children dancing and playing outdoors with simple, fun, accessible toys such as a simple fishing net!"
I love this "back to simplicity" concept and just one look at not only 2-year-old Pierre but also 7-year-old Juliette glued to the screen, giggling and dancing along, shows that they do too. The whole DVD only lasts about half an hour and every time we watch it, Pierre asks to watch it again as soon as it's finshed. I usually click through to the track listing and play a couple of his favourite songs again.
If you want to get a feel for the DVD, you can discover a couple of the songs here.
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £8
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I really like the sound of this for my youngest and yes I am old enough to remember Gizmo's singing, it was so sweet!
ReplyDeleteAww this sounds lovely and retro!
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