More harm than good?

"It turns out that popular baby videos don't create geniuses, and may even hinder development. University of Washington researchers warned in a report released Tuesday that Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby and other videos for infants may make a child slower in picking up vocabulary in the first two years of life. Every hour babies spent watching videos, they understood an average of six to eight fewer words than a baby who didn't watch the programs, researchers found."

For the rest of the article, go here. Mom also talked about it a bit and referred to the TIME Magazine article at our blog, Playful Childhood.

ok, I must admit, I'm a little prejudiced. I've never been a fan of the Baby Einstein series for a number of reasons. Instead, as Meltzoff, one of the co-directors of the UW's Institute of Learning and Brain Sciences and co-author of the study says, "We would suggest quietly and (carefully) slip the DVDs and VHS in the top drawer and take out the pots and pans and lipsticks and keys and telephones that the children so adore playing with."

Actively engaging our children is much more work than letting them passively sit in front of the television, but the benefits are tremendous. Sometimes I think we just need a little inspiration to get us moving in the right direction (or at least that usually seems to help me!) Mom and I are finally getting up and running with our new blog. We hope to report new research in the field of child development as well as to give practical tips on how we as mom's (and grandma's!) can engage our children in the magical realm of play where their best learning occurs.