Baby Mozart is a wonderful video designed for
children aged 1-36 months. The vivid colors, interesting and bright toys, and
colorful scenes are all set to the music of Mozart. This video is beautifully
choreographed, with video sequences that nicely interpret the music. It is based
on research that listening to musical works like Mozart actually stimulates brain
development, especially in the area of spatial intelligence which affects mathematical
and engineering ability.
But Baby Mozart is not only stimulating on an auditory level —
it is also a visual feast for young children. The combination of both visual
and auditory stimuli is powerful. I feel that it can help enhance creativity
— children watch as the actions of various toys and objects seem to express
the ups and downs of the music being played.
The visuals consist of bright toys, hand puppets, flickering star candles,
common foods, mobiles, and even a metronome with an interesting shape attached
to it. Everything flows together seamlessly, with a video version of page-turning.
The audio is crisp and clear and the sound effects are delightful. That this
video was developed by an informed stay-at-home mom is evident in the care taken
to choose the most visually appealing objects.
Because there are no words in Baby Mozart, it is easy for parents to
name objects, colors, and identify concepts whenever they wish. The audio component
consists mostly of carefully chosen music of Mozart, but also contains natural
sound effects as well as whimsical ones with just the right exaggeration and
drama that children in the targeted age group will undoubtedly love.
Most parents have heard of The Mozart Effect or about the many studies of
how music affects the brain. The works of Mozart specifically have been shown
to improve spatial reasoning in young children. Other studies have shown that
confidence and leadership abilities are also enhanced by exposure to music.
Although all 3 videos in the Baby Einstein series are delightful, Baby
Mozart is a personal favorite. Never have I seen my 2 year old daughter
so animated over a video before. She was dancing and spinning along with the
music, identifying names of objects, and laughing at some of the silly sound
effects. Unlike the usual vacant look that seems to go hand in hand with most
videos for children of this age, Baby Mozart seems to have a stimulating
effect. Our one year old "tester" clapped and clearly enjoyed the
video.
This is the second video title coming from the Baby Einstein Company, a company
clearly devoted to producing lovely developmental videos based on current research
on early brain development and stimulation. The first title, Baby Einstein,
is similar in design with one of the exceptions being the audio component features
mothers speaking and singing in 7 different languages, in addition to some music
and natural sound effects. Baby Bach, the third title from the company,
is most similar to Baby Mozart because it features a mostly musical soundtrack.
There also exists an audio CD and cassette based on the Baby Mozart
video. We are using this CD as gently stimulating background music when my kids
are playing quietly or doing art work. Babies and toddlers familiar with the
Baby Mozart video may enjoy hearing the music from their favorite video
played without the visuals from time to time — I would venture a guess
that this could be a powerful way to enhance memory in young children.
Please see our reviews of Baby Einstein
and Baby Bach.
