Athletic Baby Soccer

I was asked by The Parent Bloggers to review another product. I was so excited to see that it was for an Athletic Baby video. My 6 year old son plays soccer, so I was positive my 3 year old would love it. I put on some sweat pants,got out a soccer ball, turned on the video and got....a boy who sat on the couch and asked for some food so he could watch the video. Since the video is trying to promote energetic play and physical activity, I wasn't really expecting him to react this way. I was expecting us to have a great time kicking the soccer ball around and being sort of wild.

He sat and watched the entire video, and made some comments about different things, so it seemed as if he was enjoying it. After it was over, he asked why they didn't explain soccer to him. It was then that it finally occurred to me that the problem might not be with the video, but with my son. He has a very long attention span, not typical for his age. He also gets interested in something and needs to know every single fact there is about that particular thing. He speaks like an encyclopedia on any subject he is interested in. Since this video was supposed to be fun and not super educational, he didn't enjoy it.

I wanted to be able to give an honest but fair review, so I decided to try the video on the two year old boy I watch several days a week. Same scenario, I put on some sweat pants, got out the soccer ball and turned on the movie. The boy I watch immediately started kicking the ball around and imitating what the kids in the movie were doing. He was giggling, running and playing. He was having fun. This is what I had expected from the video! He loved the very things that turned my son off to it. The scenes are fast paced, there is always something new to look at. My son hates things like this, but "regular" kids love it. It seemed almost to have a Sesame Street feel to it but with everything focused on soccer.

My son does not like Sesame Street because he doesn't have enough time with every scene. My little man asked a million questions about every scene that were never explained (such as Did they get a goal? Why are they all green? Why aren't they explaining it?) the other boy that I watched it with was just having fun and running around playing. My son analyzed every scene and asked why they chose to do this particular scene in slow motion or fast motion, and the boy I watch just had fun (are you picking up on the pattern yet?)

It's possible that at three years old, my son was just too old for it, but I would be willing to bet that it is just the type of kid he is that made him not as excited about it. My son did sit and watch it, and actually loved the scene with the soccer dog in it. The boy I watch loved the entire video! When his mom dropped him off the next morning, she asked what soccer video he was talking about because he kept asking if he could watch it again. She is going to buy every video they make because her son loved it so much.

One thing I read in the press release was that a portion of the proceeds is donated to charity organizations promoting children's sports programs. That makes me very happy. I love the idea of introducing kids to active sports at an early age. The premise that exposing kids to these videos showing sports will make them more interested in them later seems valid. Because my kids have been exposed to both my husband and I doing triathlons since they were extremely little, they just think that is what people do. My kids expect everyone to be busy training for triathlons and going on fun triathlon vacations all summer. The Athletic Baby videos seem to be a great way to show kids that sports can be fun and that any age can participate at some level. I am not super crazy about my kids watching TV and being sedentary, so a video that forces them to be active and have fun is great for a cold winter day when we are stuck inside!

To wrap it up, my son isn't great at having fun, so this was not his cup of tea. The boy I watch is excellent at having fun, so he loved it. I think the idea of the video to make kids more active is a good one. It isn't going to teach you how to play soccer, but you will probably have a lot of fun with your child...unless your child is like mine...then you need to go borrow a kid who actually knows how to have fun and watch it with that kid.