My First Activity Video; My First Cooking Video; My First Nature Video; My First Science Video

Based on the popular children's book series, this excellent set of children's "how-to's introduce children aged 4-10 to a cornucopia of activities ranging from cooking quiche to making a magnetic fishing pond. Each program uses a simple, easy-to-follow format: for each project, a list of items/ingredients are shown, followed by step-by-step instructions for completing the task. In My First Activity Video, kids make masks, pasta jewelry, decorated eggs, paper flowers, envelope puppets, Halloween lanterns, paper pottery, and a printing press. In My First Cooking Video, the little galloping gourmets try their hands at bread, potato "boats," pizza, pastries, quiche, fruit tarts, ice cream sundaes, spice cakes, chocolate truffles, and more. Not exactly what you'd call low-fat recipes, these concoctions look a lot better than sprouts and tofu. My First Nature Video offers children a slew of exciting projects which will help them understand and appreciate the natural world: making display cases for rocks and leaves, growing bean sprouts, designing a bird feeder, building a caterpillar house, making tree and leaf etchings, starting a bottle garden, making a worm farm, and creating plaster of paris footprints of pets, among others. Finally, My First Science Video features over a dozen science projects for children, including: magic balloons (designed to demonstrate static electricity), a "bottle" volcano (action of water at different temperatures), a weather station (with a weather vane, barometer, and rain gauge), shadow puppets, making music with water-filled containers, simple chemistry experiments, a fingerprint kit, magnet tricks, and more. Although these programs lack the personal touch of an onscreen instructor, they are still excellent resources for children which offer good close-up instruction, and a strong emphasis on safety and cleaning up after oneself. Affordably priced and colorfully packaged, the "My First Video" series is highly recommended. My First Science Video is an Editor's Choice. (Available from most distributors.)