When borrowing a movie from the library, most people seem to want the latest blockbusters or something by way of children’s television shows to keep the troops busy while grown-ups take care of business. How about trying some family viewing that’s a little out of the ordinary when making your video selections?
Our Children’s department offers a large and varied collection of non-fiction videos, some of which will open your eyes to fresh experiences and fill you with a sense of wonder. Others will teach you a craft or skill you always wanted to learn. Yet more may explain something you’ve always questioned but never got an answer for, whether it concerns events or people in history, how something works, or what it’s like in places you’ve never been.
For instance, we have many DisneyNature, National Geographic, Eyewitness, and family-friendly PBS videos. Of special note are Mysteries of the Unseen World, a Blu-ray that reveals phenomena all around us that is invisible to the naked eye; Animal Odd Couples, which celebrates heart-warming friendships among different species; and visually stunning IMAX films that open our eyes to the glorious natural wonders of the Earth, such as Ring of Fire, Tropical Rain Forest, and Deep Blue Sea.
Are you interested in learning sign language, origami, or how to play the drums? Are you coaching children’s baseball, basketball, lacrosse or soccer and need some drills for practice? Are you an educator or home-schooling parent who would be helped by science, math, and history videos that teach and reinforce skills vital to the Common Core (our Schlessinger Media films even include booklets that aid in creating lesson plans)? Curious about the lives of the famous (or infamous)? We have DVDs that cover all of these subjects and more!
Short historical documentaries and biographies (10-15 minutes long) are also available at the end of each episode of George Lucas’s Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, a television series that covers Indy’s exploits from ten years old to young adulthood. He encounters revolutionaries, inventors, artists, writers, idealists, criminals, and other major historical figures while participating in world changing events. This special features option expands on topics and people Indy meets, and even includes an interactive timeline.
Also, as parents, we don’t always have the answers to child rearing dilemmas. Our Parenting Collection videos can come to the rescue! Notable experts have created films that cover a wide range of subjects, such as potty training, the vaccination debate, sleep solutions, child development, discipline, learning about and living with differently-abled family members, grieving, and divorce. Newly pregnant couples have access to resources that ease the transition from pregnancy into parenthood, including exercise and breastfeeding. Babies can learn about their world with our Baby Genius videos. Family vacations can be planned, and experienced with ease as well, by watching our Travel with Kids series.
Whether they are informing us about our world in an entertaining fashion or creating a way to share an “I didn’t know that!” moment with our families, non-fiction videos are a great alternative to the usual and the ordinary.