Violet Voices

Fun DVDs For Kids

By Meredith Efken

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to preview a new DVD series for kids called “On The Farm With Farmer Bob”. It’s from Integrity Family, and is an animated series featuring the voice talents of Amy Grant, Vince Gill, and Randy Travis as barnyard animals who teach kids to read, write, and do the right thing. Each episode is based on a Bible parable.

Obviously, with these musical giants, there’s going to be lots of singing in the videos. The songs are pretty good. Not quite “Silly Songs With Larry” good, but good enough for my girls to catch on and start singing them.

The animation is bright and eye-catching, and there are a few pretty clever parents-only jokes to keep the adults from suffering too much at the kiddie humor. I especially noticed the “Amy Ant” poster on the doghouse wall. Very cute.

My only real complaint is that in typical animated fashion, the main characters are all male. The only barnyard animal that is female is Jenny the Dog (Amy Grant’s character). But Sam the Ram–the main animal character, and Farmer Bob–the “wise adult in charge” figure are both male. As are the rest of the barnyard characters. The only other female in the cast is a vetrinarian named Sally who doesn’t appear to play a large role.

Having two girls, I am constantly looking for movies and DVDs that feature strong, smart female characters that aren’t princesses looking for a prince. Especially in animation, this is nearly impossible to find. You won’t find it in Veggie Tales for sure, and this new On The Farm with Farmer Bob is equally estrogen-challenged.

As a former teacher, I’m hesitant to say that these videos will live up to their promise of teaching kids to read and write. They’re definitely “edutainment” and not home school curriculum. But they’re fun, attention-grabbing videos that are wholesome and entertaining for little ones.

The Fun DVDs For Kids by Violet Voices, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Written By: Meredith Efken
Posted under: On Being a Parent, Stay At Home Parents .  Email This Post