Juno Baby - Make Music Their First Language

Interacting with Indie's Great Teddy Bear Hunt DVD (Part III) - Problem Solving for infants, toddlers, and babies

Chapters 4 and 5 of Juno Baby's Indie's Great Teddy Bear Hunt

In this chapter, Indie finds himself on top of a mountain with Bunny waiting.  After singing a duet about Echos, Indie is reminded that he has some work to do - he has to find Teddy!  In an effort to pry some information out of Bunny, Indie futilely tries complimenting Bunny and her new coo coo clock hat.  But Bunny is no dummy.  She forces Indie to listen to the three clues and the audience is asked to help him out.  Here are a few ideas on how to interact further with the chapter:   

- For younger babies, try hiding something behind your back and have it peek-a-boo from the same side several times. Make it predictable and see if your baby begins to anticipate where the item will be coming from.

- For older babies and toddlers, reverse the roles and have them hide something for you to find - perhaps a teddy bear or plush doll of their own. For older toddlers, have them create hints for you. See if they can make each hint progressively harder. This will teach critical thinking and reverse problem solving.

- Create your own little treasure hunt. Hide something fun around the house (such as a favorite snack or little treat) and give clues for each place. Start with easy clues and get progressively harder. For example, if you’re hiding something behind a green sofa, you can say “it’s behind something green, long, and something that people sit on”.

- Many parents are looking to give their toddlers a head start when it comes to reading, counting, or arithmetic. Giving them a treasure hunt is an excellent way to make it fun. For example, if you’re trying to teach phonics, one clue might be “what is the first letter of the word ‘Teddy’”. Or, what is the last letter of the word “Ball”.  If teaching arithmetic/counting, one clue might be “What number comes before 7” or “If I have two toys and Daddy gives me one more, how many will I have”. Each correct answer leads to a new clue.

- In chapter four, Indie is hunting for his teddy bear on a mountain. Talk about the image of the mountain and all of the other hiding places it could be. Have them name as many things they can think of on a mountain. Break them down in terms of animals (e.g. mountain goats), plants (e.g. a tree), or things (e.g. a rock).

- For the other items listed in the scene (e.g. bush and rock), have your baby or toddler give you clues or give them clues of your own. 

-Have fun with My Echo - Echo your little one shouting something funny.  Then try and reverse it and have her try and repeat after you.  It's a fun way to learn about dynamics (softer echos) and pitch!

Indie’s Great Teddy Bear Hunt was the winner of Dr. Toy’s Top 10 DVDs for 2007, Parent’s Choice Award, iParenting, and an Emmy Award for Best Original Music. For more information on the DVD, please visit our website and click “watch a preview” to see a trailer of the DVD. Also, if you join the Juno Baby club, you will instantly receive a 10% coupon code and be automatically entered to win our free monthly giveaway.

Languages: English, French, and Spanish
Original Music: (All performed by orchestral musicians) Pop!, My Echo, Ocean.  For samples, click on the music player to the left.
Classical Music: Mozart, Strauss, Dvorak
Content: Interactivity based on study published in the American Behavioral Scientist
Bonus: Language Flash Cards and Let’s Interact

Interacting with Indie's Great Teddy Bear Hunt DVD (Part II) - understanding progression of music for toddlers and babies

Chapters 3 of Juno Baby's Indie's Great Teddy Bear Hunt

In this chapter, we find a frustrated baby bird sitting on the bottom branch of a tree.  He is jumping up in the air trying to fly, but does not yet know how.  Fortunately, he has the support of three older friends who fly by to help out.  All together, the five branches make up what may resemble a music scale.  A Strauss piece (The Emperor Waltz  Mvt. 1) accompanies the bird's friends as they hop and fly from branch to branch following the exact melody of the piece.  After the piece builds and the rest of the orchestra joins in, the little baby bird is lifted by his friends high into the clouds and starts a dance of his own.  While there is no participation elicited from this scene, there are several ways you and your toddler can learn about music together:

-Try drawing a scale and show visually how Do Re and Mi move up, while Mi Re Do move down.

-Turn your body into a scale of its own.  Have your child sit down on the ground.  When she does, sing a low note.  Then, have her kneel, stand halfway up, all the way up, and even jump in the air to get you to sing different notes corresponding to her movements (bonus - this may make nap time all the more easier!)

-Switch gears and have your little one conduct you.  Since I'm guessing we're all not as energetic as our children, use your hand to show a level.  Start low and gradually move up the "scale" until they get the hang of it.  Then, feel free to vary it up!

-If you have a piano, it may be fun to quiz your toddler into guessing the higher note.  If you don't have a piano, your voice will do just as well.  Start with two and ask them which note was higher (or lower).  Don't be surprised if this is tricky for them at first.  It may take them quite a while to be able to recognize the relative differences.  If you find you have a musical prodigy on your hands, try playing three or four notes.  If the game is easy for them, you might try playing a three note chord and have them pick out the middle note (if they can do that one at such a young age, give us a call us - we may be hiring). 

Indie’s Great Teddy Bear Hunt was the winner of Dr. Toy’s Top 10 DVDs for 2007, Parent’s Choice Award, iParenting, and an Emmy Award for Best Original Music. For more information on the DVD, please visit our website and click “watch a preview” to see a trailer of the DVD. Also, if you join the Juno Baby club, you will instantly receive a 10% coupon code and be automatically entered to win our free monthly giveaway.

Languages: English, French, and Spanish
Original Music: (All performed by orchestral musicians) Pop!, My Echo, Ocean.  For samples, click on the music player to the left.
Classical Music: Mozart, Strauss, Dvorak
Content: Interactivity based on study published in the American Behavioral Scientist
Bonus: Language Flash Cards and Let’s Interact

Interacting with Indie's Great Teddy Bear Hunt DVD (Part I) - problem solving, phonics, counting, early arithmetic for babies and toddlers

Chapters 1 and 2 of Juno Baby's Indie's Great Teddy Bear Hunt

In these two chapters, Indie embarks on his great teddy bear hunt as Juno and the gang help him along by giving him three hints at each new place he visits. While your child is invited to answer some of the clues given to Indie at each new place, there are several ways to use the material as a springboard for further interaction and play between parent and child. Some examples are the following: 

- For younger babies, try hiding something behind your back and have it peek-a-boo from the same side several times. Make it predictable and see if your baby begins to anticipate where the item will be coming from. Also, try playing peek-a-boo along with the Pop song and pop out behind your hands during each “pop”.

- For older babies and toddlers, reverse the roles and have them hide something for you to find - perhaps a teddy bear or stuffed animal of their own. For older toddlers, have them create hints for you. See if they can make each hint progressively harder. This will teach critical thinking and reverse problem solving.

- Create your own little treasure hunt. Hide something fun around the house (such as a favorite snack or little treat) and give clues for each place. Start with easy clues and get progressively harder. For example, if you’re hiding something behind a blue sofa, you can say “it’s behind something blue, long, and something that people sit on”.

- Many parents are looking to give their toddlers a head start when it comes to reading, counting, or arithmetic. Giving them a treasure hunt is an excellent way to make it fun. For example, if you’re trying to teach phonics, one clue might be “what is the first letter of the word ‘Teddy’”. Or, what is the last letter of the word “Ball”.  If teaching arithmetic/counting, one clue might be “What number comes before 8” or “If I have one toy and Daddy gives me two more, how many will I have”. Each correct answer leads to a new clue.

- In chapter two, Indie is hunting for his teddy bear in the forest. Talk about the image of the forest and all of the other hiding places it could be. Have them name as many things they can think of in a forest. Break them down in terms of animals (e.g. deer), plants (e.g. a tree), or things (e.g. a cabin).

- For the other items listed in the scene (e.g. pine cone and grass), have your baby or toddler give you clues or give them clues of your own.  

Languages: English, French, and Spanish
Original Music: (All performed by orchestral musicians) Pop!, My Echo, Ocean.  For samples, click on the music player to the left.
Classical Music: Mozart, Strauss, Dvorak
Content: Interactivity based on study published in the American Behavioral Scientist
Bonus: Language Flash Cards and Let’s Interact

Indie’s Great Teddy Bear Hunt was the winner of Dr. Toy’s Top 10 DVDs for 2007, Parent’s Choice Award, iParenting, and an Emmy Award for Best Original Music. For more information on the DVD, please visit our website and click “watch a preview” to see a trailer of the DVD. Also, if you join the Juno Baby club, you will instantly receive a 10% coupon code and be automatically entered to win our free monthly giveaway.