Looking for a quick, economical, get-away that's child-friendly? Well, look no farther than the Island of Sodor.
Ok. So its not really travel. But this Thomas & Friends dvd, Engines and Escapades will keep any little train fanatics at your house busy long enough for you to get away to use the bathroom by yourself or raid your secret chocolate stash. What's not to love about that?
In this most recent dvd (priced at $9.99 on Amazon), we meet up with all of the regulars. But we also get to know a new character -- a very helpful and cheerful truck named Madge.
This dvd features six episodes -- Duncan Does It All, Sir Handel in Charge, Cool Truckings, Ding-a-Ling, Skarloey Storms Through and Wash Behind your Buffers. Since our local PBS station no longer features daily episodes of Thomas, these episodes were a big treat.
Thomas isn't a main character in most of these stories, but I don't think that will keep kiddos from watching. In fact, as a parent, it was nice to see some of the other characters featured. This gave way for new lessons to be learned. For example, Thomas doesn't have much of an ego but Sir Handel does. In the second story, Sir Handel is asked to find an engine to complete a certain task. Sir Handel becomes so enamoured with the idea of bossing the other engines around, he loses sight of his objective. Fortunately, he realizes his error before any big problems occur. (Have you ever encountered a "Sir Handel" in the work place? I bet you have!)
The lesson behind each episode is a great opportunity to open up a dialogue between caregiver and child. Its very interesting to see what message a child comes away with. What has been equally as fascinating has been how Seth's interpretation of the lesson has changed as he's gotten older.
Another great thing about the dvd, as well as most other Thomas & Friends episodes, is the different vocabulary children are exposed to. How often would a child hear the terms "buffer" or or "narrow gauge engine" otherwise?
All-in-all, a great dvd for the little transportation buff in your life.
This review was written on behalf of Parent Bloggers Network.
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