toys and entertainment

The best baby educational DVDs

Our top picks of baby educational DVDs

Top 5 baby educational DVDs

Our favourite baby educational DVDs around now

Why buy one?

OK, so there’s no hard evidence that watching a DVD can aid your baby’s educational development, but there’s certainly no harm in letting them enjoy the excitement and stimulation it gives from time to time. Use it as form of entertainment (with hopefully of bit of learning thrown in) that can keep little ones occupied when you’re on the move travelling or out and about.

What to spend

This type of DVD can vary in price from a few pounds up to around £20 for a box set. You can also pick them up second-hand on sites like eBay and Amazon, but the quality and condition might not be as good.

What to look for

Depending on the age of your child there are several different types of content to choose, from baby signing to learning letters, numbers and shapes. It might be worth shelling out for a box set for a bit of variety, as playing the same DVD constantly can get a little boring!

Baby Einstein Beethoven 250Baby Beethoven Symphony of fun, £14.99, Baby Einstein

Baby Einstein DVDs are designed to stimulate your baby’s growing senses by exposing them to classical music, art and colours. This edition focuses on the music of Beethoven, with five of his most popular symphonies set to engaging images of colours, toys and babies playing.

Leapfrog numbers and shapes 250Learn numbers and shapes, £3, Leapfrog

With three adventures in one, this DVD is great value and full of educational entertainment for pre-schoolers. Join Scout the popular Leapfrog character, plus his friends Lily and Tad on adventures that call on their number, shape and counting skills to help solve clues and save the day.

Alphablocks 250Box set, £14.99, Alphablocks

If your child is nearly old enough to start school, then getting them familiar with phonics can be a big help in getting them prepared. This bumper box set of five DVDs contains the entire Alphablocks series, which is Cbeebies popular phonics programme, ideal for helping your child on their reading journey.

Something Special 250Something Special Box set, £13.73

Everyone loves Mr Tumble! This eight-disc set has over 20 hours of adventures for your child to join him on. The programmes are made for those with special communication needs in mind, and use the Makaton system of signing, but all children will enjoy them.

Singing Hands 250It’s signing time, £12. Singing Hands

Teaching baby signing to very young children can help to encourage early communication skills, for example signing simple words such as ‘hello’, ‘thirsty’ and ‘hungry’. In this DVD the Singing Hands team have gathered together all their most popular songs to sing and sign along to with your child.

The best baby educational DVDs