Bop along with the Bopalots – They grow on you!

I’ll admit it. At first I was not sure what the big deal was with the Bopalots. I mean, yeah they are kinda cute and blobby, and my kids love music. But we have a ton of song and dance videos. What was so special about this one?
And why was my son asking to watch it again and again? Was there some kind of subliminal message?
Well no. Not really. But something along those lines. The DVD was definitely stimulating our brains in a novel way. It was only as I was listening to a version of Old Macdonald that made me want to do a belly dance, with its exotic eastern rhythms, did I wake up and smell the difference between this DVD and all the others. It’s truly a multicultural, developmental, thought provoking experience. With a spoonful of Sugar Bop.
The way that the dvd “works” aside from being cute and amusing, is that it first presents a song that we all know and love. Something like If you’re happy and you know it. We see children dancing and singing and clapping their hands, interspersed with the animated characters’ antics. And then we hear the song again – only this time its a little different. Perhaps it is a rockabilly version, with a faster beat. By the third time we hear the song its very different – and yet still vaguely familiar. The tempo has changed and the instruments , such a didgeridoo, are unfamiliar to the average young listener’s ear.
So what’s the big deal? Well, there is none, as far as my son is concerned. He just loves the characters and the music. But by watching this dvd he is expanding his horizons, and forging new ways of thinking, without even noticing. While dancing! I can almost see the brain cells multiplying.
We won’t tell him that Huggy Bop and friends are so good for his brain.We’ll just let him watch this one again and again. Because aside from being very educational. It is also that one thing that all parents love in a DVD. Much, much less annoying than Barney!