I very seldom call a baby toy/video/game/book magic but I'm telling you, that's what eebee is.
Eebee adventures (follow on Twitter), an award winning and Parenting Magazine approved TV, DVD, toy and book series from Sterling Publishing, recently announced the release of eebee's Mix & Mash adventures, the first cook-with-your-baby book and DVD.
I know what you might be thinking..."so is eebee like another Baby Einstein series?" My answer is that it's so much more than that. It's not a video where you sit your child in front of the screen and expect or hope that they "get smarter" just by watching. While it's fun for a child to watch the goofy eebee and the bright colors, it's a learning experience for parents as Krsity, eebee's "mom" models developmentally appropriate activities that you can do with your children to build their cognitive and physical ability.
As Dr. Geroge Forman, Ph.D, University of Massacres, states in the accompanying DVD, the eebee adventures series has a "curriculum embedded in ordinary moments." Simply stated-the everyday activities, from flicking a light switch to pouring water out of a bucket, are all learning experiences for your child. And the eebee adventures family has added to their library the interactive cookbook which is now available online or in your neighborhood Barnes and Noble.
I have been feeding Maddy "real food" for over 8 months now after she started pushing the baby food jars away from me. While she is still experimenting with textures and tastes, she certainly has her favorites: pretzels, green beans, turkey hot dogs, waffles and salmon! And so I was excited when I was contacted to sample and review the new cookbook. And I'm not exaggerating: When I opened the package and Maddy saw eebee on the cover, she got sooooo excited! Needless to say, the DVD went directly into the player!
In order to speed things along here, I've organized my "likes" into bullet points:
- The recipes start with a healthy main ingredient accompanied by other spices and grains.
- My favorite: Sweet Potato chips with optional spice suggestions like cumin, oregano or parsley
- The recipes on the DVD are set up like a talk show segment with Parents TV host Juli Auclair (follow on Twitter) and eebee's "mom" Kristy Glass (follow on Twitter) leading the cooking demonstration
- Each recipe demo is acompanied by helpful tidbits about the overall nutrition of the meal
- Kristy models how to include your baby in the food prep process from mix to munch!
- The avocado recipe: Kristy lets eebee feel the texture of the fruit which is an example of how to give your baby a tactile food experience.
Even though it may be easier just to throw food together at meal time (and believe me, when a toddler is at your knees whining for her morning snack, meal prep is not an option), taking the time to make the food together helps your baby develop motor skills and creates a tactile learning experience as well as provides an opportunity to model words and phrases for your growing baby.
Beyond the educational science behind the cookbook, the actual book itself is an oversized and colorful collection of fun meal ideas. Each of the 6 recipes include fun rhymes, vibrant photos of eebee with real babies modeling acitivites that you can do with your own. Take a cue from the colors of each main ingredient which are incorporated into the design of each page. With eebee's cookbook, it's not just about making food-it's about the multi-level learning experiences that present themselves.
"Playful, creative , and smart, eebee's Mix & Mash adventures is the perfect solution for families who want to start building good nutritional habits from the very beginning," notes Today Show nutrition expert, Joy Bauer.
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