Praises & Smiles

Studies over the last 20 years have shown that music can have a dramatic positive influence on a baby's developmental process. As a result, there have been many products available that encourage the intellectual development of infants and toddlers.

"The Praise Baby Collection: Music for Baby's Spirit and Mind" and the collection's first release, "Praises and Smiles," provides parents with the first developmentally appropriate CD, DVD and video series that creates a nurturing environment for an infant's spiritual and intellectual development.

Combining popular praise and worship songs with colorful real world objects, "Praises and Smiles" will actively engage the baby's spirit and mind, stimulating early learning in the areas of tactile, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual development. This inaugural release in the Praise Baby Collection combines animated and real-life images with contemporary praise and worship songs to engage a baby's mind and spirit. Based on research that music enhances an infant's brain development, this softly sung collection of 10 arrangements--including hymns "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"--is meant to lay a foundation for a child's lifelong faith journey, as well as stimulate tactile, cognitive, and spatial learning. A standout feature is the ability to hear a song in three versions; whether with a female lead vocal, with a child lead vocal, or as a soothing instrumental. Accompanying the tender melodies are gently paced scenes of colors, shapes, animals, and toddlers. In one, clouds slowly form letters and numbers; in another, soap bubbles become a tulip garden. Later, a circle morphs into a human face. There are no voiceovers or written words on the screen, though the message of God's love is clearly and beautifully communicated. (Ages 9 months to 3 years) --Lynn Gibson