Move It and Lose It!

With days soon to get shorter, kids may well need a little help staying active while indoors. Several new multimedia releases look to help in that endeavor, offering music and videos to which children can move along. Others go so far as to serve up songs that help children’s brains while still making their butts shake. And for kids who need a workout on their inner beauty, there are even a few releases here designed for that purpose, too.

Motivational speaker, author and “edu-tainer” Shawn Brown brings his high-energy act to DVD in The Super Fun Show! ($14.98), from Role Model Productions, Atlanta. The title combines upbeat songs with encouragement to get up and get moving in order to foster motor skills development, increase aerobic activity and expose kids ages 3 and up to basic concepts like counting and facts about dinosaurs.

Created in partnership with noted “Conscious Discipline” workshop leader Dr. Becky Bailey, Brain Boogie Boosters ($15), from The Learning Station, Melbourne, Fla., offers 19 brain boosting activities set to music, including stop-and-go activities designed to improve kids’ attention spans, breathing and stretching songs to disengage the stress response, and “connecting” songs created to enhance kids’ impulse control skills.

The heroes of Big Idea’s 3-2-1 Penguins! television series return to DVD this month in 3-2-1 Penguins!: Save the Planets!, ($14.93) from Genius Products, Santa Monica, Calif. It features three episodes from the Qubo-aired series that follow the intergalactic adventures of two kids and four space-traveling penguins dedicated to responding to distress calls from across the galaxy, learning life lessons and values along the way. Its launch will be supported by promotions at several restaurant chains and other national marketing initiatives.

Porchlight Home Entertainment, Los Angeles, next month releases Katakune ($12.98), a feature-length edition of the Animania HD preschool series of the same name. The DVD explores topics like making friends, responsibility, safety and kindness through the experiences of a 7-year-old silkworm living in a 3-D animated world.

Strawberry Shortcake gets into the sing-your-way-to-stardom game in her latest DVD release, Strawberry Shortcake Rockaberry Roll ($14.98) from Fox Home Entertainment, Burbank, Calif. In it, Strawberry Shortcake and her fruit-flavored friends form the Strawberry Jam Band in order to enter a local talent show. After a sour audition, the friends learn the value of teamwork. Bonus features include a character gallery memory book, printable coloring pages and a Strawberry Jam music video.

Children’s eco-music group The Banana Slug String Band brings its time-tested mix of lively music and oddball fun to its tenth CD, We All Live Downstream ($15), on its own Santa Cruz, Calif.-based imprint. Its 10 songs introduce listeners to watershed ecology and the issues surrounding the continued health of wetlands and the sources of civilization’s drinking water.

Fitness for kids empressario Roger G returns to DVD for his third title, Hip Hop for Kids: School House Hop! ($19.50), from Jumping Fish Productions, Westport, Conn. The title introduces kids to an assortment of the latest hip hop dance moves in a easy to follow, step-by-step process led by Roger G and a team of young dancers. For added verity, it was filmed in a high school.