Everyone knows by now that we’re living in an electronic age. Computers, TVs, DVDs, video games and more are everywhere today. Some child experts continue to wag their fingers at parents and suggest they not expose the baby to this too early or too often. Yet, parents continue to ignore them and buy electronic toys for the baby anyway. Why?

Maybe it’s because the parents know something that all those experts don’t. Far from being a way to ignore or pacify your child, electronic toys and video provide new methods of stimulating and educating that young mind. Entertainment doesn’t have to be mindless and learning doesn’t have to be dull. You can have the best of both worlds.

Sesame Street didn’t invent the idea, but they certainly moved it forward a lot. With fun, colorful characters they invited young ones to learn the ABCs, explore new things and enter the wider world. Those characters, like Elmo, continue in today’s contemporary electronic baby toys.

Video can be a way to mesmerize a young one so a parent can have a break. In moderation, that’s not a bad thing. But TV and video can also bring education to whole new levels, while reducing the age at which it begins. With colors, sound effects, music and talking or dancing characters, a baby DVD let’s the young ones experience things they never could otherwise.

Babies as young as 18 months can do simple counting exercises. They’re not aware of the meaning of numbers yet, but they still begin to grasp with the senses how I + I = II, so they later can understand that 1 + 1 = 2. A DVD is one great way to deliver that lesson. At the same time, those new ideas are shown in ways that excite them, stimulate their imaginations and make the experience fun.

But electronics and video go far beyond simply delivering information that is useful without the baby being aware of it. Stimulate the imagination, provide enjoyment and entertainment and exploring becomes something actively sought out, rather than passively accepted.

DVDs, video players, computers and other tools help do that. They provide fun and education in two forms: sensory and emotional.

Giving the child something to interact with stimulates touch, sight and hearing. Exercising the senses encourages the mind to make distinctions in color, pressure, sound and other facets of the world. They learn that the actions they initiate can produce changes. Those basic skills are the beginning of all learning.

At the same time, they’re observing and emulating characters they soon come to love. What child doesn’t respond to Elmo or Thomas the Train as they recite the alphabet or encourage persistence? Seeing them on a DVD or video or the computer gives a very useful and convenient way to provide that experience.

Look into the full range of electronic toys, DVDs and more that are available to give your baby the best, most exciting beginning in life.