Basic Tasks, Ballet Lesson on Video

Two worthy “show-me” videocassettes help reduce high anxiety in children who face new experiences. One is for preschoolers struggling to learn basic tasks, the other for a slightly older child interested in ballet.

Belt buckling, jacket donning, hand washing, buttoning and unbuttoning, even making a peanut butter sandwich--all the frustrating chores so mystifying to little fingers are made easier to understand in “Preschool Power! Jacket Flips & Other Tips.”

Real kids, ages 2 1/2 to 5, demonstrate everything from untwisting the tie on a loaf of bread, to zipping up, feeding a pet, cleaning up a spill and wiping a runny nose. It’s not all work in this musical video--interspersed throughout are jokes and exercises for viewers to bop around to.

Not a creative masterpiece, the narration is gooey and the music uninspired, but the video’s practical, child-empowering information earns high marks and far outweighs its artistic flaws.

Concept Associates; $14.95 for families, $19.95 for day care or preschools. Information: (800) 333-8252.

The 30-minute “I Can Dance!” video falls in the same practical category. Narrated, demonstrated and produced by ballet teacher Debra Maxwell, it’s short on imagination but scores with a demystifying look at what a child can expect from a first ballet lesson.

A young girl shyly attends her first class, learning basic positions, French terminology and some beginning steps, straightforwardly presented so that viewers can easily follow along. There are a few comments from children in the class (including one boy) about how ballet helps coordination and concentration, and how athletes use it as part of their training.

There’s not much life in the presentation, but there’s fun in the doing and Maxwell is reassuring and responsible in showing young children what they can accomplish their first time out.

The video, actually an introduction to a series, stands alone as a bare basics preview/review and can be useful in helping children make up their minds about lessons before Mom signs ‘em up.

JCI Video; $9.95. Information: (800) 223-7479.