My four year old daughter has Amblyopia, or lazy eye, which is treated through the use of an eye patch. She isn't wild about wearing her eye patch, but she sure does love The Eye Patch Kids. A DVD that is aimed at helping kids with Amblyopia get over patching hurdles.

The DVD was created by Kelly Harmsen - a mother of a child with Amblyopia - her son fought wearing an eye patch. So, Kelly - a hairdresser by trade, came up with the idea of making the movie, The Eye Patch Kids, to help kids with wearing their eye patch. The DVD features very silly looking sock puppets called Bjorts hence Harmsen's company is named Bjort & Company. I'm not quite sure what a Bjort is, but whatever it is my kids think they are hilarious! Personally, I just like to say it - the name cracks me up. 

While the Bjort puppets are humorous the message they deliver is a serious one - wear your eye patch!

The storyline revolves around Princess, a girl puppet, who doesn't want to wear her patch.  By the end of the 20 minute program, Princess happily wears her very pretty eye patch. During the show  she teaches kids an "eye patch promise" that is an oath they can recite along with. My daughter has convinced my husband to watch this movie with her a few times (he thankfully plays along well). We both particularly get a kick out of her taking an oath with the sock puppets to wear her patch.

This is not the most hi-tech or fancy movie but my kids go nuts over it.  Being fans of Oobi, they got into the whole hand puppet concept. And so, I really wasn't surprised that after watching The Eye Patch kids just a few times they wanted to make their own crazy sock puppets. The reality was they also wanted to make them out of the trouser socks (that were on my feet at the time) which created a slight logistical problem. I admit that I made sock puppets when I was a little kid and it just goes to show you that something really can be quite simple to get their interest.

When my daughter has given me grief about wearing her patch, I have put the DVD on for her to watch. She'll laugh and sing along with it and during that time she will forget about her patch.  When it ends and she requests to take the patch off now because "the movie is over"  - it has provided a good talking point about the promise she made with Princess to wear the patch so her eye gets strong. Of course, reasoning with a four year old is often futile. She does know exactly why she needs to wear her patch but she doesn't like that it makes her look "different". In fact, she tells me that "it looks ridiculous". It is obvious that patching compliance is something we'll continue to work on and we will absolutely continue to use this DVD to help.

The Eye Patch Kids DVD menu has the options of playing the movie, taking the eye patch promise or doing sing-alongs. You can purchase the DVD from Amazon or directly from Bjort & Company - it goes for $15.99 which is well spent.

For more info:
www.bjortandcompany.com
www.amblyopiakids.com

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4