Trying to figure out how to get a toddler to go to the bathroom in a potty as opposed to using a diaper can be a daunting task. Potty training is an absolutely essential part of a child's growth and development, and yet (or maybe consequently) it can be one of the most frustrating. Any and every aid available to parents to try and help with this task is welcome. A new DVD, featuring the Pocket Snails, entitled Pocket Snails: Potty Adventure has recently entered the fight to help the potty training process.

The Pocket Snails are a group of three snails, who, as their name suggests, live in a young boy's pocket. The snails, Gordon, Dale, and Buttons, go around helping Jake (the boy in whose pocket they reside), and in this case Jake's little sister, Wendy, learn about certain things. As the title makes clear, this time around it is how to use the potty.

Upon learning that Wendy is going to be potty trained, the snails take it upon themselves to use their Potty Steps Map to go through how to use the potty and take pictures along the way of the various important items that are necessary for using the potty (the potty itself, toilet paper, etc.). Once they finish this task they go back to Wendy and Jake and take them through the steps again, showing off their photographs.

In fact, over the course of the DVD the Pocket Snails and Wendy go through the various steps required to go to the potty several times and even have songs about potty training. Repetition is often the key to have toddlers understand and be able to accomplish tasks, so the tactic makes sense.

Happily, despite the fact that every step is covered multiple times, the DVD story manages go through the steps in a multitude of ways so that parents can actually manage to sit through the entire 30 minutes of program. It may seem odd that the snails sing in front of dancing diapers at one point, but if it helps get your child to use the potty, how bad could it be?

The animation, while not terribly nuanced, is bright and cheerful. The potty that Wendy is to use emits a wonderful glow that promises that it is full of magic, excitement, and just a grand old time.

Gordon, Dale, and Buttons, our Pocket Snails, are amusing and incredibly enthusiastic about venturing into the bathroom. I do wonder if their rolling and unrolling the toilet paper a few times isn't sending a bad message to children about what is and isn't acceptable bathroom etiquette, but that is a small quibble.

Included with the new DVD is a copy of the Potty Steps Map. The DVD also has some bonus features including a scene to help encourage children to use the bathroom, another that congratulates children on the successful use of the potty, and a "blooper reel" that features some mishaps with the snails during the "filming" of the feature.

Does it all help a child learn to use the potty? That is a harder question to answer, but I certainly cannot imagine it making potty training more difficult. I fully intend to show my toddler the video several more times.