Songs that toddlers and young kids LOVE?

[AudioLapDance]

Hi all,

I know we have lots of parents and some educators on the Forum ...

My 16 month old prince loves music! He does some cute dancing: a bum waggle, a lean-back-and-forth and a tornado spin round and round. He likes to drum and can actually keep a pretty steady beat! I'm hoping he'll take up drumming and we can do some family jammin!

Proud papa: gush, gush, gush

So, I'm looking for some songs that your little one loves (or loved). Any genre is good: rock, jazz, classical, country, soul, rap ...


I'll start:


Yellow Submarine, The Beatles

Do the Bearcat, David Wilcox


Thanks and cheers,
Jeff

[SY]

Run, don't walk, to buy the album, "No!" by They Might Be Giants.

[jackinnj]

Anything by Pete Seeger -- "Abiyoyo"! As an untrained set of parents, we had our 3 sons in the station wagon or SUV making a 450 mile trip to the midwest, or up to Boston every few months. Now grown, they can recite "Alice's Restaurant" verbatim, and listened to so many radio comedies from the 1930's to the 1950's people think they are from a different century.

Buddy Holly, Rick Nelson are good too!

[aardvarkash10]

lol jack - Alices Restaurant is a fav with my 18 and 13 yo's and their various cousins.

Proud to say I am responsible for introducing it to all of them.

Kids like: Strong beat, simple melody, and a great hook. They are "top 20" mavens. Expose them to lots of music, and they will return the favour when you get too old to be bothered.

[AudioLapDance]

Thanks, great start!

I'm looking for particular songs

@ Sy: which song(s) off No! ?
@ jackinnj: which song(s) by Buddy Holly and Rick Nelson?

@aardvarkash10: I think my 16-month old might get lost in the rambling and witty jokes of Alice's Restaurant, but that one's a definite keeper for a bit later!

[SY]

The whole album. It may be TMBG, but these are kids' songs (but really excellent kids' songs). You never know which ones your kids will fix on. My son would burst out singing "Robot Parade" or "House at the Top of the Tree" at odd times. He would listen to it again and again and again. And again. And... well you know.

It's seven years later, he's 11 now, still likes that album, though his current preferences are Matt the Electrician and Southpaw Jones. Not all their music is appropriate...

[Cal Weldon]

Jimmy Buffett: The Parakeet Album (his first album for children)

[picowallspeaker]

+1 for They Might Be Giants
They make simple songs with some 'grade of apprentice level'
Like the Beatles ,which I recommend
I grew up with four cassettes , the Red and the Blue ones
The Beatles Rock'n'Roll 1 and 2
The Beatles 63/66 and 67/70

Maybe the times have changed ....
(maybe digitalization and compression would ruin their naif kind of attitude of listen to the music ..:!?!? )

[Nanook]

Hi all (even speakerdork ):

Here's one that is one of my faves: Stay Awake- Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films( A&M SP3918,1988). Not a common find but a great record. I'm sure there must be a download of it that can be purchased or perhaps a CD, as required. I have and love the LP

Only a couple songs that are a little dark for the very young ("Hiegh Ho","Hi Diddle Dee Dee"). But all of them are great examples of good music. Most notable: "Baby Mine" (Bonnie Raitt and Was(NOT WAS));"Little April Shower" (Natalie Merchant, Michael Stipe, Mark Bingham, and the Roaches) and of course "I Want to be Just Like You" (Los Lobos).

I also like some of Frank Zappa's music, although not particularly childrens' music, but if you have never listened to "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow " (the original reference to my username here), it is quite funny and kids love it. It suggests that animals (and by extension all life on this planet) are more than just objects to exploit.

My kids are now 29 and 25. They both still love this (and almost all other) music, even if not to their "taste". If that's all I have given them, it is enough.

[dewasiuk]

I loved Eric Clapton as a kid