Appropriate Top 40/Pop Songs for Kids' iPods

My daughter loves Kids Bop (cleaned up pop songs sung by kids)

Personally I can't stand Kids Bop, Miley Cyrus, Jonas Bros etc. I don't want my son to listen to anything that I wouldn't listen to with him! When he was little we did classic Disney songs, Schoolhouse Rock (which he still loves) and Sesame Street. But as he got older he wanted to branch out.

We listen to the Beatles, Elvis, jazz music, basically anything he likes that does not have inappropriate lyrics. We also own a LOT of cd's from Putomayo - they do music from all over the world and every CD we have gotten from them is terrific. They have a special kid's music section on their website:
http://www.putumayo.com/en/putumayo_kids.php

We also listen to things like Ralph's World, Lori Berkner, Ella Jenkins, They Might Be Giants, Wee Hairy Beasties and other artists from the Old Town School of Folk music in Chicago. There is SO MUCH good music for kids out there beyond the big corporate choices!

Now that my son is older, (almost 10) he chooses a lot more of his own music, but knows that we have to approve it before he downloads it. He had a babysitter who really loved classic 70s rock, so now is listening to that as well as some pop songs.

Be very careful as your girls get older- a lot of kids at my son's school will get really into songs that actually have very grown-up lyrics, but don't know what they mean. My son really wanted to download a FloRida song he heard on American Idol ( supposed to be a 'family' show, lol) that all the 3rd graders were talking about. It was all about a man telling a girl to 'go down' on him. We told my son that just because it was a catchy song, that doesn't mean he needs to sing it!

Just be true to your own musical likes and dislikes and let your kids explore all the music out there that is age-appropriate. They'll develop their own taste really fast!

We make cd's of downloaded music from iTunes to play in the car. Some of the songs include Playhouse Disney show themes. (i.e., Imagination Movers, Special Agent Oso, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, etc.) We also have some Disney movie soundtracks like Cars and Tinkerbell. There's also songs by Ralph Covert of Ralph's World. Recently, my kids have discovered the Jonas Brothers' music and we now have many of their songs. (I must admit my husband and I enjoy their music too!) I understand that They Might Be Giants have been putting out some fun kids music. They do the theme song to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - "Hot Dog". Hope this helps.

Boy, for that age, hmmmmm not a lot out there. Definitely try the Disney route. "Disney Jams" series (I think they are up to Volume 9) is a "various artist" cd w/ original artists and music. (It's not a cover artist.). These cd's are pretty clean. The "Disneymania" series is usually Disney songs from various movies, that are recorded or re-recorded by well known artists. So, if she likes Disney songs, this may be something that may interest her, too.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963386190/ref=nos...

Kidz Bop (like your previous post mentioned) is cute, too, but my kids started growing out of those by around your oldest daughter's age. However, your younger one would probably love it.

Good luck.

My kids all have iPods as well. We load them with their favorite CDs. My daughter has Strawberry Shortcake, Seseme Street, Raffi and all her favorite music. My son has Schoolhouse Rock, songs from his favorite musicals, Mickey Mouse. We have actually never even thought about putting "radio" music onto their iPods.

We got some Kidz Bop CDs in Happy Meals a while back. They are not my favorite. When it comes to rock, I prefer to go back to the classics or country or Christian. If you are willing to give kids music a try, check out the site www.freekidsmusic.com. My kids are 8, 5, 3, and 1 and they have favorites on that site. There is some good classic children's music (ie Going to Kentucky) but also some new fun stuff. Other stuff is annoying but, with music, to each their own. My kids' favorites include:
Scribble Monster- A Monster Goes Raaaarghhhh
Buck Howdy- Skidaddle
The Brian Waite Band- Your Room's A Mess
Chris Hamilton- The Day We Tried to Shampoo Rover
The Happy Hatters- Perry The Parrot's ABCs
James Hersch- There's a Cow Parked In My Driveway