My two year old loves music and has recently become obsessed with the music on Madagascar. Which is all will.i.am and upbeat. He also likes a song/music video called "go" by they might be giants. I'm pretty sure, he would watch these all day and dance if I let him.
So, I was wondering if any of you moms have great recommendations for music that is upbeat, fast-paced and punchy...but maybe a little more educational or uplifting. Right now there is something about a sexy hippo shaking her booty into the camera while the line "I like em big, I like em chunky" is sung, that makes me uncomfortable with my son repeatedly watching/listening. I'm not looking for ancient hymns or anything but maybe some fast paced abc songs or songs about yummy vegetables to eat. :) Bible songs are fine or just songs that promote good habits/doing nice things. I just want the music to be upbeat/interesting because that's what really draws my son in.
I'm looking for music he can listen to around the house or in the car.
If your toddler likes a musical video or cd please share! Thanks in advance.
Wow! I love all the suggestions. I ordered Laurie Berkner, Ralph and They Might Be Giants. I listened to a track sampling from each and I think my son will really like them! I had to listen to "I like to move it move it" about a thousand times tonight so hope the new stuff gets here soon.....Thank you all for your help!
Here is a great list called "Top 10 Kids Songs That Don't Suck"
http://www.pastemagazine.com/high_gravity/2008/06/top-10-...
Just found this cd, has some cool bands:
http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Various-Artists/dp/B00006L7QX/...
If your son already likes They Might be Giants, they have several kids albums.
Here come the ABC's, Here come the 123's and Here comes Science (there's another one though the name is escaping me. It might just be "No!")
They also have kid friendly podcasts on their website that my 2 year old loves.
My DH is a They Might Be Giants fan from way back so these have been a staple in our house for a long time.
The Barenaked Ladies also have a kids album (there's food songs which your post reminded me of).
Get some Justin Roberts CDs. His music is great! Meltdown is our favorite CD but we also love Yellow Bus and Pop Fly.
Try anything from The Wiggles or Laurie Berkner. Both have great dance music for toddlers and it's all age-appropriate. Our kids were obsessed with both of these artists when they were two (daughter still loves Laurie at four).
Ralph's world...we love the "Bottom of the sea" one. I do home childcare and a parent gave this one to me years ago...its our favorite and we listen to it several times a week..funny stuff in there for the adults too that sorta goes over the little ones heads! I love that! Go to the site and you can listen to parts of some songs and such...get a feel for it!
We also have several Sign Language DVDS (Signing Time) that are fun and every set of 3 comes with the music CD of the songs from those DVD's...so we listen to those alot as well.
I also agree with Laurie Berkner. She is awesome. There is one DVD out on the martket now. I bought mine on ebay for $6. I emailed her staff and they are in the process of making a new DVD too. She has lots of music CD's available in stores.
Veggie Tales (religious but mostly in the "love your neighbor" vein, and some of their songs are just plain silly and nonsensical) and the Wiggles (yes, they do have a few healthy eating songs and their "Stop at the light, look both ways" song was a big help in reinforcing that safety rule when my kids were toddlers) have a lot of kid-friendly catchy music that is fairly tolerable for parents too :-).
Imagination Movers, Dora the Explorer: Party Favorites, Choo Choo Soul...
These are the ones I can listen to with her and not go nuts. :) They are fun and have a great beat.
The Laurie Berkner Band is GREAT!!! We love her stuff!
We also love Laurie Berkner (We are the Laurie Berkner Band is our favorite) and Sandra Boynton has several cd's that are really cute too. They come with books...Philadelphia Chicken is one of them. I bought ours on Amazon.
You have a lot of good suggestions. My children and grandkids loved Baby Songs by Hap Palmer. The videos have small children in the various songs. They have a series of videos.. We LOVED them. I could still sing all of the words to the songs! One of the songs, My Mommy Comes Back, was really nice for separation at daycare or church nursery. We could have the videos run all day and they were nice background music. Unfortunately I never could find them on cds.
