Best Music for Kids, Including Kids Music Videos and Song CDs

First there was Barney, that loveable purple dinosaur, who was so well loved by moms and dads….oh wait, that was me – I was the only mom, or grown-up for that matter, that loved Barney – and, yes, even the song…”I love you, you love me, we’re a ha-ppy fa-mi-ly, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me, too!”  My first born, now about to turn five years old, LOOOOOVED Barney as a toddler from around eighteen months to nearly three years old.  Yes, I let my kids watch TV, let’s get that out of the way….however, to this day, they mainly watch programs that I have recorded (which I approve of for their entertainment and educational value) or DVD movies. 

Okay, back to Barney – I’ll never forget my daughter’s second birthday party.  I created the invitations myself and they had a watermark of Barney with a subtle bubble design around the edges and it read “Barney, Balloons, Bubbles & Balls…these are a few of my favorite things!  Join me and my favorite things to play and celebrate my second birthday!”  It was a great party.

I was pretty sad when she outgrew Barney and didn’t want to watch it anymore because I had so enjoyed watching her face light up and hearing her excited screams every time Barney came on the TV.  My second daughter was 18 months old when the first stopped watching Barney, so she never really got a chance to enjoy Barney since she wanted to watch what her big sister was watching.

You may be wondering at this point what the heck this hub is about…well, I wanted to highlight some of our favorite kids’ music, in hopes that it may become your family’s favorites, too…

There have been several favorites since Barney (none quite as memorable), one of which was Jack’s Big Music Show. This one was quite silly to me, but it was educational and they liked it, especially the musical guests that made appearances throughout the show. This show is where we discovered Laurie Berkner and the Laurie Berkner Band. There are many available CDs as well as a Laurie Berkner DVD which is great!

The songs that this band sings are upbeat and fun for kids of all ages, and that means grown-ups, too! The songs are the kind that sticks in your head all day after hearing them, but in a good way. One of our favorites is “We are the Dinosaurs.” The songs are fun and easy for kids to learn and dance to. There are some great videos that go along with many of their songs, too. In fact, one of our favorite DVDs that’s always in the car is “We are ... the Laurie Berkner Band” whichincludes all their more popular songs along with fun videos for each song.

I think music should be an important part of every child’s life, as it inspires creativity, exercise and helps them to develop their memory – it’s incredible how quickly kids can memorize favorite songs!

Mother Goose Rocks is also a huge favorite of ours and it’s one for the whole family. It is celebrity sound-a-likes performing pop music parody versions of kids’ songs; it’s traditional children’s songs and nursery rhymes in a hip format. Here are some examples: This Little Light of Mine by Stung (Sting), If You’re Happy and You Know It by Wink 123 (Blink 182), Old Woman In a Shoe by Share (Cher), Wheels On the Bus by Mad Donna (Madonna), Frere Jacque by Dave Mathshoes (Dave Matthews), and my absolute favorite – Mulberry Bush by Gwen Stuffunny.

Each of the songs is set to the same melody and tempo of original pop songs by the artists. Old Woman In a Shoe by Share is sung in the tune of Cher’s “Believe” – my 4-year old daughter was in the car with me just a couple of days ago when Believe started to play on the radio and she immediately recognized it and screamed “Mommy, that the Old Woman song from mother Goose Rocks!” Some of the lyrics will crack you up, like in Humpty Dumpty the beginning of the song starts out singing “…he was a good egg, not hard boiled…” – that’s one of my favorites, too. Mother Goose Rocks comes in several CD versions as well as DVD with great animated music videos.

Lastly, I have got to include a little known children’s band called Hullabaloo. Hullabaloo is a local San Diego two-man band that I wish I could have brought with us to Florida! In their own words, they’re “…proud to be part of a growing number of artists that have found a way to honor and entertain kids without making their parents want to jump out of a moving mini-van.”

I first was made aware of this band when we lived in San Diego and I became a part of a local mom’s group. One of the other mothers was familiar with them and arranged for the band – actually just Steve, the lead singer – to come sing for us and our kids at a local park. This is something that they regularly do for free; he brings along the band’s CDs in hopes of selling them and everyone usually wants at least one. Hullabaloo also performs concerts at many San Diego area venues.

For my oldest daughter’s third birthday, I hired Steve to come to our house to sing at the party and it was a huge hit that my daughter still talks about. When Hullabaloo sings for the kids, they don’t just sing – they make it an interactive experience for their audience by supplying things like small musical instruments and scarves to swing around. It’s a ton of fun and I wish this band all the success in the world. My favorite song of theirs is called Sippy Cup and it’s about moms loving their Starbucks sippy cups – and the child saying that he thought he wouldn’t need a sippy cup when he grows up but all these grow-ups do… - it’s hilarious! I strongly recommend Hullabaloo’s CDs; you won’t be disappointed.