Looking for Toddler Music

We love the backyardings CD. Never watch the show but the songs are really catchy and upbeat. I found a great Christmas CD last year, Kid Bop Christmas kids singing traditional fun songs and in a non-irritating way. Found both on itunes.

You should look online for Music for Ardvarks. They are based out of NYC, the music is cool, I even like it. The tunes are catchy and real to toddler life. Good luck!

Hi L.,

My son loved Sarah Boynton's "Philadelphia Chickens".
(Adults like it too).
There is a certain age that they like this.
I bought it for a friend's child for the 1st birthday.
6 months later she called me and said they HAD to have it in the car or they couldn't leave the house!
(My son was like this too - I had one in the car and two at home).

Hope this helps,
S.

Hello L.,
My boys loved the local guys (in bay area, you can often find them in concert - but the CD's are available via the net). Absolutely Tim Cain and James K - original kid music. LOVE Good Morning Sun, Like a Crocodile etc... We often played along to these CD's (They each have 4 or 5 CD's) Also Hap Palmer is fabulous (same level of songs like Raffi)... I agree with others about the Beatles (try Yellow Sub or Magical Mystery Tour - they love that stuff) Putamayo or Beach Boys. I grew up with the album Really Rosie by Carole King based on Maurice Sendak's characters and my sister found it on Cd for us. We can listen to that over and over it's so great. Another great calming album is Kenny Logins' Children's album (lullabyes? I forget the title)... the House at Pooh Corners is sooooo good for pre-bed time. We wore that one out... I think I'll itunes that right now!

Enjoy!

The "Rudolph, Frosty and Friends Favorite Christmas Songs" CD is not religious (It's the same songs that are on the classic Christmas movies with the stop-action animation: Rudolph, Frosty, with the Burl Ives snowman...)

Other music that doesn't drive me nuts is The Cars movie soundtrack, and Baby's Best Playtime songs (I got it from Wal Mart, I think). Most of the songs are fairy tales, and only one is a bit disturbing (about the piggies dying because they wouldn't say we we we we)... but your daughter won't catch that lyric, probably! Just a word of warning, if you are looking for non-religious music, there was a two disc set I got of Favorite Toddler Songs that didn't list titles, and about every fifth song was religious. Not awful, but surprising! The Baby Genius collection is also cute without being annoying.

My kids also both love the Beatles HELP album :)

Choo-Choo $oul by Dizney Channel - great funk & R&B inzpired and the vocalz are great - you won't even know you're grooving to the ABC zong.
Broken key on keyboard thankz to my little boy -bet you can guezz which one he broke off....
You can find the CD on Amazon, etc.
That remindz me I want to get one too!
AND - Putomayo World Mu$ic haz a great CD of global muzic for children - I heard it a friend'z houze & loved it - the kidz were dancing around to it. I might have zpelled Putomayo wrong...
http://www.putumayo.com/en/putumayo_kids
It wa$ the African one I heard...
Alzo, for Chriztmaz - try the cla$$ic$ like Bing Cro$by or Gene Autry- or I have a couple of "In the Mood...Chri$tma$" by the Glen Miller Orcheztra albumz - it'z a Big Band hommage to Glen Miller - moztly inztrumental - lotz of fun and dancing around iz required - very cheery for thiz glum year.

We love the playground series and the dreamland series by puntumayo. The great thing about them is they are really diverse and expose your child to lots of different styles of music, but are all very kid oriented. My son adores them, and they are are not the usual annoying little kid music that will drive all the grown ups crazy. You can get them at gymboree, though amazon, or directly through this website.
http://www.putumayo.com/en/putumayo_kids.php
Good luck.

Red Grammer has great kids music. Also any of the collections featuring well-known performers and rock stars etc make things more palatable to mom.

I second the Laurie Berkner recommendation! I would add to that Dan Zane. Both are great kids folkish dance music... in the same genre as Raffi. We also like a cd called "World Music for Little Ears" it has a variety of songs from different cultures.

My granddaugher loves all kinds of music . classical music is great . any music you like she will most like too. so enjoy all kinds. sigird

We liked Philadelphia Chickens by Sandra Boynton. I'm humming "Cows" right now

Try The Wiggles. They are an Australian group, both my kids love their songs when the were little.

Music For Little People http://musicforlittlepeople.com/ has a lot of good selections - we borrowed a ton of them from our local public library to find out which ones our kids liked and we actually enjoyed a bunch of them ourselves - A child's celebration of folk music, shake a tailfeather, anything by sweet honey in the rock, buckwheat zydeco's choo choo boogaloo. Our kids really liked the Music For Little People's "Toddler Favorites" one also (which gets a little old after they've requested it for several days, but not as annoying as a lot of other kids' music). Putomayo Kids' "World Playground" CD's are ones we'd listen to even if the kids didn't ask for them. Charlotte Diamond also has some nice kids discs in a similar folksy vein as Raffi (is it a Canadian thing?)

When my kids were little, they enjoyed the Wee Sing tapes. There were several different ones. Some of them had little stories between the songs and stuff too. We also had several tapes with Disney music. I personally found that the best place to buy these kinds of things are at a school supply store. They usually have the best selection of the kids' music. My kids also really enjoyed Charlotte Diamond. She does silly songs and she also does multi-lingual songs.

My son loves They Might Be Giants "Here Come the ABC's" and "Here Come the 123's", Kimya Dawson's (she's the girl from the Moldy Peaches and the Juno Soundtrack) "Alphabutt", and all of the For the Kids albums (there's 3 of them).

We LOVE the "Jack's Big Music Show" CD. The show is awesome too :). Also anything by Laurie Berkner is a hit in our house!

Look for Raffi Christmas CD. Also...John Mccutcheon has some fun childrens music that I and my toddler enjoyed listeneing to in the car.

Hi L.,

We like Tom Chapin's music a lot. His collection called Moon Boat might be a good one to begin with. Guaranteed to please children, but not to annoy parents!

-J.

I also enjoy the Music Together classes and cds. Its great that they provide 2 cds. Ones for the car and one for at home.

Other cds: Raffi, Greg and Steve. (Both have songs that Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers like to include in their classrooms.) Music Mike (I bought from him when he performed at Roseville libraries) Ralph's World. I've heard good stuff about They Might Be Giants but I don't have a cd. There are a few Sesame Street books that come with cds. I have one that is a story on tape and one that is songs. Both were given to my youngest daughter when she turned 1. 10 Carrot Diamond by Charlotte Diamond. (A little dated, but great songs. My 4 year old loves I Am a Pizza and Octopus (which we call Slippery Fish.) She learned these songs at Preschool.

i like barenaked ladies snacktime, jack johnson curious george and they might be giants abcs and 123s

I teach Kindermusik, which offers group music classes for young children, and many parents have commented that they enjoy the CDs for these classes. To find a Kindermusik teacher near you, go to www.kindermusik.com; you may also order some of their CDs that are not associated with particular classes from this website.

Anything by Laurie Berkner Band! There is not a toddler or preschooler I know that doesn't love Laurie Berkner

my kids love Laurie Berkner and it won't drive you insane. The songs are really catchy but not annoying (for the most part).

Both my daughters really like the White Stripes- the bass I imagine. It puts them to sleep in the car way better than the baby lullaby music. My 3 yold loves whatever her daddy loves, asks for "Creedence" (Clearwater) whenever she rides in his truck, asks for 'Welcome to the Jungle' (Guns -n- Roses) in my car. One grandma listens to polka music with her, the other listens to oldies. At night she has always gone to sleep to 'Baby Einsteins' lullaby classics. At home uring the day we will listen to cheesy KZST music and dance around the house while I karaoke (horribly) Or we will turn on the sirius 2000 (music from the last 8 yrs) as background music while we play. If she is interested in a song she will ask who sings it and what is it , or I will tell her "this is Rolling Stones, mommy's favorite!" She has her own opinions and will take to a certain song or not, but noone can say she is not well rounded and educated in the music department!

ok, well, there is lots of stuff that we love at my house.

the banana slug string band has several cd's, they're great.

the last unicorn sound track, if they have ever watched the last unicorn.

also, pick a couple of cd's that you like, we've gotten the kids to enjoy ben folds five and brett dennen...kids like things that are familiar, so many things that you make familiar-that is, play until you can't stand it, that is pleasant, will become preferred.

anyway, having a variety of kid music will save your sanity...

My kids really like The Barenaked ladies new kids CD "Snacktime" and we like Charlotte Diamond, they love the Pizza song, Four Hugs a Day etc. And I have fun listening to them too.

All the Veggy Tales CD's are great and all of my boys loved them.

Blessings,
C.

HI L.,
Our kids have been listening to Cedar Mont Kids for years. They have CD's and videos. My son loves to dance with the kids and likes watching the videos because it is other kids.
You can get them at your local Bible Book store, down load them from I-tunes or purchase off the web. Blessings.
Stac

I absolutely love Piano Man! He is based out of Roseville, plays often at Pottery Barn Kids, local preschools, etc. The kids like the music and it is stuff that doesn't drive me crazy listening to again and again! Google Piano Man and I think there is a link to purchase his CDs.

Raffi, the Beatles and the Beach Boys were all hits when my kids were toddlers. We loved KinderMusic and Music Together classes and accompanying cds. We went to Gymboree in Lafayette with Judy and loved those songs too. We used to play Cher as bedtime music. Don't be limited to "kid's music", expose your daughter to the music you like early and you'll have less conflicts later as her taste develops to mimic your own.

My son is the same age and he loves, loves, loves Kidz Bop 14. I ordered it online. It's all top 40 pop songs that are redone with kids singing along. We listen to it in the car all the time, at least I can still dance along with him while still feeling my age. Now he even recognizes the originals when they play on the radio. I'm giving these cd's out for Christmas.

L.,
Hi, my kids,all of them (3)thank me for exposing them to this person's music. And ALL of them buy his albums & still continue to listen to him even though he is not COOL so to speak.
Harry Connick Jr..........
He is a wonderful musician. Most people either know him from acting in movies or from his Christmas albums but try out a couple others. He plays piano, writes his own music, produce's many other artist's as well. You can check a website called Marsalia music. Harry has been working with the Marsalia family for years. They even have a sub division they are building in New Orlene's called Musicians Village.
Now it's NOT kid's music specifically but my 13yr old still calls it her happy music.
Give it a try, you may enjoy it more than the kids but like I said ALL 3 of my kids from 23 to 13 still listen to him & thank me for turning them on to all different forms of music....
Good Luck & Happy Thanksgiving....L.
P.s. He also has a new Christmas album...& two older ones. I always hear them played in the mall at christmas...lol

My familys favorite CD is Snack Time from the Bare Naked Ladies.... it has fun songs on it with music that us as parents can listen to.We love 789, drawing and popcorn... My 12 year old even downloaded it on to her ipod :) Everyone that I have suggested this CD to loves it. I have attached the website and a blurb about the BNL's and why they did a kids CD.

http://www.bnlmusic.com/snacktime/

"SNACKTIME is Barenaked Ladies first collection of original children's songs. The album was produced and mixed by Michael Phillip Wojewoda, who also worked with the band on their debut Gordon.

"Our collective kids now outnumber the band more than 2 to 1," explains vocalist/guitarist Ed Robertson. "We set out to make a record that would be entertaining for them…not strictly a children's record, but a record that children would really enjoy. Our kids are in to all kinds of music. They love the They Might Be Giants kids records, but they also love The Beatles, Fountains of Wayne, Randy Newman, Black Eyed Peas and Green Day. Making the focus about what our kids like was a truly liberating process and fun for the whole band."

Barenaked Ladies will return to the studio later this year to start work on their next full-length album that will celebrate 20 years together."

My kids loved Joe Scruggs. I think he's still around. Google him and see what you can find. Lots of cute songs with lyrics he wrote. I believe he also has a couple of videos/DVDs as well. We first saw him on Barney years and years ago singing a song "Wiggle in my Toe." Really cute. I actually could listen to them without getting sick of them.

My kids also loved all the Disney sing along tapes. They have virtually every song from every animated movie on disk.

My girls love Ralph's World - Welcome to Ralphs World and They might be Giants - Here Come the ABC's and the follow up Here Come the 123's but we also have had a lot of success with Sesame Street Music...we stayed away from getting Elmo's greatest hits because we knew the little red fellow would eventually drive us (the grown ups) crazy but we all like Bert and Ernies greatest hits...I mean who can't help but giggle a little at "Doing the Pigeon" or "Rubber Ducky". Itunes is a great resource for finding great music for kids and I love shopping at Barnes and Nobel because you can listen to the album before you buy it. Have fun!

Children's Songs... at Target... by Baby Genisus come in sets or individually...
Backyardigan's (any of the three CD's are awesome as is the show)
There's a Strawberry Shortcake Christmas album that's pretty short, but my kids love it.
Check out the CD selection in the kids section at the library. I checked out a lot before I found my favorites to buy. There's usually some Clifford, Disney, even Cailiu...
Kids Bops...
The I-store has a pretty good selection, too.
I communte to work 45 min each way with the kids and music is often the thing that keeps us all sane and from killing each other!

"Whaddaya Think of That?" by Laurie Berkner. Hillarious and fun fun fun! Check out track 11 - I Know A Chicken - It's bluesy and my favorite!

My son loves the CD set called "Children's Favorite Songs", Vol. 1-4 by Walt Disney Records. He also likes "Sesame Street Platinum All Time Favorites". The Curious George Soundtrack featuring Jack Johnson is excellent (even for adults). And, for a fun Christmas CD for kids, I would suggest "Christmas with the Chipmunks." Have fun!

my daughter is 4 and LOVES her headphones. Evertime she hears something on the radio that she likes, we have to download it for her. Her faves right now are the shrek soundtracks (reall great music on them!!) and Black Sabbath. (it was the only old tape in our old Jeep. She loves it and calls it jeep music).

For one so young, there were some great playtime collections at pottery barn. Real music, just happens to be things kids would like. some oldies on it. I don't mind litening to them.

Have her listen to anything you'd like. My daughter listens to her fair share of Queen, Cake and sissor Sisters just because i like them.

Hi L.,
I'd strongly recommend going to some Music Together classes and you'll get a new CD each semester. The music is great and very well done. My daughter absolutely loves it and it's such great quality that I don't mind listening to it myself. If you go to www.musictogether.com you can find classes in your area.

Peace, B.

MUSIC TOGETHER makes a cd called BONGOS Song COllection...it's great!

My daughter likes the Little People series of CD's (They have a whole bunch like ABC's, counting, silly songs, etc).

Our son has always loved Greg Brown's Bathtub Blues. We play it for him in the car regularly. A lot of great musicians put out at least one kids' album, from Johnny Cash to the Barenaked Ladies, so maybe try browsing for childrens' albums from your favorite band. Also, Nicolette Larson's Sleep, Baby, Sleep is a gorgeous lullaby album. For older kids, say around age 3, try Trout Fishing in America. And Dane Zanes is always a big hit.

Celtic music is a favorite of mine (I have quite a collection!) and was always a hit with the little ones in our home. The fiddles, flutes and light drumming were said to "tickle me all over." There are lots of lovely CDs out there ... even some at Walmart ... and there are a number of very nice yuletide CDs, as well. Let me know if you'd like some specific recommendations and I'll look through my collection.

Warmest wishes for a joyous holiday season!

We love Dan Zanes, Justin Roberts, and there are a few CDs called For the Kids that have a compilation of parent friendly musicians singing kids songs. LeadBelly also has a kids CD. We also listen to a lot of musicals (Annie, Into the Woods, Sound of Music, etc.). Both of my kids (5 and 3) are really into the Little Mermaid soundtrack. As for xmas, we like the Elvis Christmas cd, Willie Nelson, Sufjan Stevens, Bing Crosby, and a very special christmas are all great without being too heavily religious. Enjoy!

My daughter (and I) just love listening to anything Bob Marley - the songs are simple and repetitive so they are easy to learn. Dan Zanes is also really enjoyable.

for ideas, i will play AOL radio on the kids or lullaby channel. if you hear something you like it tells you the artist and album, etc.

also... if she likes music a lot, join a music group. i'm in one with my toddler called music together. it's a lot of fun. just google it. it might be under play with music, but i think it's called Music together. you get a CD and book with your registration fee and get to go to weekly classes and sing. it's a lot of fun.

Hi L.,

My son (almost 18 months) and I go to Gymboree for play class and one of the CDs they play is called "Circle of Friends" by Parachute Express and he loves it! We also listen to the Wiggles "Yummy Yummy" which is a CD I use with my students and even though he has never seen the show, he seems to like it, although not as much as Circle of Friends. Hope this helps!

I would recommend The Wiggles as the best starting place. I also agree with some other posters that Laurie Berkner, Dan Zanes, and Putumayo are all good. Tim Cain is good for those of us who live in the Bay Area, too, as is Christopher Smith (both local Marin County kids musicians). Surprisingly, Gymboree has some really good toddler level CDs (best place to find them is at the stores at their playa places or online, not the clothing stores). There's a lot out there!

My kids LOVE anything by Jack Johnson, especially the Curious George soundtrack. They also love Disney CD's, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, etc. All of these are definitely easier to listen to!

My 2 and 3 year olds love their cd's from Music Together if you are interested in doing a music class with your toddler. The class includes cd's for at home and in the car. They also love cd's by James K and the pottery barn kids playtime cd's.

We really loved Laurie Berkner.

Our Family also likes Music Together. They have several different CD's. Their music program is pretty nice too.
http://www.musictogether.com/