Music - Chicago,IL

Old Town Music School puts out a cd called WiggleWorms that my son loves. You can find it on iTunes. I like the album "Wiggleworms Love You".

I can a few of my kids faves that I have not seen mentioned - Barenaked Ladies has a really funny kids CD, they also love Dogs on Fleas , Billy Jonas ( the What kind of cat are you CD), Elizabeth Mitchell, Jessica Harper and Dan Zanes ( all of his stuff is terrific). We also listen to Beatles, Jackson 5, James Taylor, Justin Roberts, etc..,

Do you frequent a library? If so, scope out the CD area in the youth section. Laurie Berkner, anything Seseme Street (our favorite is "Hot Hot Hot"), and Raffi are staples in our collection. Stay away from nursery rhyme ones unless you have a chance to listen to them before your trip; those are hit or miss. Our library has a 10 CD limit, so consider this when you select the CDs.

Personally, I don't like having a stack of CDs in the car. You can download the songs (AKA "rip the CD"), and put them on a cheap MP3 player. We do this for road trips with our 3.5 year old son. He gets headphones and we get the radio back. He has his own playlist in the MP3, so he won't accidentally hear Ludacris or Ice Cube ;)

If you have the room and patience for it, check out read-along books. My son LOVES these! Since you'll be busy driving and can't read books to him, you can play the CD and he'll follow along in the book. There are page turn signals. He will catch on quickly.

They Might Be Giants has made some children's music. Also, I can't think of her name, but the song is "We Are the Dinosaurs" (you can search on itunes), and she has a bunch of songs too, but that is my son's favorite.

Check out http://www.coolmompicks.com for some more great suggestions. They are always featuring fun kids music that parents can stand, too! :)

I 2nd the Mom's who responded with Ralph's World (Ralph Covert) He is from Chicago and is just fantastic & Laurie Berkner. Their cd's have been in our car since my daughter was a year old and we have all of them. We also enjoy the Dirty Sock Funtime Band (they appear on Nick Jr's Jacks Big Music show as does Laurie Berkner) and if you want more adult music that kids will like you could try any of the Kids Bop Cds.

Hi E.,
I am a Kindermusik Educator, so of course I recommend you visit http://play.kindermusik.com/ where you can download mp3 files of favorite
Kindermusik songs. Kindermusik is music & movement for newborn through 7 yrs of age. Hope that helps. Have fun on your trip!
M. D.
www.kindermusikwithmary.net

Adult music that my 4 year old likes - Beatles, Motown, Bare Naked Ladies, Michael Jackson, Jason Mraz. He also loves songs from the Sound of Music. He just did a 14 hour drive with our 4 year old and it went surprisingly well. Hope yours does too!

1-1

Workinmom mentioned "We Are the Dinosaurs," which just happens to be by the artist I was going to suggest -- it's Laurie Berkner. She is a huge favorite at our house, mostly because her music is fun for both grown-ups and kids. I sometimes catch myself listening and singing along even when my little ones aren't in the car with me!

Oh, I almost forgot, we also really like the Curious George soundtrack. Fun stuff.

I can't believe no one has said Ralph's World yet! Ralph is from Chicago area, music is fun for kids and adults alike! We all love him!! Good CD to start with is welcome to ralph's world. It comes with a DVD with a few songs on it. His concerts are fun for the whole family - plays at Ravinia & Morton Arboretum every summer.

My son fell in love with Captn Bogg & Salty "Pegleg Tango" CD from his music class (and he doesn't like a lot of "kids" music. You can find them on itunes and amazon. Our *favorite* song is SeaMonster (by Ben Folds), and the "Tortuga Caper".

Mostly, however, I've listened to "real" music with my son. Pop, Rock, Opera, Country, Folk, Swing, Jazz, Blues, Beethoven, Chopin, etc. "Pop" btw encompasses from the 50's to the 10's.

There are lots out there, if you want fun kid music, I LOVE Laurie Berkner. She has innovative songs and they are not annoying and great to sing with. Also Justin Roberts is really good. If you want more adult music that is kid appr, you cant go wrong with the Beatles. For more kid music you can check out Jacks Big Music Show on nick boost, they have a great selection of kids songs that wont drive you up a wall listening to all day.

I agree, They Might be Giants has some fun and educational songs for kids ( i think there are 3 kids cds)that you can enjoy too. Caspar Babypants (lead singer from The Presidents of USA) has fun silly songs. Recess Monkey is pretty fun too. That being said, it's great to listen to your music with them to (as long as it's appropriate-clean), you won't go crazy listening to just kids stuff!!

You've gotten some great suggestions for children's cds. Can I encourage you to not limit their exposure to music written for kids? I think you should expose them to great music of all genres! We played Strauss waltzes and marches and danced around the family room when my kids were little; we talked about different kinds of classical, pop and broadway songs and how they made us feel. What kind of music do you like? If you are enjoying a song and belting it out in the car the 4 year old will enjoy that! Never to early to start sharing your loves with your kids!

There are some good kid's music already suggested, BUT what about something everyone can enjoy. My kids LOVE the Beatles- and other fun, upbeat (non-vulgar) rock music. Why not? Sure, kids music is "fun", but other music can be fun, too!

Justin Roberts all the way!!

If I were you I'd borrow some kids music cd's from the library for your trip.

Justin Roberts! Raffi! Sesame Street!

My daughter is four and she LOVES Ralph's World - he has a lot of great tunes that are easy on adult ears too :)

my kids tend to like the disney cd's for trips when they were little. disney has a couple of greatetst hits cd's. also sound tracks from movies are good. my youngest son loved phantom of the opera music when he was about 10. we hooked him on that kind of stuff. we had joseph and the technicolor dream coat, phantom of the opera, the lion king etc....

Justin Roberts has some really fun kids songs. My husband and I enjoy them as well. Good luck!!

Hi there~
We drove cross country last summer and the kids (5 and 3) LOVED Susie Tallman's "Classic Nursery Rhymes" CD. It was a great blend of spoken nursery rhymes and songs. Of course by the end of the trip we had it the order and the voices memorized but it kept them entertained.

We also made some CDs of classic dance songs that were fun (i.e. Copacabana, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go) and those seem to keep them interested too.

HTH.
Have Fun!
D.