Music for 5 Yr Old

What about "all Star" from Smash Mouth, it is on the shrek soundtrack. Or "working at the car wash" it is from Sharktales. We also have "I like to move it" from Madagascar. And the Alvin and the Chipmuck sound track has some cute remakes of songs.

i-tunes is great for these kinds of songs. My kids have there own section on my i-pod.

yes I have no banana's... don't know the musicians...

Ella Fitzgeralds A Tisket A Tasket

Come on a my House or Mambo Italiano by Rosemary Clooney

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by Bette Midler or the Andrew Sisters

Jump in The line by Harry Bellefonte

Singing in The Rain

Tiki Room and Bare Necessities (Disney)

All I have for you right now... Good Luck, the more types of music the better.

My 6 year old LOVES my old Madonna CD! She loves the 80's songs like "Lucky Star" and "La Isla Bonita." I think it's hilarious that she's singing along to songs that I heard on the radio when I was her age! Also, she loves the Rolling Stones (she used to think that "Miss Jagger" was the lead singer, LOL!).

"All together Now" by the BEatles. "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby Mc Ferrin. Also it is great to expose them to American folk music and patriotic music from the likes of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. It is a cultural exposure that is seeming to fade away these days. Have fun!

Hi P.,

Check out Elizabeth Mitchell on Amazon.com - we have all 3 of her CDs and they are exactly the ticket for what you want. GOOD STUFF that parents and kids both enjoy. There will probably be suggested links for other artists there too so that might help you in your search...plus Amazon usually has small clips of songs you can listen to (or you can buy MP3s).

Also, if you are Christians (we are), there are many great contemporary Christian artists and songs that will fit the bill.

We love many kinds of music in our family!
Good luck in your musical journey!

Blessings,
S. M.

I recommend some movie or show tunes. Such as Under the sea from the Little Mermaid, Heavens eyes from Prince of Egypt (my kids, even the 16 year old loves it) or even Citizen Soldier from 3 doors down. (talks about the National guard being there to help others... way cool)

Good luck.....

Hi P.,
Music is BIG in our house and my 7 year old loves The Beatles, David Bowie, and Elton John (slightly influenced by us!) He also likes "It's my life" (the No Doubt version), The Gorillaz, and Nelly Furtado which are all relatively clean. Have fun exploring different kinds of music with your child!

We are big fans of Dan Zanes, Doodlebops and Imagination Movers. The lyrics are for kids but the music is modern and not childish.

Try "Upside Down" by Jack Johnson. Great song.

My son got into the beatles when he was about five. We also love the temptations. Jack Johnson is also good.

You've gotten a lot of great ideas, all stuff my kids (whoe 12 and 10) listened to and still listen to sometimes. A good song is timeless.
But I have a question - why the ban of kids music? - your children are kids and might enjoy some of the songs by Tim Cain, Raffey, etc thown in sometimes. We never listened exclusivley to kids music, but our kids also enjoyed the silly words to Tim Cain as much as they enjoyed listening to Van Morrison and UB40.
I think we need to remember that childrena re not mini adults and their brain is not quite as developed. What is mind numbing to us is enjoyable to them.
Just something to think about.

I know you're trying to stay away from "kid music"--I assume stuff like The Wiggles and old folk songs. But did you know there is a whole genre of "kid music that rocks"? It's rock music that sings about fun kid stuff. The Jellydots and Francis England are two of our favorite groups from that genre. There are whole blogs dedicated to the subject, so you should be able to find more artists.

As far as other clean, fun songs, just about anything from Jack Johnson would work and lots of They Might Be Giants. My seven-year-old likes the "Banana Boat (Day-O)" song by Harry Belafonte. My five-year-old likes listening to (and dancing to) the "Cha Cha Slide." Here are some others:

- "New Soul" by Yael Naim
- "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors
- and that "You Make Me Want to Shout" song that was popular at dances back in the day...

I'm not up on the more modern rock type of music, but have a CD that I use in my childcare that the kids love. It's called "The Wild and Wacky Years" and has songs from the Big Bopper and others of the old time rock stars. It also includes some of the wierd songs of the late 50's like the "Purple People Eater" which children tend to enjoy a lot. I don't know if the disk is still available to purchase, because it was put out in 1994 (by RCA) but you might be able to find it online, or even find some of those old songs online for purchase individually.

Dear P.,
I was the office manager of a radio station when I got pregnant with my daughter, so she's had a love of music since before she ever popped out into the world. Same thing with my son. We listen to music more than we watch television.
You've gotten some really great suggestions but I'll give you a few more. When my daughter was little, I found a cassette with a mix of songs for like $1.99 at Payless and we wore it out! We listened to it in the car, at home, everywhere.
One of the funniest things I've ever witnessed was my little son singing his version of "Breakdown" by Tom Petty in the shower.

Love Train - O'Jays
Crocodile Rock - Elton John
Peace Train - Cat Stevens
Sing a Song - Earth, Wind & Fire
(also Shining Star and September. They'll get you dancing too)
Rockin Robin - Jackson 5
Ventura Highway - America
Dancing in the Moonlight - Van Morrison
You're My Best Friend - Queen
Higher Love - Steve Winwood
Heaven is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle

I could go on and on....
My daughter who will be 23 in October hooked us up with a music program so we can search and download and burn our own CD's. I highly recommend it.
When my dad was sick and going through chemo, we sent him a portable CD player and CD's. I was amazed at the things we were able to find.... even songs he used to sing to me when I was a little girl. He even started requesting songs.
I think music is so good for kids. Both of mine are very musically inclined and have studied music at school.

Have fun!

My daughter, who is only 2, loves Jack Johnson and IZ. (Somewhere over the rainbow, etc.)(and so do I!).

How about 50's music? You could do a web search of the most popular songs by year. I bet there are some great ones.

ps...Select songs from the movie track to Sound of Music, or Singing in the Rain.

My daughter loves '1,2,3,4' by Plain White Tees. Also, Jack Johnson is mellow, (the Curious George soundtrack is cute.) She loves Rolling Stones, because that's my fav. Listen to KZST (cheezy, but we dance around the house to it all the time!) and 104.9 to get ideas.

though not as rock like,

Elvis
Beach Boys is really good singing music
The Police (do do do, do da da da, Canary in a Coal Mine)

Some kid music that I really enjoy is Sandra Boynton's CDs (well, we have Philadelphia Chickens so far!). They are kind of 'nonsense' songs, but some very funny/clever ideas. Plus I like it because they use lots of different music styles.

Beatles stuff is probably quite good. Musicals, too?

E.

My son absolutely loved the B-52's Love Shack, but it may be questionable since one of the lyrics is "wearing next to nothing 'cause it's hot as an oven". Some Eurythmics or Annie Lennox would probably work or some Jack Johnson...one of his songs was featured in the curious George movies. Think of kids' movies like some of the songs in Toy Story or other Disney movies would work for you too. Good luck!

Life is a Highway, Roscoe Flats (CARS version), Conga, Gloria Estafan, Jail House Rock or Blue Suede Shoes, Elvis Presley, Rockin Robin or ABC from the Jackson 5, Lady Marmalade - Christina Aguilera version

These are some that I have on my cleaning the house CD that my kids like

Try the Kidz Bop CD's. They are rock and pop songs sung by kids, so they are G or PG rated, but not baby music.

What about the Beatles?

Check out the Putomayo Kids CD's http://www.putumayo.com/en/putumayo_kids.php - lots of fun, catchy danceable music from different parts of the world.

Sweet Honey in the Rock has some great upbeat a-capella (with dashes of African American gospel/spirituals) kids music with positive messages. David Grisman and Jerry Garcia (yes, THAT Jerry Garcia) did a CD "Not For Kids Only" with a lot of old bluegrass tunes.

Music For Little People http://www.musicforlittlepeople.com/ has a lot of fun music for kids in a variety of styles - country, folk, bluegrass, zydeco (my 7YO's love their Buckwheat Zydeco "Choo Choo Boogaloo"),

And my 7YO twins enjoy a lot of old Motown tunes like Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life"

HI P.,

We like all of the Dan Zanes collection as well as the CD You are My Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell and Catch the Moon by Lisa Loeb. We also have some others by They Might Be Giants.

We've also exposed the kids (3 and 5) year old to a variety of music, ranging from classical to the Foo Fighters. I would play the music you like and doesn't contain the things you don't like in your husband's music and see what she likes and make your CD from that.

Have fun!

Look back to a lot of silly '50's rock. And people like Ray Stevens, Cledus T. Judd, The Might Be Giants, etc.

I think Jack Johnson's music is great! I also like some of the great messages in India Arie's music, especially for girls. I don't know all of Natasha Bedingfield's songs, but the ones I've heard are inoffensive. I also think "Extraordinary" by Mandy Moore is nice, so maybe her other stuff would be appropriate for your daughter?

Hope that helps!

How about, John Denver's Thank God I'm a country boy.

Indigo Girls: Hammer and a Nail! Closer to Fine! VERY wholesome!

I suggest Jack Johnson, esp. the soundtrack to the Curious George movie. Yes, it was for a kiddie movie but the songs (and all his other songs) are great.

my kids like the Beatles Yellow Submarine and Octopus's Garden -- while they were probably written while on drugs, I don't believe there is a mention of drugs. They also LOVE Caitlin Carey's Hold On To Me and the Austin Powers theme song (which is our potty dance song). They like Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. What else... Creedence Clearwater Revival's Have you Ever Seen the Rain, The Who's Magic Bus. And they love I Like to Move It from the Madagascar movie (you may want to check the lyrics on that one). They also like the Charlie Daniels Band's Devil Went Down to Georgia if you can get the radio version which doesn't have the word B*tch. It gave me a good opportunity to explain the concept of the Devil and they love the story of Johnny going up against the Devil and winning. They love to dance and sing along with this song.

The oldies are always good - On rapsody.com I think it is under the catagory of bubblegum oldies (50's, 60's). Also if you are looking for music to dance to don't rule out big band - some of those tunes you can't help but move alongMy favorite kid singer is Fred Penner. He was around in the 8o's but his albums might still be out there somewhere. I remember it was one of a few kid albums that my mom and dad would listen to over and over with us. Enjoy your music quest!

My son loves They Might Be Giants

My daughter has always loved Love Shack by the B52s. Cyndi Lauper would be upbeat & kid friendly, The Beatles Yellow Submarine or something, The Mamas & The Papas, Raven Symone's Double Dutch Bus, I'm sure there are tons more. Have fun!

C.

The Beach Boys have a lot of songs that might be a good fit for you: Good Vibrations, Little old Lady from Pasadena, Surfin USA, etc.

If you like Bob Marley then you will probably like Ziggy Marley's kids CD called Family Time. My 2 year old likes the up beat reggae music.

I've been thinking about the same thing for my newborn due at the end of July. I won't list specific songs, but there are groups and artists out there that have a lot of songs that fit your parameters. Here are some ideas I've had: Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Indigo Girls, grown up bands covering Disney songs (I think Big Bad Voodoo Daddy covers I Want to Be Like You from the Jungle Book for instance-- on the Swingers soundtrack-- there are probably more), Barenaked Ladies, Shawn Colvin, anything that appeared on the Muppet Show (The Banana Boat Song for example), Motown and early rock and roll from a less explicit era, even disco (so many of the songs are about dancing). You can listen to samples on iTunes, Google lyrics or see if there's a YouTube video of a particular song before you actually invest in anything to make sure that it is kid-friendly. Good luck!

"Beautiful" - christina aguilera
"most beautiful girl in the world" - Prince
"it's a beautiful morning" - the Young Rascals

that's all I could come up with off the top of my head, I will respond again if I think of something else...

The Cars soundtrack is one we enjoy. Cars the movie, that is.

Hi P.,
We are listening to WOW 2009. It is Christian but it has a lot of genres--Rock, alternative, folk. It is awesome.

Music from musicals are great for kids! For example,

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (Oklahoma)
Singing in the Rain (Singin' in the Rain)
We're off to see the Wizard (Wizard of Oz)
Getting to Know You (The King and I)

etc.

Hi P.,

My husband and I had fun coming up with these! It's not as easy as one might think to find appropriate songs...

Beatles: Yellow Submarine
Los Lobos: La Bamba
Chicago: Saturday in the Park
Crosby Stills & Nash: Teach the Children Well
Cat Stevens: Peace Train
James Taylor: People Get Ready
Otis Redding: Stand By Me

Hope these work!

J.

I think there are many musical parents out there who felt like you...so now there's a TON of great music for kids that is really enjoyable for adults too. My son is 4.5 years old and we love all this stuff. Check out some of these tunes/artists:

I hope my mama says yes by AudraRox www.audrarox.com
Bottle of Sunshine by Milkshake (or the Scary Song) (we went to see them in concert in May 2008 and they were very enjoyable!)
Imagination Movers (Also a GREAT concert - very loud)
Laurie Berkner
Ralphs World (they're playing in SF on Sunday 6/7)
Dan Zanes

Some "adult" stuff he likes:
Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
Blossom Dearie - Put on a Happy Face
Who Let the Dogs Out
Don't Worry, Be Happy

Good Luck. What a fun project to be working on.

Hi P.,

I know you've received A LOT of GREAT suggestions, but I thought I'd toss in Elvis. His music is so fun and great to move to. My boys (3 yrs and 2 yrs) and I love to get moving to his music. I also really like the title song from the movie "That Thing You Do". Just a great, fun song.

Have fun and many blessing!!

N.

Soundtrack from Curious George movie

The Barenaked Ladies has an album of original children's songs called Snacktime. Really fun music with fun lyrics that can be enjoyed by all ages. I wouldn't necessarily call it kid music, although I found it in the children's section.
A few of the songs are on youtube if you want to sample before you buy.

Paul Simon's Graceland album is a hit with the whole family in this house. Our toddler loves it & it holds great memories for his dad & I.