Music to Sing and Shake to for Mama and Baby

Posted on July 3, 2012 By Cassie W. real life

Even the littlest babies enjoy listening to music and watching mama dance and sing along. But it can be difficult to find music that you and your baby both enjoy, not to mention music with lyrics you feel comfortable playing in front of your child.

While browsing stations on Pandora.com, I found a genre station called “Children’s Folk Music.” That was nine months ago, and we still listen to this station almost every day. Along the way, my husband and I have “thumbs up’d” and “thumbs down’d” a few songs here and there, essentially creating a unique station.

Despite the title, most of the songs aren’t folk songs. They’re just fun, upbeat songs you can have playing in the background for part of the day. Most of them are feel-good, sing-along-songs, too.

Many have educational lyrics that could help your child learn to count (Three is a Magic Number by Schoolhouse Rock) or learn the ABCs or animal sounds (Animal Alphabet Song by Alan Mills)

Other songs you might remember your grandparents singing to you as a child (Skip to my Lou by Pete Seeger) or maybe you remember versions of them from episodes of Barney & Friends (Apples and Bananas by Raffi.)

Children’s song artists like Elizabeth Mitchell and Raffi show up most often for us, but we’ve also got songs by Peter Paul and Mary, Keith Urban, Jerry Garcia and Johnny Cash.

My 9-month-old, whom I lovingly call Princess Godzilla, also loves non-kids music.

She really enjoys Harry Belafonte songs, believe it or not. (Jump in the Line and the Banana Boat Song [Day-O].) Reggae beats usually get her little body moving and shaking as well (Three Little Birds [Don’t Worry Be Happy] by Bob Marley and the Wailers).

Some of our favorite songs to listen, dance and sing to together are:

• Shake Your Sillies Out by Raffi
• Little Sack of Sugar by Elizabeth Mitchell
• All I Want is You by Barry Louis Polisar (Remember it from the movie Juno?)
• Caterpillar Caterpillar by Kira Willey
• Down By the Bay by Raffi

My husband particularly likes to sing with Princess Godzilla to Freight Train by Peter Paul and Mary, Car Car by Johnny Cash and Little Red Caboose by Elizabeth Mitchell.

Sing-along memory pattern songs can be so much fun to laugh about as you stumble over the words. Try The Green Grass Grew All Around by Pete Seeger and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Raffi.

There are also a few kid’s songs that, I admit, we play more for mama’s enjoyment than for baby! These songs just make me want to cuddle my little baby girl and give her lots of kisses. Songs guaranteed to melt your heart are:

• I Love You Sweet Baby by Kimya Dawson
• You and Me by Frances England
• Five Days Old by Laurie Berkner
• Who’s my Pretty Baby? by Elizabeth Mitchell

A fun nighttime song about mama, daddy and baby animals is Goodnight by Laurie Berkner.

Is your little one ready to be a big brother or sister? Listen to Family Tree by Frances England (warning— this song is consistently a tear jerker for me, and I’m not even pregnant!).

Suzi Shelton’s version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight is really kid-friendly and a very cute take on a classic song that most moms and dads will know already. (“Waaake up, lions!”)

Everyone knows Disney songs are generally catchy. Fun Disney songs to sing to your baby are The Bare Necessities from the Jungle Book, and If I Didn’t Have You from Monster’s Inc., if you want to proclaim your love to your little one.

Although somewhat controversial, it is generally accepted that playing music can be beneficial to your baby’s brain development. While listening to music doesn’t make a person smarter, research shows it does help a person’s brain to think “outside the box,” so to speak.

So, find some of these songs on Pandora.com, YouTube, iTunes or Amazon and start moving and grooving with your little dancer!

Music to Sing and Shake to for Mama and Baby

Added by Cassie W. on July 3, 2012.
Saved under real life
Tags: music for babies, music for kids, Music to Sing and Shake to for Mama and Baby

Tweet

FacebookTwitterGoogle1EmailDeliciousDiggGoogleStumbleuponRedditTechnoratiYahooBloggerMyspaceRSS