I’ve done enough seven-hour road trips with the kids to know that the right music can eliminate the fear of “are we there yet?” So before strapping the kids into their car seats, I spruce up our music collection with some new tunes for less money than we’ll spend on snacks and Tylenol.
We thought it would be fun to offer up a selection of some stand-out singles from some of the newer kid-and-parent friendly CD’s that have come our way recently. Just take a listen to a sample, and if you dig it (which we think you will), download and add them to your own tried and true favorites to help keep things hopping, no matter how slow you’re actually crawling.
1. The Dreyer Family Band’s You Get What You Get ranks up there with my all-time favorite kid (and parent) songs for its hilariously honest lyrics, groovy beat and cool-as-Isaac-Hayes voice. And the title offers perfect advice for kids who are stuck in their car seat for long hours at a time.
2. With his distinctive voice and kooky chorus, Billy Kelly’s People Really Like Milk is a bouncy ode to most kids’ favorite beverage. Just don’t let that sippy cup get lost under the seat or you’ll never be able to listen to it again.
3. The Hobo Nickels’ The Weableau Well is catchy, foot-stomping, folkabilly fun with full-of-surprise lyrics that sound fresh even after I’ve heard them a dozen times.
4. The minivan feels less dorky when I throw on human beatbox Christylez Bacon rapping with folk music’s Cathy and Marcy on the ultra-cool Hip Hop Humpty Dumpty. Don’t knock it til you’ve heard it.
5. Bouncy, goofy and lo-fi, Apple Brain’s Apple X3 (no longer available) makes our car feel like a party even if we can’t jump around the room when the song commands.
6. Me 3’s Tulip is a little bit of offbeat indie goodness–not too loud, not too fast, not too serious, just how I like my road trips.
7. Mix things up with a little bit of techno fun courtesy of the SparkNutz’ Robot Picnic. But please. Try to refrain from showing the kids your “cool” robot dance moves.
8. Eric Herman’s Ants In Your Pants 99 will get them wiggling in their seat as they dance along to the silly lyrics. Just stay on the road, driver.
All of the above songs can be downloaded from our affiliate Amazon, for under a dollar each. You can also find a whole bunch of great kids’ music in our archives.
[photo: MyraC ]
