My five year old nephew has gotten an Ipod Nano (got to be just like big brother 
) and his parents are at a loss of stuff to fill it up with. Raffi just isn’t going to work. I’ve already put as much They Might Be Giants as I think he’ll dig, but I’m looking for other quality music that a five year old can dig. Quality seems to be the big hangup for me, as I could just fill it with Hanna Montana, but I can’t bring myself to do that. So what say we?
You can find music by these guys by searching for “Sugar Free Allstars” at iTunes, CDBaby or Amazon. I sent my grandkids (age 2 & 4) “Dos Ninos” and they love it. Not all of their music is for kids, but none is really inappropriate.
They’ve recently been featured on XM’s Kids Channel and have started doing library shows (for kids) along with regular club gigs (for adults). A good time is had by all.
You can also hear them at their MySpace page
disclaimer: These guys are friends of mine, but don’t hold that against them.
Any discussion of They Might Be Giants for kids should bring up their mainstream brethren The Barenaked Ladies.
Also, it never hurts to go with the classics. Little kids love The Beatles.
Have they thought about… Mozart, or something?
Yeah, Beatles!
My oldest son, when he was 9 started listening to them after he sang a couple of songs of theirs within a medley in his school play, fairly quickly after that, he was listening to all my Beatles tunes, growing his hair longer, and generally wanting to be Ringo. We had to get him some drums to try to keep him from beating on the furniture (hasn’t worked yet!). My 6 yo boy and 3 yo girl fell right in with it and seem to love Beatles songs, as well. (Actually, y 6 yo is getting into Deep Purple and Motorhead, I’d better keep an eye on that one)
Anyway, the Beatles as good a starting point as any…the Ramones aren’t too bad, either, surprisingly.
The Backyardigans is a kids cartoon with original songs and dance numbers. As kids shows go, it’s miles better than the Wiggles and the like. I picked up a couple of CDs for the car for my 4-year-old, and I can put it on repeat without wanting to kill myself.
As to why not Mozart? Because kids like to sing along with things. Mozart’s not bad, but I think a 5-year-old would be incredibly bored. Worth a try, I guess, but few small children will actually be into classical music. If you wanted to introduce it, maybe find something that’s got stories set to the music like Peter and the Wolf.
These aren’t Mozart type people. I like the Beatles, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Keep 'em coming.
Bill Cosby’s album “Wonderfulness”. I can’t count how many times I’ve replayed “Chicken Heart” for our kids (and spoken word really gets their attention, so we get some relative peace too).
Weezer’s Green Album is good for kids, as is much of the Flaming Lips’ catalogue. Hmm, what else? Cake has some good pop tunes. I will poll my young’ns, and see if I can’t come up with some more.
I agree with the Beatles, also.
Weird Al and Tom Lehrer. Duh.
I got Weird Al’s album “Fat” when I was six, and just about made myself sick with laughing. Go for it.
I lubbed me some Dr. Demento collection CDs (casettes, really) when I was that age.
Fish Heads! Fish Heads! Rolly! Polly! Fish Heads!
My sister really liked some R.E.M. songs when she was about that age - mostly the upbeat ones, like “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” and such.
(We took her to see the “Monster” tour when she was about 8, and I still have great memories of her grooving to that song, wearing a tour t-shirt that came down to her knees…)
I have 5 year old twin girls. they don’t have their own ipods but I have a bunch of tunes on mine for when we’re on the road. Most of the songs are from their favorite movies. If I don’t download the soundtrack then I’ll dub tunes (usually the end credits) off of the DVD. We also have Laurie Berkner and The Grumpy Song guy. They got into Alanis Morisette big time when they were littler “It’s not fair!! Na Na Na Nair!!”, Simon and Garfunkle a little bit. It’s hard to tell what they’ll like so now I just wait for them to tell me what to put on or I’ll surprise them if something’s obvious. Fortunately the iPod’s a Barney-free zone.
I made a mix CD for a six-year-old a few years ago. Lots of They Might Be Giants and Beatles; also:
Esquivel (the song “Whatchamacallit”, though a lot of his stuff is interesting to kids)
Queen (“Bicycle Race”, “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon”)
The Mamas and the Papas (“Dancing in the Street”, “Dream a Little Dream”)
Taj Mahal (“Fishin’ Blues”)
“Good Morning Starshine” from the Broadway cast *Hair *album
“We Got the Beat” by the Go-Gos
“Stand” by R.E.M.
“Rock Lobster” by the B-52s – and you have to show the kid how to dance with it, including especially the part where you sink to the floor and kick up your feet on “DOWN, DOWN, DOWN…”
“Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
One you probably never heard of: “Dog Dreams” by The Story
I also got her the *Free to Be You and Me * album. I cried and cried, listening to it before I gave it to her, because when I was little, I listened to it over and over again, and had Mom and Dad read from the book to me almost every night. I hope to name a kid “Zenobia” if I ever get the chance, or if mremilyforce won’t agree to that one, maybe “Atalanta”.
When I was a kid, my favorites from my dad’s (mostly classical) tape library were Switched On Bach and a collection of Scott Joplin. I also loved playing my Muppet Movie (the first one) soundtrack album, though it’s hard to find that now.
I’ve burned a couple of CDs for my 4-yr-old twins. IIRC, their very favorite tracks are:
Joan Jett’s I Love Rock and Roll
Willy Porter’s Cool Water (they like several tracks from The Trees Have Soul)
5th Dimension’s Aquarius
Seasons of Love from Rent
Shaft by Isaac Hayes
Pick Up the Pieces by the Average White Band
and
Mr. Grinch by Boris Karloff
The Monkees
Herman’s Hermits
Ask the kid what he likes
I was going to say TMBG but I see it was mentioned in the OP.
I haven’t seen anyone mention Elvis yet .
Yeah, just don’t get him the Rodeo Song!
And by the way: :eek: to a 5 year old having an ipod. I don’t even have a freakin’ ipod.
Oops the edit window expired before I could scroll through and see what movies are on there. Movie soundtracks/songs are from Mulan, Flushed Away, Bridge to Terabithia, Barbie Princess and the Pauper (not too bad, actually), Chronicles of Narnia, KiKi’s Delivery Service.
Ooh! If I was making that mix today I’d include “Yucky Bugs,” a.k.a. “Bug Squishing Party Tonight.” Jeff Warner is fantastic. The rest of that album isn’t kid-oriented, but he does concert-demonstrations in the schools and has a kid repertoire… OK, here it is. I haven’t listened to this recording, though.
I think you should expose little kids to as much variety as possible, as young as possible. The Beatles are a great suggestion. Another thought is to find some Dan Zanes albums. The Disney Channel runs music videos for him between shows - he was in the Del Fuegos (anyone remember them?) back in the 80s and has been making family oriented music for a few years. Not really kid music, but music that kids might like to listen to.
My 4 year old is currently into Led Zeppelin and by extension has been listening to the Robert Plant / Allison Krauss CD lately. In addition to the music that is generally playing somewhere in the house all of the time, he has his own CD player and collection of CDs. He usually disappears a couple of times every day to go play drums - you can’t get them interested too young…
The question I hear at home more than any other is, “What band is that?”