What songs do you think would be good for small kids to listen to as they clean their room or do ther chores? So far I’ve thought of:
[ul]
[li]Whistle While You Work from Snow White[/li][li]A Spoonful of Sugar from Mary Poppins (that is the one they sang while cleaning their room, right?)[/li][li]and maybe Sing Sweet Mockingbird, which is the song that Cinderella sang as she scrubbed the floor in the Disney flick[/li][/ul]
Yours?
“Day’s nearly finnished/ Massa got me workin’/ Someday massa set me free…”
Ummm… just for the record that was a South Park quote, and I’m not trying to be any more of a jackass than I naturally am.
I would recommend “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” or “The Bannana Boat Song” as good songs for kids.
Aw, c’mon, don’t you think Paul Robeson belting out Ol’ Man River would set the mood perfectly for picking up that messy room? 
Swing lo…sweeeet chariot…comin forth ta carry me home
or
Thats the sound of the men…workin’ on the chain…gaaeeaanng
Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere.
Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share.
(Paraphrased from a possible translation)
“Yo, heave ho! Yo, heave ho! Mighty stream so deep and wide. Volga, Volga you’re our pride. Yo, heave ho! Yo, heave ho!” 
Failing that, I highly recommend “The Wheel of Pain” from the Conan soundtrack.
When I cleaned, I’d belt out “16 Tons” as I shoved stuff around. Of course, it was more like:
Sixteen tons
And whaddya get?
Another day older and
::crash:: Arghargh my foot!
After about 15 minutes of this, it got on everybody’s nerves, so I’d move on to whistling tunelessly and muttering like Popeye until I was told to shut up.
Then I discovered “Classical Music for Home Improvement,” when was played nonstop during spring cleaning.
There’s a Carribean one you can probably download somewhere, which we like to sing when cleaning:
Mama says no play, this is a work day
Up with the bright sun, get all the work done
If you will help me, wash all the dishes
Stack them up tidily…
And it goes on with different chores for the last two lines. Great rhythm, and a good song for 2-5yr-olds.
Say, that reminds me…what about “Day-O”?
Ranchoth
(Though I admit, as a child, I was left wondering who the “Daylight Kong-Man” was, and if he was similar to King Kong)
Ranchoth–I think “Day-O” and “The Banana Boat Song” are one in the same. I’m not 100% certain though.
Damn, now that parody is in my head.
“Come Mr. Taliban, turn over bin Laden
(Daylight come and we drop the bomb)”
I got myself a copy of Pete Seeger’s classic album American Industrial Ballads when I was a kid.
It’s not a “kid’s album,” per se, but children love Seeger’s voice and banjo. And the songs are nice and simple and really stick in the head.
"Old man Sargent, sittin’ at the desk,
The dam’ old fool won’t give us no rest;
He’d take the nickels offa dead man’s eyes
To buy Coca-Cola and Eskimo Pies…
I got the blues…I got the blues…
I got the Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues…"
If your making sweater’s somewhere in Asia may I suggest canning the music and instead infusing the air with stimulating peppermint scent?