Parents: What music for my 3 year-old? (1 Viewer)

[Ralph Summa]

Every morning when I bring my daughter to day-care, we listen to the Shrek soundtrack. EVERY DAY for about 18 months! She got hooked on the music when she got hooked on the movie. The music is pretty good but I'm really sick of it, and I think she is too. None of the other movies she likes have music that gets her going except maybe Lilo & Stitch. What are you guys playing in the car? NO BARNEY! NO WIGGLES! NO RAFFI! AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, NO WHEELS ON THE BUS!

Ralph

 

[Jon_Are]

How about some very early Beatles stuff? My kids loved it.

Jon

 

[KyleK]

NO!

 

[Eric_L]

My kids love all of your contra bands.

At the age of three my middle son, now 5, used to beg me to play Def Lepperd all the time. He then moved on to DEVO, then Baha Men and finally Smashmouth.

Yes, my CD collection is weird. You got a point?



edit: almost forgot, the Jimmy Neutron movie soundtrack is pretty fun also. I really enjoy the 'Blinded Me with Science' remake.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Try some Trout Fishing in America. Great fun folk music with a "family" edge that's got enough meat to it for everyone I highly recommend them live as well(with the family)

 

[Craig Robertson]

i'll second The Beatles, my kids love the stuff. you can watch "Yellow Submarine" and "A Hard Day's Night" to get them introduced, then they'll love listening to the music.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Interesting trend. My 4 yr old daughter LOVES the Beatles. It really started when I would watch a segment of Anthology each night when it came out. She watched it on and off with me while playing. Now, when she asks for the Beatles in the car, I know she means Magical Myster Tour and specifically "Hello Goodbye" and others. Once she asked for the "I am the Eggman" song. She walks around singing it - its hilarious!

She loves the songs from The Sound of Music and can sing a lot of them word for word without them being on. I don't have this in the car but I should.

Any kids CD set of goofy kids songs will do as well.

She LOVES Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. She knows a lot of the words. I listened to it every day last summer it seems so she got the trickle down effect of realizing Jeff Tweedy's brilliance.

 

[Ralph Summa]

Why didn't I think of the Beatles? I sing the chorus to "Golden Slumbers" to her at bedtime. She loves it even with my horrendous voice. I'll try the White Album. "Piggies" should go over big!

Kyle

Tell me about NO!. I haven't listened to TMBG since I was in college.

Thanks to all for the ideas.

Ralph

 

[Ralph Summa]

Kyle,

Never mind. I followed your link and got little teasers for five songs. She was be-boppin around! Sounds like a winner!

Ralph

 

[Stefan A]

How about turning to your local classical music station.

 

[Jon_Are]

My 4 yr old daughter LOVES the Beatles.

You want to see a proud papa? You should have seen the grin on my face when my daughter first sang along with "Love Me Do".

Of course, that was many moons ago.

Jon

 

[KyleK]

Ralph,

Glad I could help!

 

[Bob Turnbull]

Let me second the recommendation of They Might Be Giants' NO!. Tons 'o fun.

It's one of about 25-30 CDs that our son (3 years old in July) likes to keep in rotation. We listen in the car, before bed/nap and while we eat.

Old favourites are:

- Anything by the label "Music For Little People". A Child's Celebration Of Rock 'N Roll has some classic 50's tunes ("Rock Around The Clock", "Get A Job", "Purple People Eater", etc.) and Cajun For Kids has some pretty good Zydeco tunes with stories in between. Look also for Brown Girl In The Ring which has a nice selection of songs from around the world.

- Speaking of Louisiana, he LOVES the blues guitarist Sonny Landreth. We have all his albums and they are a mix of blues, cajun, zydeco and rock. Lots of great shuffling rhythms. We actually just listened to "Turning Wheel" from South Of I-10 tonight before bed.

- Weezer (The Green Album). Great pop tunes.

New favourites:

- Peter Gabriel's Secret World. In particular "Shaking The Tree". He seems to like the songs that have strong rhythmic components.

- Undertow by Tool. OK, not for everyone...B-) He initially liked it because songs number 10 through 69 are actually about 1 second each and he liked seeing the numbers quickly count up. However, he'll actually listen to all 7 minutes of lead off track "Intolerance".


As for being a proud papa, I had to almost wipe tears from my eyes as we were listening to Grant Green Live At The Lighthouse the other day. He piped up when track 2 started and said "Daddy, "Windjammah" is an instwumental..."

Sniff, sniff...

 

[Steve Owen]

My son just turned 3 and we listen to a LOT of music, so here's what I think...

I agree with the suggestion of They Might Be Giants "No!". Or any of their albums for that matter. We listen to the Beatles a lot, but he didn't like them when he was younger... he only warmed up to The Beatles in the last few months. He loved mainstream techno (Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, etc.) since he was tiny, so we listen to that, and he likes to dance to it. My wife plays a lot of big band and swing, and he likes that. He likes some Nirvana and yells "Louder!" when I play Sonic Youth. He doesn't care for U2 very much and really dislikes Peter Gabriel. Classical bores him... he prefers music with a stronger beat.

Luckily, I have not fallen into the trap of letting him choose music we listen to. He'll want to listen to Sesame Street music, and pout and cry for a few minutes when I say "No, we're listening to something else," but that attitude quickly goes away once the music comes on.

One thing we do at home is that I'll let him pick any CD off the CD rack and we'll listen to it. It's great for both of us... I hear things that might have been gathering dust, and he's exposed to something new.

Basically, my suggestion is this. Play a lot of different things. She will warm up to some, others not. Don't let her dictate what you're going to listen to (but I guess that comes down to parenting philosophy... my way is no more right or wrong than your way).

-Steve

 

[James E]

have you considered some classical or instrumental jazz. how about Keb' Mo' - Big Wide Grin

 

[Ricardo C]

-Beatles
-Queen
-Enya
-Nightnoise
-George Winston

It's never too early for them to start listening to the good stuff

 

[Ralph Summa]

I tried classical, but she doesn't seem to like anything instrumental. She isn't big on the radio, "Why is he talking?" seems to be her most common reaction.



My wife and I sing to our daughter at bedtime each night. Whereas I sing "Golden Slumbers" and some other bedtime tunes, my wife has been singing our national anthem to her. I was wearing a pretty big grin as I watched her lip synch "The Star Spangeld Banner" to my wife's singing the other night.

Ralph

 

[Karl_Luph]

Ralph, see if she would like The Andrews Sisters. They have some of the finest harmonies around and some really fun swing songs. Louis Prima and Keely Smith have some fun songs too that young tykes seem to enjoy.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Mahler.

 

[teapot2001]

Air Supply would be good.

~T