Apparently I was a hippie kid….
Family Friendly Music

May 03 2012

Posted by Elizabeth as Adventures in Parenting, Family Friendly Music

I recently came across an old-school tape from my childhood. I adore having a tape deck in my car, nobody else has them anymore!! The kids, my husband and I have been totally loving it. Fred Penner and Marlo Thomas – nothing says old school quite like this..

This particular tape is from Marlo Thomas’ Free to Be You and Me. I went onto YouTube to see what I could find.

Some good tunes, though not the most incredible quality, unfortunately, and good laughs, for sure!

Enjoy!

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Crazy about Tractor Songs
Family Friendly Music

Apr 05 2012

Posted by Guest as Adventures in Parenting, Family Friendly Music, One Parents Perspective

Kammi shares some tunes her crew enjoys…

Listening and dancing to music is an everyday occurrence in our household. The kids and I love to turn the volume up and just sing and dance around the living room, especially late afternoon when tensions are high and everyone is becoming tired from the days’ activities. We aren’t picky either – we will listen to anything from country, eighties rock, 50’s jukebox favorites (we have a great CD of the great classics only they are sung by kids), silly songs, which are a combination of great kids songs and my daughter’s favorite, classical music, which she calls ballet music. However, lately our music of choice as been a CD called, John Deere Crazy About TRACTOR SONGS! My son was given the CD by his nana for Christmas and the whole family hasn’t stopped knee-slapin’ since! The songs are a perfect match for our family as my husband grew up on a farm and worked for John Deere for many years and my dad has also worked for John Deere Corp. for over thirty years, so my son and daughter were already lovers of the big, green machines!

The CD includes 20 great kids’ classics such as Yankee Doodle Went To Town (riding on a TRACTOR), She’ll Be Driving’ a John Deere Tractor When She Comes, This Old Tractor, and I’ve Been Workin’ on My John Deere to just name a few and the best part – they are sung by KIDS! I love this aspect of the CD as I think it makes such impact on my kids when listening to songs as they can really relate to them when they hear other kids actually singing them. The songs are upbeat, fun and have lyrics kids already know or can easily learn once they substitute John Deere Tractor for some of the original words.
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Fun With Friends: Bill Perison Review and Giveaway

Mar 08 2012

Posted by Elizabeth as Adventures in Parenting, Family Friendly Music, Giveaways, Reviews

I am the eldest of four kids with an eight year gap between myself and my youngest sister. As such, I spent a long time listening to children’s music. Luckily, the technology of the day; cassettes, is still somewhat around and my parents hung onto the ones we really enjoyed. Thanks to them, I inherited a number of fantastic tapes from my CD-player parents. Each and every one bring back terrific memories of road trips with my family and the fantastic messages delivered by children’s artists of the 80s and 90s. Most of those tapes have now found their way into my van because (SCORE!) we still have a tape deck! I love introducing those artists to my children and grooving and singing to the music of my youth. It keeps me young.

A few weeks ago I got an email from a musician who wanted me to listen to his new CD. I was stoked because… FUN! Then, I looked more closely at his name.

Bill Perison.

Bill Perison? The name rang a bell. A BIG bell. A bell connected to a tape that was currently sitting in my van’s tape deck ready to crank out a little of it’s classic tunes.

I asked if this artist and the artist behind Coconut Tree were one and the same?

YES!

I was more than a little excited. I love Coconut Tree. My kids love Coconut Tree. My whole family sings along and laughs at the lyrics. My adult siblings and I still laugh about the tunes and share jokes.
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Putumayo Kids: Family Friendly Music

Feb 02 2012

Posted by Elizabeth as Adventures in Parenting, Family Friendly Music, One Parents Perspective

A couple years ago I was given a CD of children’s music for Christmas by one of my aunts. This particular aunt has children of her own that are now older and all the hand-me-downs that I have received from her have been awesome. The toys have been exactly what my kids would love to play with. The used books have been of the highest quality. I knew that this music was going to be good. So, we popped it into the CD player and, within seconds of the first tune starting, we were a-boppin’. That CD? Putumayo Kids -Animal Playground.

The Wee Hairy Beasties and their hilarious lyrics in the song “Animal Crackers” had us hooked. ”I’ve got ants in my pants. I’ve got butterflies. I’m cryin’ crocodile tears, from my puppy dog eyes.” I quoted that from memory-ha! The next song… even better. Asheba, from Trinidad singing “No More Monkeys”… I loved the beat, the lyrics and the kids were dancing up a storm. Song after song, Animal Playground did not disappoint. It was awesome. We learned about animals, enjoyed animal-themed music and enjoyed listening music in other languages. Animal Playground features music from all over the world by many different artists. It is an awesome album of great music. The very best part is… it’s not the only one!! + READ MORE

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Parent Friendly Music:
The Apples in Stereo

Jan 12 2012

Posted by Krystal as Adventures in Parenting, Family Friendly Music, One Parents Perspective, Reviews

A couple months ago Elizabeth asked if there were any kid-friendly pop bands that didn’t sing about sex.
My response was a resounding YES! Lots.

New Magnetic Wonder is an album by a band called The Apples, in stereo. You can give your kids a grammar lesson when you tell them. They are The Apples and the music is in stereo hence the comma. It’s more like a sentence than a band name. + READ MORE