Riding with my sister and her toddler in their family car, I was subjected to a nearly lethal dose of the Wiggles. Squinting though the pain, I watched my nephew squirm to the music in his snug car seat joyfully.
I noticed he was mostly reacting to the music itself, and not the words to the song. (After all, he can barely talk). It occurred to me the lyrics could be nonsense or Japanese stereo instructions, as long as the music was equally snappy, simple and repetitive.
While I’m thinking this, my sister is profusely apologizing. She’s heard these songs about ten billion times already, and the lyrics are drilled into her synapses like painful sores.
Aha! We can solve this. Select a list of books of interest to adults. Edit for family-friendly or neutral content, we don’t want any Jackie Collins novels or other content inappropriate for the youngsters. Maybe some popular non-fiction, biographies of historical figures, travelogues and so on.
Record the books on tape. But instead of using straight narration, record them as lyrics to cheerful simple music just like those kids music disks. Make sure to repeat the music from chapter to chapter in cycles, the kids love repetition.
Now both Mom and little Jimmy can be entertained on those long car rides. And maybe Jimmy might pick up a little bit about the history of Portugal through osmosis.-- krelnik, Jul 19 2005 Smithsonian Folkways Childrens Music Collection http://www.amazon.c...ce&s=music&n=507846Recommended adult-acceptable toddler music [hippo, Jul 19 2005] Lead Belly sings for children http://www.amazon.c...ce&s=music&n=507846More recommended adult-acceptable toddler music [hippo, Jul 19 2005] I think this might work.
mind you, Jimmy might just like to listen to music (or operetta, Gilbert & Sullivan etc)-- po, Jul 19 2005 A musical audio-cookbook. Or any kind of how-to book! How to set your VCR, for non-techies.-- sketchgrrl, Jul 19 2005 I can imagine the Japanese numbers from 1 to 10 set to music: "Ichi Ni San Shi Go Roku Shichi Hachi Ku Juu".You should be aware though that there is some adult-acceptable toddler music. I've added links to a couple of CDs our children enjoyed. The notes on the Lead Belly CD say that he was a convicted murderer - probably wouldn't be allowed to sing to classrooms full of children nowadays...-- hippo, Jul 19 2005 My only worry is the next time that I actually read the book in question I would have snappy toddler music going off in my head. Love the idea though, looks like its Bunday for you!-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 19 2005 This wouldn't have worked for me. I had no perky music when I was a kid. I grew up listening to BBC Radio 4. My Mum thinks that I grew up thinking that Brian Redhead was my dad. My sister always hated the bass-y voices though, they scared her. You get a Bun [+]! This is a great idea!! Maybe now that BBC Radio is digital, they could have a version with perky kids music in the background to keep the kids happy.-- Minimal, Jul 19 2005 WAGIPBA... Oh, hi [krelnik], it's you! [+]
I think [hippo] is quite right, although he has only scratched the surface. Kids definitely go for upbeat music, but I don't think they differentiate between 'kids' music and 'adults' music - that's a distinction that we adults make.
I have been bringing my son up on Led Zep, Fear Factory, DJ Yoda, Coldcut, Orbital and just about everything on my shelf for many years now and he absorbs it all with that voracious enthusiasm that only kids have. From memory, babies prefer much more downbeat and certainly less aggressive music, so why not throw out "The Wheels on the Bus" on put on some Mozart instead? I have seen too many parents butcher their ears with terrible cassettes off the front of "Practical Parenting" in a brave effort to distract their children, but it usually works no better or worse than playing 'adult' music.-- wagster, Jul 19 2005 I agree with you, [wagster]. I'm gonna bring my kids up on MY music. You might want to reconsider some Led Zep songs, What about when they start to understand the following lyrics!!! "Babe, baby, baby I`m gonna leave you I said, baby, you know I`m gonna leave you
I`m leave you When the summertime Leave you when the Summer comes a-rolling Leave you when the Summer comes along....-- Minimal, Jul 19 2005 My son (now aged 7) is very keen on Kraftwerk; my daughter prefers Roy Orbison's greatest hits. Indoctrinate them young!-- hippo, Jul 19 2005 //I can imagine the Japanese numbers from 1 to 10 set to music: "Ichi Ni San Shi Go Roku Shichi Hachi Ku Juu".//
So can I, except when I'm doing warm ups for Judo to some weird dance music.
Unfortunantly, my parents have brought me up on a mixture of Phil Collins, Gordon Lightfoot (whose music I actually like), Rod Stewart, The Beatles, The Bee Gees and miscellaneous weird and wonderful perfomers. And I believe that I'm perfectly normal. Why let small children dictate what's being played on the cars' CD/ tape deck, anyway?-- froglet, Jul 19 2005 I used to sing along to Sesame Street songs in the 80's and my 80's babies learned to like Police, Eurythmics, Paul Simon, and sundry classicals like eveyone here has said.-- dentworth, Jul 19 2005 //Gordon Lightfoot (whose music I actually like)// - Don't you just love "The Ballad of Sinky Boat"? It should be obligatory for kids to be played Beatles.-- wagster, Jul 19 2005 Well, you hear the Beatles music whether your parents play it or not - loads of radio stations and movies have Beatles songs on them...-- froglet, Jul 19 2005 /Make sure to repeat the music from chapter to chapter in cycles, the kids love repetition./ - yes. Full bun.-- bungston, Jul 19 2005 My Father used to play George Formby tapes in the car, turning them over when one side was finished..... it is only now that I am beginning to recov.."Sitting on the ice in the Ice rink... Sitting on the ice with me skates on....." *sigh* I guess not.-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 20 2005 Camoflage - Stan Ridgeway.-- calum, Jul 20 2005 He was an awfully big marine.....-- The_Englishman_Abroad, Jul 20 2005 random, halfbakery