What’s your favorite Laurie Berkner song?
I know, I know, it’s so hard to pick just one favorite song by Laurie Berkner! As an early childhood music therapist and music educator, Laurie Berkner’s music is among my top favorites to bring to my early childhood music groups. Laurie Berkner’s engaging songs are not only my favorite, but is also a favorite of the children that I work with, too.
What makes Laurie Berkner’s music so special? Her songs are engaging, educational, kid-centered, and not-cheesy (just like the music we like around here!). People Magazine recognized her as “the queen of kids’ music” and is widely acknowledged for trailblazing the “kindie rock” movement, described as a “less saccharine, more rocking music that is not dumbed down for children” on the Laurie Berkner’s Band website.
Her music is also very adaptable & flexible. One of my favorite songs, “The Goldfish”, can be used as a highly energetic and active movement song, but can also be adapted to be played in a calming & grounding manner. I’ve used this song in 1:1 or small group settings, but when it came to larger groups, the arousal level became really challenging to manage. To avoid the “music class chaos”, I adapted this song for groups of 20-25 kids by slowing down the tempo, keeping my voice volume down, using a picking pattern (instead of strumming the guitar) and overall, turning the arousal level down by keeping the music very low key.
Now that I’ve told you why I love Laurie Berkner’s music so much and sprinkled a trick or two on how I’ve used her music in my preschool & kindergarten music classes, I’m going to share with you a list of some of my favorite Laurie Berkner songs for early childhood music lessons and music therapy sessions. You can also find all of these songs on this Spotify playlist.
