Music For Kiddos Podcast
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Have you downloaded our top 5 children’s songs?
If you haven’t, I’d recommend reading this post and scrolling down to the end to find them. The best part is that you can download these 5 popular children’s songs for free! I will also be sharing with you some implementation tips and how I use them during my music therapy sessions or music classes with preschoolers or kindergarteners.
These top 5 children’s songs are the songs that over the last four years have been the ones that people tell us are their go-to songs and honestly, the ones that the children they work with love the most.
Our top 5 songs children love
This song has a hand motion patter (tap-tap, clap} that kids can tap on their laps. I like to use this song in mixed age classes (with three, four, and five year olds). The three-year-olds are really interested in this pattern and it is very challenging for them, especially when singing at the same time. About the time kids get to kindergarten or first grade, they can start working on singing this song and doing the tapping in the class.
When you do this song acapella, instead of using the recording, kids can then have an opportunity to contribute to this song by sharing words that describe watermelon: juicy, sweet, red, seedy, green, etc. One of the most fun parts of the song is when “your hands might get sticky.” I can wiggle my fingers right in front of them, like they're really sticky, and kids really love that.
“Just Dance” is my very favorite movement song and kids absolutely love. This song has very clear instructions in it, and for that reason, it's structured in a way that works very well when you’re making live music with kids, and it helps them to keep on track because of the instructions in the song.
Kids start standing with their knees bent and then they twist. As they twist, they get a little bit higher, and little bit higher, and when their legs are straight and they get to the top, they’re free to move depending on the movement we suggest (jump, dance, wiggle, etc.). Kids may also have the chance to contribute to what happens in the song if you're playing this song live.
“Shake-A My Egg” is an instrument song with a very silly B section where the kids get to hide their egg shakers. Something you can do is to cover your eyes and give them a minute to hide their egg. When you open up your eyes, you’ll try to “guess” where it is. Because it's an egg, you can say silly things like “Are you sitting on it like you were a chicken?, etc. This song is very successful whether you are making music with kids online, or in-person.
This song has really fun hand gestures to it, where you pretend you are holding a mug of hot chocolate moving it back and forth, and then blowing on it. It's really fun to do this song with a teeny tiny food cup of hot chocolate and changing the pitch of it to a higher pitch. You can also use your whole arms for your giant cup of hot chocolate and when you're blowing it to make it cooler, you have to blow the entire giant cup of hot chocolate.
“Hot Chocolate” is great in the winter time when it's cold outside, but it could definitely work if you're camping, you've got the cool mountain air and you need hot chocolate at night because it gets cold.
”Move It, Move It” is probably my most popular song that music therapists and music teachers use. It is a really fun, active movement song that I have used for. 12 years or more. The most fun part of this song is that it is a “dance-freeze” movement song.
There's a middle section where the kids bend their knees and everybody jumps at once with a musical cue that tells them when to jump. This is another song where kids can contribute how they’d like to move their bodies.
You have my full permission to use these songs however you see fit. You can use them online, in-person, on video, on social media. You can use them on videos that are then distributed to families. I am completely okay with that. The only thing that I ask, if you do use them publicly is you just give me credit.
I share this music because my goal is to get quality music in the ears of kids everywhere. And the way for me to reach a lot of kids, is to give away my music to music educators and music therapists.
You and the families you work with can find me on Spotify or YouTube to listen to my music. It helps me spread quality music out to kids to help support their social, emotional health and their development.
Have you listened to the Music For Kiddos Podcast yet? This blog post is inspired by episode 25 of the podcast with Stephanie Leavell.
Download Our Top 5 Children’s Songs
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