Children’s musicians Erin Lee and Marci bring us the next of their regular posts with thematic recommendations for kid-friendly music, plus activities to make the songs an interactive experience for the whole family.
Look for Erin Lee and Marci here on the first Monday of each month, or visit their homepage, www.gottaplay.org.
I’ve created links to Amazon for the full albums (click the album image or name), plus links to Amazon MP3 downloads, when available, for those who want only the singles. (Click the song name.) I also have a widget after the jump that will let you preview all three songs without leaving Mombian.
We’re just back from sailing to Alaska with R Family Vacations and can’t believe that it’s been two years since we met Dana on the cruise and began this blog. We’re kind of sad to be looking at our computer screens rather than gazing out our cabin windows at ice floes covered in seals. But life goes on, and we’re back to NYC, missing all the beautiful families we met or reconnected with on the sea. It’s fitting that this month’s topic is friendship . . . and being alone.
“Time in Time-Out
For every kid who ever ended up in Time-Out (and haven’t we all?) this song nails the feeling of being alone. “Books and rocks and toys that talk can’t take the place of someone to share in my gloom”. The narrator’s parents would probably be thrilled that the protagonist has actually spent his Time-Out sentence appropriately reflecting!
“Alone
Jamie has a totally different take on being alone — he likes it! Sometimes. This ballad celebrates imagination and the joy of finding a spot where you can go to be alone, but never feel lonely.
“Play
The child in this song feels lonely and just doesn’t know what to do by herself. The rain is coming down, and there is nobody to play with. Sometimes books are no fun and puzzles are too hard, and more than needing something to do, you need someone to do it with.
Get this song off the iPod and into life:
Draw pictures of how you are feeling. Does the weather ever make you feel differently? How do you feel when it’s sunny? Cold? Raining?
And while we’re on the topic of having someone to play with . . .
Last spring we attended Kindiefest, an incredible day of music and seminars for independent kids musicians here in NYC. We got to meet and connect with some awesome family music artists performing and recording music. One thing we learned — although it often feels like we are out there on our own, and it can get lonely sometimes, we are not alone! We met some amazing people in the Family Music scene — so to wind up this month’s blog about friendship, loneliness, and having someone to play with, we’d like to introduce just some of our new Kindiefest friends to you:
Debbie and Friends
Check out “I’m Glad You’re Here
Brady Rymer
The best dance song we’ve heard in a long time is “Jump Up (It’s A Good Day)
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
We love Secret Agent because he’s successfully making positive hip hop songs for kids that sound totally grownup! Our favorite track is “Gotta Be Me
