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 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 most of the songs without leaving Mombian.
Have you ever done something that you wished you hadn’t done? Or has something ever happened to you that you wish never happened? There are some things that you just can’t make go away or pretend didn’t happen…but what you do NEXT can make all the difference between a terrible day and a happy ending.
The characters in these songs keep on going when things get tough, scary, or just plain embarrassing. They turn difficult situations into happy endings through bravery, perseverance, and sometimes just a good sense of humor.
“The Last Dragon
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo makes positive hip hop for kids (and their grownups – we know some musicians who have purchased his CD and their “kids” are in college!) This rap tells the story of a young dragon that “did something he wished he never did” – he fell asleep in a cave without telling any other dragons where he was or what he was up to. He awoke to find that all the other dragons had migrated and he was in fact the “last dragon left on earth”. He has to learn to be brave, be bold and learn some new skills—like flying—in order to triumph in the end.
“Embarrassed
The Okee Dokee Bros are having a horribly embarrassing day that just keeps on going and going. From gym class (where the unfortunate narrator misses the soccer ball and kicks the teacher) to school pictures (taken with both dirty clothes and a dirty nose), the humiliations just keep piling up! Luckily for the narrator, he is able to survive the day with his head held high, ultimately wondering why everyone else can’t be as funny as he is.
“Elm Avenue Waltz
“Elm Avenue Waltz” was created when our friend Phil told us about a cranky neighbor that all the kids in his neighborhood used to whisper about. Once, a kid lost a football in her yard—and when he went to retrieve it, he found that she had sliced the ball open with a big kitchen knife! After that, everyone was afraid to go in her yard, and if someone accidentally threw a ball there, it was considered lost. Well, as soon as we heard his story we had to write a song. Our narrator hits a baseball into the infamously cranky neighbor’s yard, breaking her window and presenting a life lesson in responsibility.
Get this song off the iPod and into your life:
“Elm Avenue Waltz” isn’t really a song about ballgames, friends, or even cranky neighbors—it’s really about courage. So talk, or write, or draw a picture about something you’ve done that required courage!