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 for those who want only the singles. (Click the song name.)
When August rolls around, so does all the hot and humid weather. The streets are steamy and everyone’s hot after a day of playing around outside. So what better thing to celebrate in august than water? Pool water, sprinkler water, rain water, bathtub water — when the weather heats up it’s time to start splashing! Here are some of our favorite water songs.
“Under a Big Bright Yellow Umbrella
Here’s a song so infectious that it actually inspired Marci to clean out her overstuffed closet and find her yellow umbrella, not seen in months! We guarantee that after hearing this song you will be on your way to the store to pick up your very own giant yellow umbrella so you can dance with it down the block the next time the sky starts turning grey. And you’ll be singing Yosi’s peppy song out loud as you do it!
“Bathtub Boy
After a day of baking in the sun, who doesn’t love a nice, long bath? Bathtub Boy may be the coolest bath song we’ve ever heard. If you’ve got kids in your family that hate taking a bath, this funky song just might convince them to come around!
And our song for August?
“All Wet
While Yosi and the Allstars are getting specific and detailed about their favorite water activities, we’ve got the general love of H2O covered. Whether you like rain, or baths, or swimming, or sailing, or fishing, “All Wet” is the water celebration song for you. We love water so much that we chose this tune as our first music video — check it, and Marci’s yellow umbrella, out online for free at www.gottaplay.org.
And here’s an activity to get this song off the iPod and into your life: Do an art project! This song is a celebration of playing in the water—swimming pools, bathtubs, fishing, or just splashing around—the song’s narrator loves them all. Make a collage to match the lyrics of this song, then think about your favorite activities during the other three seasons and make a collage for each of them.