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.) —DR
We are writing this month’s blog on a train back from a show in New Jersey. We wrote October’s blog on an airplane back from a show in Chicago. And we wouldn’t even have a blog in the first place if we hadn’t met Dana after a show on a ship in the middle of the ocean in the Caribbean! So, with all the traveling, we can’t resist devoting a column to Transportation and Things that Go.
“Ride My Bicycle” (No single download.)
(Pam & Greta’s Magical Musical Express, Music Is Magic
Pam Donkin & Greta Pedersen capture all the excitement and thrill of flying down the road, powered by your own two feet and sheer determination. This song totally took us back to our own childhoods and the day we discovered we could actually get somewhere (the park, the candy store, our best friend’s house) ALL ON OUR OWN! Yes!
“Yellow Bus
(Justin Roberts, Yellow Bus
You might find yourself pogo-ing so madly to this tune that you forget to listen to the words. If that happens, play it again: the lyric is darn funny! We won’t give away the punchline, but you can bet that at some point or other the fate of the song’s narrator has happened to both of us. . . .
“On It for the Ride
(Erin Lee & Marci, Someone’s Gotta Wanna Play
This tune was composed when Erin Lee got stuck on a re-routed Long Island Rail Road train. She was late for the gig, but at least she had something productive to show to Marci when she finally arrived! All of the grownups on the train were grumbling about being late for work, but the two kids in front of Erin Lee were having a total blast — why worry about getting somewhere when the journey itself is so much fun?
Get these tunes off the iPod and into your life: Rediscover the lost skill of map-reading. Tell your kids about the “olden days” when you had to read a map to plan a trip! Get out a map and plan a trip…to Grandma’s, to the store, to Disneyland, to the moon. . . .