New Songs for my class

[Georgesgirl1]

As a pre-k teacher, I get sick of listening to only kids music at school. Don't get me wrong, there is a ton of good stuff out there, but sometimes I need a break and so do the kids. I occasionally break out my music on my i-pod and the kids love it. Hawaii Five-O, The Cha cha Slide, and Beat It are some class favorites. I am trying to think of more current music, classic rock, and/or oldies that would be appropriate for 4 and 5 year olds (meaning no bad words or suggestive themes). Any ideas out there???

[sportsguy2315]

A list of my non-Disney favorites that I'd let kids jam out to:
Fireflies by Owl City
Do You Wanna Dance and Fun Fun Fun by the Beach Boys
You've Got a Friend by James Taylor
Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog
(Since y'all are from GA) Georgia on My Mind by Ray Charles
Beautiful Day by U2
Hockey Monkey by the Zambonis
Do Wah Diddy by Manford Mann
Mmmbop by Hanson
World by Five For Fighting
Upside Down by Jack Johnson


Albumwise, I'd recommend Charlie Brown Christmas for once it gets closer to the holidays for a jazzy rendition for the holiday tunes. It's the only Christmas CD that's on my iPod year round.

[Tinkermom]

I know you are looking more for current music but...
Have you ever heard of Go Fish? They are a Christian group but also do non-christian songs. Their tagline is "Great music for kids that won't drive parents bonkers"! We love them and even had them perform at our church and our parents and kids LOVED them. I especialy love the "mom song". You can listen to it on their website. Google "Go Fish Guys". :)

[TheDuckRocks]

Your post reminded me of my grandson's kindergarten teacher who taught her group of 5 year olds to sing "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones. Inappropriate but totally funny to hear and see these tiny kids rocking out.

[ILoveLegos]

My nieces & nephews love the same songs my parents used to play for us some of the more fun & eclectic were:

Frank Sinantra's: High Hopes (The one about the ant & the ram)
Coconut: (The lime in the coconut song)
Mambo #5
What a Wonderful World (We learned the ASL for this too).

If the kids like line dancing try:
(country)
Elvira
Acky-Breaky Heart
Boot Scooting Boogie
(Pop)
Electric Slide
Cha-Cha Slide
Cupid Shuffle
If they are particulary talented, "The Clevland" and "The Hustle" - these might be a little advanced though! Hehehe!
(Polka)
The Chicken Dance

Line dancing developes coordination, rythm, memory and counting skills. BTW I've seen 4, 5 & 6 yr olds do an excellent job all of these, well maybe except the Hustle!

P.S. I learned the Cupid Shuffle from 6 yr olds who were teaching it at my nieces school fair, LOL!

At the very least the kids will get some energy out dancing to the music!

[prprincess]

My mom's a pre-K teacher (20+ years) and my son is in Pre-K so I have some ideas for you.

Jack Johnson's CD that he made for the Curious George Soundtrack is great. Lori Berkner and Dan Zanes have some really good stuff. And then I know that Ziggy Marley just released a family friendly CD.

[d_m_n_n]

Doesn't Radio Disney put out a CD of music they play? All current music which is family/kid friendly!! :D

[DisneyDog]

It's not current, but one of my all-time favorites is Sugar Sugar by the Archies. It's actually my cell phone ring tone. I've loved it since I was a kid.

I agree with Laurie Berkner. She is awesome.

For some reason, kids seem to love the Macarena. It's unexplainable to me.

How about Earth, Wind and Fire or K.C. and the Sunshine Band? They make happy, upbeat songs. My DS has always loved their music.

And one of my all-time favorite kids songs is "put down the ducky" from Sesame Street. I could listen to that over and over again.

[TikiGoddess]

My girls (ages 6 and 4) love the Cars soundtrack. Can't go wrong with "Life is a Highway"!

They also love:
Eye of the Tiger
I Like to Move It
Walk the Dinosaur (from the recent Ice Age movie)

The students at my school always ask for the "Bad Day" song (Daniel Powter) to listen to in the cafeteria...

Kathy

[meldan98]

I would also suggest some of the Beatles songs, Buddy Holly and a few Elvis numbers. If you need some calming music that aren't the standards, there are a couple of really good cd's out now. One is a compliation of the Sherman Brothers music performed by guitar greats. It includes some of the music from Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and other. It is fantastic. A girlfriend of mine gave me a cd called Beatles Lullabies. It is really good.

[Georgesgirl1]

Thanks y'all. I have some of these already on my i-pod, but you gave me a lot of new ideas to look at.