When Henry was a baby his pediatrician told me that to encourage verbal skills I needed to be talking to him constantly, and playing a lot of repetitive songs: kid songs. So for a while I became that mom driving around playing Raffi’s Wheels on the Bus on repeat. And it was painful. It felt like one more difficult sacrifice I had to make as a new parent. When I didn’t think I could listen to one more obnoxious kid song, I made it a personal quest to find kid music that I actually enjoyed listening to! Slowly over the course of three kids, I’ve been working on an epic kid song playlist with kid music that I actually really love. Perfect for evening dance parties, long car rides, balloon parties in Dot’s crib, and of course encouraging those verbal skills. Here are my favorites…

This post is in partnership with Kohl’s kid clothing line, Jumping Beans. Cute, affordable, and comfortable-enough-to-boogie-down-in kid clothing…

Music and dancing calls for comfy kid clothing. Edie’s ruffle top for $7 comes in a lot of colors so I let Edie pick out which one she wanted. And the answer was pink (always pink!). Her pants, the polka dot jeggings for $13, might be my favorite piece from the Jumping Beans line. The polka dots are really fun, but most importantly, they are SUPER stretchy and comfortable. Edie usually refuses to wear jeans at all but she’s been loving this pair.

(sweet kisses for baby sister!)

Dot’s in a cute star dress (just sold out but here’s another similar style), that could also be a top. I love dresses like that. When they’re little it’s worn as a dress, and as they get bigger you start wearing it as a top with pants or tights. Easy way to get a few years out of one piece! She’s also wearing these soft brown shoes for $15 and some simple white tights for $6. I really appreciate girls clothing that goes with everything because there are so many patterns in both of their wardrobes already.

Here’s a link to my playlist! It has a lot of fun, and sweet kid songs they’ll want to sing along to, plus a few chill-out classical pieces. I could have added family dance party songs on here (like Michael Jackson or Beyonce) but I feel like that’s a different list. This is strictly music written for children (with only a couple exceptions). Here are a few musicians that produce children’s music I love:

1. The Laurie Berkner band: Really fun, engaging songs that I’m always humming along to as well. Great activity songs, dance and chase around the house type of music to get the post-dinner wiggles out. Just listen. You and your kids will love her stuff. My favorites are: Fast and Slow, I’m Gonna Catch You, and my absolute favorite is Moon Moon Moon (a sweet lullaby I sing to my girls every night now).

2. Elizabeth Mitchell: Really sweet, folky kid music. Most are very short and sweet, but lovely. She writes her own music, but also has a few classic covers as well. My favorites are: Whose my Pretty Baby?, Little Sugar, and This Land is Our Land.

3. Frances England: A local San Francisco mother, her first album Explorer of the World was just released and nominated for a Grammy! Very indie feeling as well, inventive, and thoughtful lyrics. Favorites are: Explorer of the World and See What We Can See. 

4. They Might be Giants. They have two great kid albums: Here Come the ABCs and Here Come the 123s.  They’re really fun, upbeat songs, and obviously very educational. Henry used to love watching the animated versions of these albums on DVD when he was younger.

Here are two more outfits for dance parties at home from Kohl’s Jumping Beans line:

1. Embroidered graphic tee $8
2. Denim tiered skirt $8
3. Pom pom baby tee $6
4. Capri baby leggings $7

The best part about dance parties is they totally wear Edie out and she sleeps like a rock. What kid songs do you love? Any favorite musicians I need to know about?