[amyjared]

I have two kids, 9 and 5, and when they were younger we listened to Dan Zane and Laurie Berkner and Raffi and Pete Seeger and a few others, but I always played them the classics because there's always "kid" songs in them:

Yellow Submarine
Octopus's Garden
Froggie Went a Courtin'
Boris the Spider
Feelin Groovy
Werewolves of London
White Rabbit
My ding-a-ling
Lone Rhinocerous
We will rock you
Joy to the World

As you can see, they liked the "animal" themes. My kids also liked Tom Waits and Johnny Cash (deep voices), Jim Croce, Steve Miller (some people call me Maurice....), Simon & Garfunkel, etc., but I also played them a whole lot of Motown and they really liked the grooves of it.

On a side note, we have a cd I made that's called "the clean-up" cd. It's got 5 motown classics: Ain't too proud to beg, Midnight Hour, Gimme Some Lovin, Nightime is the Righttime and Respect. When it's time for them to clean, we put it on. As soon as they hear it, they know to clean up. It works great and everyone is in a good mood cleaning up (for the most part!) And it's short, so they know they only have to clean for a little bit.

[tiffcheese]

Thoroughly enjoyed this when I was watching other peoples' kids:
http://www.amazon.com/Really-Cool-Songs ... dogpile-20

[tiffcheese]

On a side note, we have a cd I made that's called "the clean-up" cd. It's got 5 motown classics: Ain't too proud to beg, Midnight Hour, Gimme Some Lovin, Nightime is the Righttime and Respect. When it's time for them to clean, we put it on. As soon as they hear it, they know to clean up. It works great and everyone is in a good mood cleaning up (for the most part!) And it's short, so they know they only have to clean for a little bit.

who's the smarty! this is the greatest idea

[gr8fulbluz]

On a side note, we have a cd I made that's called "the clean-up" cd. It's got 5 motown classics: Ain't too proud to beg, Midnight Hour, Gimme Some Lovin, Nightime is the Righttime and Respect. When it's time for them to clean, we put it on. As soon as they hear it, they know to clean up. It works great and everyone is in a good mood cleaning up (for the most part!) And it's short, so they know they only have to clean for a little bit.

seconded!
This is a great idea, i am gonna run it by my brother. He has 2 small kids.
I was looking at a CD from a DC band that has just put out a children's CD called 'Cake for Dinner'
by Scythian is a Celtic/Gypsy high energy band. I have not really checked the CD out but i was gonna get it for my brothers kids.
I noticed there is a cleaning song on it as well called 'Cleaning Hullabaloo'
Outstanding!

[amyjared]

The other 2 CD's my kids listen to all the time in the car are Barenaked Ladies (they have tons of kid-friendly stuff that I can deal with) and Flight of the Conchords...a little risque, but the kids LOVE it!