Jamie suggested that I get the boys a CD player. They got this one for Christmas, and they love it! It goes from room to room with them. Some of our favorite CDs are Wee Sing Bible Songs, The Little People, and the Baby Einstein Playdate CD. Reminder if you have toddlers: Make backup CDs!!!
What’s entertaining for my kids are some CD’s from the Classical Kids company. Among their favorites are “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” and “Mr. Bach Comes to Call”. What’s interesting is when my kids point out bad behavior by Ludwig Beethoven! “Mommy, he wrote on the wall! That’s a no-no!” or “Beethoven had a bad temper!”
They are available here: http://www.childrensgroup.com/sections/classical/classical_index.html
I would always recommend Patch the Pirate…especially the earlier recordings. I want those truths engrained in the brains of my little boys. Patch the Pirate helps puts feet to Christianity for little people (and it certainly was implanted in my in my earlier years and I like that I sometimes respond in Patch tunes to life’s problems).
We also like the Hymns for a Kid’s Heart series from Focus on the Family (link below). It’s solid music (BJU-approved probably). We only have the red-covered book, but it includes a book and a cd and is full of important songs that little kids need to know too. We love hearing Haddon (3) bound away from the breakfast table singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Undoubtedly, it was designed for bigger kids than mine are, but I don’t tell them that.
Amazon has the discounted price.
http://resources.family.org/p2p/searchResults.do?method=view&search=basic&keyword=kid%27s+heart&sortby=shortdesc&asc=true&page=1
Yeah for Patch the Pirate! My husband grew up without Patch and I always remind him that he was culturally deprived. No child should have to grow up without knowing “Pigs Don’t Live in Houses”!
Patch the Pirate was the first introduction I had to Christian music. I will never forget singing “Oh, I love broccoli, it’s such a tasty sight!” and “Rise and Shine lazy sleepy head!”
My kids love the Singalong Sunday School Song CD put out by Patch the Pirate. It has a compilation of those memorable Patch songs plus the great old ones that were published by CEF in their Salvation Songs for Children 1,2,3 & 4. These books are sadly out of print, but are occasionally up for bid on eBay. Snatch them up, if you can, and teach them to your kids! There’s a lot of good lessons to be learned through music…for young and old alike.