When you drive your car, what do you usually listen to when you are with the kids? You get them to listen to the radio or do you have bunch of CDs with stories and children songs to keep them entertained? These are particularly useful in long rides.
If we have kids in the car, we usually listen to kids music but we try to make sure it is music that we like. For e.g. Jack Johnson did the soundtrack for the animated film, 'Curious George'. They are awesome! I do not think any adult who likes Jack Johnson type music would mind this soundtrack plus it is filled with good 'life lesson' songs about sharing and what to do when one has a bad day. I think if more adults listened to good kids music they would arrive at their destinations in better moods. Other than that, I like oldies music or country for kids. I think too much electric guitar can be aggravating for them.
Yeah, that's not a bad idea either, listening to music that we all enjoy. Usually my kids love the radio and they even dance with it, but when it's long trips (over one hour) they can get impatient and then I pull out the magic CDs that makes them happy again...
It depends on their ages, doesn't it? If they're very young, you can get away with listening to your own music, or whatever you want really. Infants, you're going to want the sing along songs. Eight year olds etc are probably going to love boy bands and such.
The most important thing is that the song must be enjoyable to both, you and your kids. I hate nothing more than listening to noise while driving. It puts my entire concentration off. So, it's all about finding common ground. Luckily, there are plenty of songs everyone will enjoy. Just as there are lots of movies out there both kids and parents can enjoy, there are tons of songs perfect for a long family road trip. Here are my top ones: 'Roam' by the B-52s 'Obsessed by Trucks' by Justin Roberts Reach Out I'll Be There' by the Four Tops 'You Can Call Me Al' by Paul Simon 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' by the Beatles 'Istanbul (Not Constantinople)' by They Might Be Giants Nothing more relaxing and pleasant than these songs. The kids also enjoy them, and the drive is fantastic. Everyone is happy
When our daughter was little, I had a 5 c.d. changer player in the car. So we divided up our discs and played one for her, then one for me, etc. It was fun to take turns. I also had tapes. I loved Raffi for kid songs.
When my son was around 1 to 3 years old, we listened to many kid cds. These had songs like "Twinkle Twinkle", "Mary had a Little Lamb" and songs like that. When he was around 4-6 years old, we listened to alot of kid's praise (Christian) music, classical, and my music. As he got older, we started listening to more musicals, any group of our choosing, and anything on the radio. We really tried alot of new genres, new groups, and new styles of music. Now as a teen, he has a vast range of music he loves. He listens to the radio, classical music, musical numbers, and much more. The only style he does not like is rap.
Yeah, when my younger kid was smaller it was pretty much everything about him, we tried to please him and so on, but after the second kid was born we decided that we needed time to ourselves to we cut their perks lol. Even so we do let them hear some kids songs and we are a democratic family, we allow them to speak and we negotiate what all the family will hear when we are on a trip...
