Get the Best Family Activities
Will It Float?
What happens when three teachers, a biologist, a language arts professor, a wealth management consultant, and myriad nature loving parents get together? They jam, of course. Calling themselves the Whizpops, this assortment of talented musicians presents their third science-themed album for kids, Sea Blue Sea($9.99). The educational lyrics teach about marine life (songs include “Manatee,” “Coral Reef,” and “Manta Ray”) but never feel preachy, while the grooves are catchy and fluid. Your little Octonauts and Wild Kratts fans will be in tune with this seafaring album.
All Smiles
Park Slope, Brooklyn-based mom of two and artist Suzi Shelton’s latest release is titled Smile in My Heart ($12.97), and we can guarantee the smiles will seep out for all to see when you pop this CD in the player. “Banjo-Pickin’ Girl” is as catchy as a tune gets; “Go, Fire Truck, Go” (cowritten by a 4-year-old from NYC!) gets the most requests at live shows, according to Shelton; and “Tomboy in a Princess Dress” might be favored by parents for its positive message, but it will be embraced by kids for its irrepressible beat. The songwriter has wielded her mic and guitar at shows from Symphony Space to the White House, and recently launched a personal performance service at suzishelton.com called “Skype with Suzi.
Strumming Them to Sleep
Once I Lived Upon the Sea ($14.97) from singer songwriter Steve Weeks should be a welcome addition to parents’ arsenal of bedtime sounds. His gentle acoustic melodies won’t lull kids to sleep (trust me, I tried that approach!), but they will help settle active minds and calm kids’ bodies as part of a warm and fuzzy nighttime routine. The homespun chords of songs such as “My Grandpa Gave Me a Hammer” and “Close Your Eyes Willy Boy” feel personal and affectionate (Weeks is a master storyteller), yet never cloying—like a one-man performance right in your kid’s bedroom.
Parents Making Tracks
The Not-Its! may be kindie rock’s best-dressed band, sure, but they’ve also got pop chops and harmonies to spare. Their energetic songs on 2014’s Raise Your Hand ($10) paint pictures of childhood with a touch of irony—see: “When I Fell (The Scab Song”)—and encourage listeners to think openly. “Love Is Love,” for instance, is a buoyant bit celebrating every kind of family—“even if your family doesn’t look like mine!” These parents from Seattle use their own experiences to create music that feels like summer all year ’round, helping kids and weary adults escape into a world of fun and toe-tapping pleasures.
