Songs to Go: Make the Most of Your Travel Time Together!

Busy families spend SO much time “on the go”.  If you’re looking for a fun way to enrich your travel experience together, choosing what songs you listen to can make a big impact on making the most of your travel time.

Choosing SONGS for your PLAYLIST:

1. Choose songs that relate to each other: GENRE is a great place to start. You can make classical, jazz, blues, rock or kid-focused music playlists.
2. Choose one listener’s FAVOURITE SONGS: “Ethan’s Favourites”, “Mom’s Best Dance Tunes”, “TV Theme Show Songs”.
3. Create a TRIP SOUNDTRACK consisting of songs that relate to the destination: “Disney Songs” for a trip to Disneyland. “Songs About Mountains” for your camping/climbing trip. “Water Songs” for a trip to a water park, lake or the ocean…you’ll enjoy the memories associated with the songs on your playlist every time you hear them post-trip.
4. Choose songs that create a MOOD…like UPBEAT SONGS, LEARNING SONGS, CALMING SONGS…

HERE ARE 3 “SONGS ON THE GO” PLAYLISTS:

Upbeat Songs, Learning Songs and Calming Songs.

Songs with actions for energized kids:

1. Everybody Clap — Clap, stomp, peek-a-boo, sway side to side, count to three WOO!
2. Hello, Hello –Point to the different parts of your body as you hear them.
3. Bicycle — Move hands and legs up, down, fast, slow, in, out and ding a ling fingers.
4. Animal Farm–A short memory game. Make animal sounds along with the song. VIDEO HERE.
5. I Like To Make Music — Make different sounds using your body. VIDEO HERE.
6. Side To Side — Follow direction words as you hear them in the song. VIDEO HERE.
7. Round and Round — Round, up, down, in, out, fold hands, pretend to sleep + more.
8. Finger Shapes — Make circles, triangles, rectangles and ovals with your fingers.
9. Brush Your Teeth — Go round and around, inside and outside as you “brush”.
10. 5 Fingers — Thumb, index, middle, ring and pinky help count to 5. VIDEO HERE.
11. In Front/Behind — Point, step and clap in front and behind to the lively rhythm.
12. Stepping — March your feet along to the beat of the step, steppy  steps.
13. Walk Around — Bounce, sway and follow the direction words. SEE VIDEO HERE
14. Horsey Ride — Bounce, count to 3 and WHOA! VIDEO HERE.

Songs that teach specific information:

1.  I Wrote This Song — Match different initial letter sounds with repeating suffixes.
2. Planets, Planets — Name the 8 planets, from Mercury to Neptune. VIDEO HERE.
3. 7 Continents, 5 Oceans — Easily learn the names with this song AND THE VIDEO.
4. Vowels — Memorize A,E,I,O,U and Y with this song AND VIDEO.
5. The Backwards Alphabet — Memorize alphabetical order in reverse! VIDEO HERE.
6. Ball For Baby — Associate actions and words with this fun finger play AND VIDEO.
7. Transportation — Learn about different modes of transportation and their sounds.
8. The Canada Song — Learn the 10 provinces and 3 territories with this song & VIDEO.
9. The USA Song — Learn all 50 States with this song AND VIDEO.
10. Traffic Lights — Learn what the different colours of traffic lights mean. VIDEO HERE.
11. 1,2,3 — Count to 3 on your fingers and toes.
12. Count to 7, Count to 11 — Count from to 7 and 11 and back down again .
13. 7 Days Of The Week — Learn the order of the days of the week. VIDEO HERE.
14. 12 Months — Learn the 12 Months forwards and backwards! VIDEO HERE.
15. What’s The Weather? — Learn words that describe the weather. VIDEO HERE.
16. You’re There — Learn the 6 ways to spell these commonly misspelled words. VIDEO
17. The Moon — Learn about the moon’s orbit and how it relates to time.
18. In Front/Behind — Spatial orientation (step, clap, point in front/behind)

Songs that encourage slowing down/resting:

1. The Animals — Four mesmerising melodic patterns connect and disconnect. VIDEO HERE.
2. Pat, Pat, Pat — Soothing direction-following-song for transitioning to rest.
3. The Bathtub — Dreamy water-sound filled music, focusing on washing parts of body.
4. It’s Raining Outside — Rain sounds, soothing rain-like music. VIDEO HERE.
5. The Seasons — Slow moving song describing the seasonal weather changes
6. We’ve Had a lot of Fun — Relaxing parts of the body, one part at a time.
7. Hush, Hush — Focus on resting and pretending to sleep.
8. Wonderful You — “Inner Voice” confidence building set to calm music. VIDEO HERE.
9. Breathe In / Breathe Out — Breathing regulation song, focusing on breathing in/out. VIDEO HERE.

Kids in Cars Videos:

Funny “Walk Around” clip (getting silly is the best!):

Following directions to “Everybody Clap”

Getting tired but she still has energy for “Pat, Pat, Pat”

If you liked “Songs on the Go”, You’ll like Circle Time Songs That Teach, Quiet Time Songs and Teaching Specific Information Through Music !

More travel activity ideas:

This Reading Mama:  20+ Car Games and Activities for Long Car Trips

Kid World Citizen: Activities and Games to Play in the Car

Kids Activities Blog: 40+ Tips for Road Trips With Toddlers and Preschoolers

Living Montessori Now: Travelling With Kids – Montessori – Inspired Activities