
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:
- 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.
- Choose one listener’s FAVOURITE SONGS: “Ethan’s Favourites”, “Mom’s Best Dance Tunes”, “TV Theme Show Songs”.
- 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.
- 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:
- Everybody Clap — Clap, stomp, peek-a-boo, sway side to side, count to three WOO!
- Hello, Hello –Point to the different parts of your body as you hear them.
- Bicycle — Move hands and legs up, down, fast, slow, in, out and ding a ling fingers.
- Animal Farm–A short memory game. Make animal sounds along with the song. VIDEO HERE.
- I Like To Make Music — Make different sounds using your body. VIDEO HERE.
- Side To Side — Follow direction words as you hear them in the song. VIDEO HERE.
- Round and Round — Round, up, down, in, out, fold hands, pretend to sleep + more.
- Finger Shapes — Make circles, triangles, rectangles and ovals with your fingers.
- Brush Your Teeth — Go round and around, inside and outside as you “brush”.
- 5 Fingers — Thumb, index, middle, ring and pinky help count to 5. VIDEO HERE.
- In Front/Behind — Point, step and clap in front and behind to the lively rhythm.
- Stepping — March your feet along to the beat of the step, steppy steps.
- Walk Around — Bounce, sway and follow the direction words. SEE VIDEO HERE
- Horsey Ride — Bounce, count to 3 and WHOA! VIDEO HERE.
Songs that teach specific information:
- I Wrote This Song — Match different initial letter sounds with repeating suffixes.
- Planets, Planets — Name the 8 planets, from Mercury to Neptune. VIDEO HERE.
- 7 Continents, 5 Oceans — Easily learn the names with this song AND THE VIDEO.
- Vowels — Memorize A,E,I,O,U and Y with this song AND VIDEO.
- The Backwards Alphabet — Memorize alphabetical order in reverse! VIDEO HERE.
- Ball For Baby — Associate actions and words with this fun finger play AND VIDEO.
- Transportation — Learn about different modes of transportation and their sounds.
- The Canada Song — Learn the 10 provinces and 3 territories with this song & VIDEO.
- The USA Song — Learn all 50 States with this song AND VIDEO.
- Traffic Lights — Learn what the different colours of traffic lights mean. VIDEO HERE.
- 1,2,3 — Count to 3 on your fingers and toes.
- Count to 7, Count to 11 — Count from to 7 and 11 and back down again .
- 7 Days Of The Week — Learn the order of the days of the week. VIDEO HERE.
- 12 Months — Learn the 12 Months forwards and backwards! VIDEO HERE.
- What’s The Weather? — Learn words that describe the weather. VIDEO HERE.
- You’re There — Learn the 6 ways to spell these commonly misspelled words. VIDEO
- The Moon — Learn about the moon’s orbit and how it relates to time.
- In Front/Behind — Spatial orientation (step, clap, point in front/behind)
Songs that encourage slowing down/resting:
- The Animals — Four mesmerising melodic patterns connect and disconnect. VIDEO HERE.
- Pat, Pat, Pat — Soothing direction-following-song for transitioning to rest.
- The Bathtub — Dreamy water-sound filled music, focusing on washing parts of body.
- It’s Raining Outside — Rain sounds, soothing rain-like music. VIDEO HERE.
- The Seasons — Slow moving song describing the seasonal weather changes
- We’ve Had a lot of Fun — Relaxing parts of the body, one part at a time.
- Hush, Hush — Focus on resting and pretending to sleep.
- Wonderful You — “Inner Voice” confidence building set to calm music. VIDEO HERE.
- 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!):
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsskdJDEet0&w=560&h=315]Following directions to “Everybody Clap”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USjgbq8Z9W0&w=420&h=315]Getting tired but she still has energy for “Pat, Pat, Pat”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md7Wx76AjWg&w=420&h=315]
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