Disclaimer: I received these items in exchange for an honest review.
Both of my daughters have a secondary auditory style of learning and enjoy music. We always seem to be having a character issue of some sort (my fault, I’m sure), so when I saw the offerings from Happy Kids Songs, I was optimistic.
Happy Kids Songs
Happy Kids Songs produces music that is designed to influence the behaviors & habits of children 3-8 years old. Kid-friendly lyrics paired with adult quality music entertain & educate. The songs from HKS cover a variety of genres & styles. They produce 8 albums, each with a free PDF containing the lyrics and a corresponding worksheet. To facilitate our review, we received:
- Friends & Sharing album
- Happiness & Attitude album
- Manners & Character album
- Happy Kids Songs Workbook: Hands-on Activities to Build Character, Social & Emotional Skills
The albums are available as MP3 downloads for $4.99 each and the workbook is $13.95.
Likes & Dislikes
We used these CD’s while picking up and doing chores in the afternoon. I also brought them out when someone needed the messages, though I played the whole album so as not to finger wag :). We will be resuming circle time next week and plan to play a song each day. My older daughter can do the worksheet activities and the younger can color the lyric sheet. I may add in an extra activity or two that they may enjoy.
The songs cover a variety of genres & styles. Some were sung by kids, some by several people like a play or dialogue, and others by adults. The music had quite a range; some was modern pop, some felt like music I listened to in the late 90’s. Most of it was pretty hard to pinpoint, but if I had to, I would say showtune — catchy music and easy to understand lyrics. Some of the songs were funny, some were catchy (I had one in my head for weeks!), and others were just okay. The nice thing about that is that there is such a wide range of style that almost everyone will find some they like.
My 3 year old liked them but had a short attention span. Once she realized kid music was on (about 2-3 songs in), she wanted “Anna & Elsa music.” The 6 year old is pickier and not that much of a music fan so 1 album was plenty for her. Luckily, an album is about all it takes to clean up the living room :).
Summary
Overall, the Happy Kids Songs were kind of a mixed bag for us. I liked some songs and not others. Some kids liked them & some didn’t. The messages were all good ones, but like most music, its all up to individual taste, you know?
By signing up for their email newsletter, you can get access to all their PDF’s and get a free song each month. And if you go to their website, you can listen to previews of each song. I will probably go that route for the Talking & Listening and the Respect & Responsibility albums, which are high on my wish list right now.
They are good tool, especially for auditory learners. Just make sure you have a time/place in which you plan to use it :). Circle time & pick up time work well for us, but in the car would work well,too.
Click here to find out what other members of the crew had to say about Happy Kids Songs.
