Submitted by Jena Hess, nanny extraordinaire

My good friend Jena has taken the time to review several songs from Kiboomu to use with the children she nannies for. Read below!

As a nanny, I would recommend utilizing the extensive resource of Kiboomu.com children's songs to find songs for any occasion working with children. Each of the songs I reviewed from Kiboomu indeed carried the 6 benefits of music with early child development listed in this article from Slimy Bookworm. The vocalists are clear, talented and easy to understand. The instruments are appropriate to the song and simple; however I appreciate real instruments as opposed to digital sounds. The lyrics are true and simple to the topic AND provided for printing. The songs are easy to download for use digitally or to burn on a CD. The cost is $10 for 50 songs or $24 for a year of unlimited downloads.

(Kiboomu also features thousands of free craft ideas, recipes and early childhood activities.)

I made my selection of songs to review somewhat random in that I wanted to review education songs, fun songs and Christian songs, so I selected at random from those categories. Here are the songs I listened to:

Christmas - O Come All Ye Faithful: This is my favorite Christmas hymn so I had to pick this one. It was a nice, simple version that I would enjoy listening to with kids. It is sung by a young girl and when children hear another child's voice, they are more likely to sing along. I like the simplicity of the instruments so that the kids can hear the lyrics better and begin to learn them to sing along.

Food Songs - I'm A Nut: The lyrics weren't 100% correct in print, but you can easily figure out what's missing and add it in should you want to print. All in all a fun, funny song. Just the right amount of cheesy that kids will like it and any good nanny should be able to handle repeated play.

Bible Songs - He's Got The Whole World In His Hands: A classic rendition of this classic Sunday school song. Fun, clear, easy to listen to.

Colors - The Colors Of The Seasons: A really sweet song with good lyrics, easy music and a great way to teach both seasons and colors. The young lady singing has a voice that will be easy for other youngsters to sing along with.

Grammar & Punctuation – I’m A Verb: A funky appropriate rap type song that will get stuck in your head, but more importantly, in the child's head. Good learning tool. The lyrics and instruments have a lot of motion to them similar to a verb.

Pets - I Wish I Had A Pet: The tone of the song will help kids realize that it's OK to be sad that they don't have a pet. It is important for children to acknowledge their feelings and learn about emotions. This song helps with that. It paints the picture of a sad child thinking of the wonderful things to do with a pet but at the end concludes that for now, the teddy bear will do.

Inspirational – This Is The Way We Go To Church: The familiar tune should help motivate and uplift children on the way to church but the song is very short. I would recommend using this as your starting point and then make up lyrics specific to your church and your beliefs to keep the song going. It's simple enough you might only need to listen a few times to get it and then make up more lyrics. You could even start while getting ready for church "this is the way we put on a dress, put on nice shoes, and brush our hair. This is the way we look nice when we go to church" to carry the motion and build happy feelings about church. And the good news is, the lyrics won't need to be exact every time, just have fun going to church and singing together on the way. I like that an adult male and a child are the voices because it helps show that church is for everyone and everyone is on board with going to church.

Seasons – Winter Song: A very fun, very informative song about winter! Has a jingle bells type feel to it with a lot of fun aspects of winter to learn about.

Subtraction - Hello 17! Good Day 18!: Good, fun, easy to memorize but I did think it went a little bit fast. If the kid is participating in the "it's your turn" part and wanted to think about it or said the wrong number, the song just keeps going, obviously. But a fun simple beat helps it to be fun to subtract.

Math - Multiplication Facts of 2 In Random Order: A good song to help with quickly remembering already memorized facts of 2 in random order. This version is simply the participation one. And it's effective for that purpose.

Stop by today to download early childhood songs, view crafts or recipes and much more.

Thanks for taking the time to write a the wonderful review, Jena!