World Music from Putumayo Kids

I’ve listened to a lot of CDs meant for children lately, and only a few have made it into regular listening rotation. Two of our newest favorites are from Putumayo Kids. We received Putumayo Kids Presents: European Playground and Putumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground for review, and the kids and I are enjoying listening to music from other countries.

Putumayo Kids is “committed to introducing children to other cultures through music from around the world.”  European Playground has 15 songs, our favorites are Trampolin from Finland/Sweden, and Tudom En Mar, Mit Csinalok from Hungary.  We didn’t realize how the style of music from the Caribbean had influenced European music until we listened to this CD and heard steel drums in Trampolin and in Alles Uit De Kast from the Netherlands.

The Putumayo Kids Presents: European Playground website has samples of each song on the CD, a downloadable teaching guide, world map, PDF of the song lyrics on the CD, and a video from England’s Herbie Treehead. You can also find other Putumayo Kids CDs, videos, and teaching tools using the links on the side.  A portion of of Putumayo’s proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to the European Federation for Street Children (EFSC), a Brussels-based non-profit organization committed to the improvement of the rights and situations of street children in Europe and beyond.

Putumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground is twelve songs about food from ten countries.  This would be a fun CD to use along with lessons on food from other countries.  The song Bolitas de Arroz con Pollo, for example. I knew it was something with Chicken and Rice, so I googled “bolitas” and found out that it refers to a mixture of cornstarch and egg whites rolled into balls and fried in oil. My oldest son then remembered that in Spanish class they had talked about popular foods and that was one of them. Now he wants to make Bolitas de Arroz con Pollo together!

Download the lyrics to Putumayo Kids Presents: Picnic Playground from their website, plus watch Johnny Bregar perform “Shoo Fly Pie”. A portion of Putumayo’s proceeds from the sale of Picnic Playground will be donated to Vitamin Angels, providing essential nutrients to children in the U.S. and around the world.

The Putumayo World Music Blog has information on concerts, the link to their Facebook and Twitter pages, info on the artists, and photos. Pick up either of these terrific CDs to get your kids up and dancing along to world music!