Happy Trails!

Traveling with young children is so easy and stress-free . . . said no one, ever! Parents today worry about touring with their tots, both because of how restless the children can get and because of the many opportunities for judgement of their parenting skills. But, fear not! The following useful tips for family music-making will help you put the bon in bon voyage.

• Play music in the car. Time and time again, we’re told by parents that their Music Together recordings work like magic to keep their children happy and engaged while ridin’ in the car, during both short and long journeys. Make a playlist of your favorites or shuffle and be surprised! And don’t forget to sing along. Singing with others, particularly those with whom you share bonds of love and affection, releases feel-good hormones. Perfect for alleviating travel (and holiday!) stress.
• Use our Music Together app. No CD player? Every family enrolled in our classes also receives a download code to add their semester songs to our Music Together app. Aren’t registered yet? The free app comes pre-loaded with eight of our most popular songs. A road trip is a great time to try ’em out! The app also comes with a free digital version of our Hello, Everybody Singalong Storybook to sing and read.
• Add some variety to your playlists. Parents sometimes think it’s best for their children to listen only to kids’ music. Children actually benefit tremendously from being exposed to a variety of tonalities, meters, styles, and genres—like you’ll find in the Music Together collections. (That’s also why adults often like our music, too.) Keep it interesting for everyone along for the ride with music from lots of genres, from classical to jazz to hip-hop.
• Include music that you like! Sometimes you might feel more like belting along to Adele or throwing it back to ‘NSYNC rather than singing one more rendition of “John the Rabbit.” That’s OK! Since you are the best musical role model for your child, any songs that get you singing and jamming along will inspire your child to do the same. So, intersperse your children’s go-to songs with your own and you can all rock out!

Has music made your family’s travels easier? Share your story with us in the comments!