EDIT: This giveaway is now closed.

Since Darah was in the womb, Tim and I have made an effort to expose her to a variety of music. She gets plenty of classical music when her dad is home with her on Mondays. When she’s with me, we like to listen to a lot of Ben Folds. We’ve recently discovered that Darah is particularly fond of a few Michael Jackson songs, especially Smooth Criminal. She loves the quick beat; it makes her giggle when we play it! This got us thinking that we needed to find more rock music for kids.

The first a lbum we listened to was Party Like a Twinkle Star, a double album by Charity and the JAMband. The first cd has 10 songs designed especially for “rocking out,” and the second cd has 10 songs for the end of the day as you wind down. I really love that the music is on two discs, separated by overall mood. We listen to selections from the Party disc at different points throughout the day. We seem to dance the most to “Get Your Booty Out of Bed” and “Row Row Row Your Boat.” We also listen to the Twinkle disc sometime in between her last nap of the day and her bedtime routine. There are several really sweet songs on this disc, with our favorites being “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “So Long to the Day.” So what does this group sound like? From their website, “JAM is a hootenanny, a hullabaloo, a dance party, a shindig-bash, a festival, a family band, a rain dance, a sun song, a fairy frolic, a wander in the park, a race on the beach, a flitting floating butterfly-bop, a blundering thundering elephant-stomp, a twirling-whirling-swirling dizzy-dee fall-down boogie!” The overall sound of this band is what I would call funky laid-back rock. It’s not the type of music that Tim and I already had on our Itunes, which makes it a welcome addition! I was also impressed to learn that two of their four albums have won Children’s Music Web Awards! Check this album out for yourself. Right now you can download “We are Stardust” from the Twinkle album for free and get an idea of what you would be buying! I really think you and your little one will like it!

The second album we have been listening to is Go Waggaloo from Sarah Lee Guthrie & Family. Sarah is the granddaughter of Woody Guthrie, and she is definitely continuing her legacy of gifted singing and songwriting. If you are a fan of his, you should know that this album features three songs with lyrics by Woodie that have never before been put to music. So what does this music sound like? From her site, “The arrangements blend traditional folk music with contemporary lyrics and instrumentation. Among the surprises on Go Waggaloo are a scratching drum machine, songs about Xboxes and DVDs, and a spur-of-the-moment song recorded on a cell phone by the Guthrie family on a road trip.” I really liked the overall vibe of this album, and I have found myself singing some of the songs to Darah even when the cd isn’t playing. “Don’t I Fit in My Daddy’s Shoes?” and “If Mama Had Four Hands” are among my personal favorites, and “Oh How He Lied” makes Darah smile when she hears it. You can really get a good sense for the music by checking out this short YouTube clip about the album.

The third album we have added to our music collection is the self-titled album by Earthworm Ensemble. I thought this was a very interesting cd because if features a lot of different vocalists, which gives each song a unique sound. From their site, “We’re calling it family music, rather than just children’s music. We hope children and their parents can enjoy the songs together, and talk about some of the ideas in the songs. We sing about the earthworm’s role in the plant cycle; about buffalo migration as told by a young buffalo; buying fresh corn at the farmer’s market and taking it home to cook; how to make pizza from scratch; and trains, walking in the woods, birds, and a superhero team of Bear and Dog who’ve come to save the planet!” That pretty much sums it up, folks. With this album, I found myself chuckling quite a bit and tapping my feet right along with the music. If you are intrigued now (and you really should be!) and you’d like to hear some of their tunes, check out their MySpace page.

Buy Them!: If the only music you have in your house is the stuff you know and like, it’s time to branch out a bit and try some sounds that will appeal to kids (and that will surprise you by how much you enjoy them, too!). Purchase Party Like a Twinkle Star (double album) for $20, Go Waggaloo for $11.98 and Earthworm Ensemble for $15.99.

Win Them!: Right now I’m giving away one copy of each of these terrific rock music for kids albums! Three very lucky Stuff Parents Need readers will be winners! The contest will run until Thursday, February 18th at 7:59pm CST. A winner will be randomly selected and emailed, and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Open to residents of the United States. Be sure to leave your email address in your comments or have it in your profile or else I can’t contact you to tell you that you won!

How to Enter:

Mandatory entry: Tell me which of these albums you’d most like to win (1 winner will be selected for each album).

Additional entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email
2. Follow me through Google connect (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)
3. Put my button on my blog and leave a url where I can find it (2 entries, so leave 2 comments)
4. Follow Stuff Parents Need on Twitter (include your TwitterID)

Disclosure: I received product samples for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this post are strictly my own.