Then, yesterday my 2nd grader came home talking about how they learned “The Cat Came Back” in music class.  His singing and humming naturally took me back to the Muppets skit of that song, and I just had to add it to my kids’ YouTube playlists.

Apparently versions of this song are often used to teach children about rhythm and tempo.  It has a strong, well-defined beat pattern: one weak beat, one strong beat.  Plus, the silly words make it fun for kids and anyone else to sign along.  Still amusing — and educational! — after all these years!

Most of us know and love that song, and know the next line: “This is what we call The Muppet Show!”

The Washington Post Celebritology 2.0 blog did a great post today on The Muppet Show and some of their favorite bits.  Here’s a link to the post, and I’m also re-posting their 6 favorite characters/skits.  (Some of these also showed up on my other Muppets blog post from a year and a half ago.)  Great additions to your child’s YouTube playlist, and a fun stroll down memory lane for the grown-ups as well!

The Swedish Chef — Meatballs:

Beaker -- Ode to Joy: (My kids LOVE this one!)

Janice:

Sam the Eagle:

Link Hogthrob (from Swinetrek):

Lew Zealand (the fish-throwing guy, here with Leslie Uggams):

With this criteria list in mind, I have had lots of luck with videos by everyone’s favorite “Muppetteer:” Jim Henson.  My 4-year-old has Cookie Monster’s famous “C is for Cookie” on his playlist (search for BovQyphS8kA to get the version he has)*, as well as Beeker from the Muppets doing an enthusiastic rendition of “Ode to Joy” (search for xpcUxwpOQ_A)* which literally almost fries poor Beeker at the end…vintage Muppets!  The 6-year-old has REM and the Sesame Street Friends singing “Furry Happy Monsters Laughing” (search for zkHM8xG6i8o)* and the Muppets’ skit “You Put the Lime in the Coconut” (search for 1wg_L0wGTyA)*.  Granted, the last selection doesn’t really teach any academic or social skillset, but it’s cute and fun.

I’ll continue adding my (and my kids’) favorite YouTube videos, but I’d really like to hear from you, as well.  How old are your kids and what do they like watching on YouTube?

*You can use these “tags” to search for a video in the KD Builder YouTube set-up, or in YouTube itself.  As always, we STRONGLY suggest you view videos all the way through to make sure it is appropriate for your OWN child.