Chanukah — the Jewish Festival of Lights — starts tomorrow night, Tuesday, December 20, 2011!  In the last couple of years several kid-friendly Chanukah YouTube videos have made the rounds, and I figured this was a good time to share them.  So, whether your family celebrates Chanukah or you just know someone else who does, enjoy these fun, peppy videos!

In 2010 the Maccabeats started it all with Candlelight.  This great version of Taio Cruz’s Dynamite quickly became an internet sensation!

And this year there are a bunch of new Chanukah songs and videos!  Here’s a great one by the Fountainheads called Light up the Night:

Also, here’s an adorable video of 4th graders singing “Light the Candles” to Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger!”

The final video — again by the Maccabeats — is a super-catchy version of Matsiyahu’s Miracle:

Have fun listening!  (And sorry, alas, I have no tips for getting these songs or any other kid-friendly ones out of your head!)

PS Looking to teach your children about Chanukah?  Here are links to pages on Judaism 101, Aish.com, and Wikipedia!

Thank you Squidoo for compiling some classic Halloween videos!

This Donald Duck one has to be my favorite:

What do you think?  Too scary for today’s kids?  I think Donald DEFINITELY got what was coming to him!

Happy haunting, everyone!!!

Last week’s post about School House Rocks got me thinking about those wonderful songs from my childhood, and how kids of today can enjoy them as much as their parents did (and still do!).  Here are a couple of my family’s favorites.  Any you’d care to add?!?!

Conjunction Junction:

How a Bill Becomes a Law:

Three is a Magic Number:

Enjoy!!!

My whole family loved Cars, so I was quite excited to hear there will be a sequel later this summer!  Want a taste?  Check out the first of several official movie trailers here.

And, because we love all things LEGO, for extra fun you and your kids must watch the LEGO trailer:

Livin’ the dream… 

No doubt about it, this past week has featured some very exciting world events.  By this, of course, I mean Star Wars Day — May the Fourth (be with you) — and Cinco de Mayo!  In honor of these momentous occasions, here are two fun YouTube videos.

The first is a great summary of the first three Star Wars movies (well, really the middle three, but you know what I mean)…in LEGO!  It’s an awesome video, narrated by a child, which deserves special kudos for the LEGO carbonite Han Solo.  Fabulous!

The second is a just plain SILLY Happy Cinco de Mayo video by The GiggleBellies.

Happy first week of May!

Well, if your kids are like mine, they’ve spent the last 11 months and 29 days planning for today.  With the possible exception of their birthdays, April Fools Day is one of my children’s favorite days of the year!

This is why I’m putting this video on their YouTube playlists today.  Yes, the video is not great and the sound-over is in German.  But — for sheer amusement — this video absolutely takes the April Fools Day cake.  (That cake, of course, is frosted with sour cream and ketchup!)  Happy day, everyone, and don’t forget to watch your back!

Love these two videos.  Absolutely timeless.  Have fun wearing green today, and — as Kermit says — enjoy being what you want to be!

If your kids are like mine, they love listening to music!  My boys like all sorts of music, from the plethora of kid-bands to popular music from the radio.

Recently the boys have been asking if I would add videos by some of their favorite singers onto their YouTube playlist.  Now, I like Lady Gaga as much as the next person, but I don’t think my kids are ready to see her video for Telephone…or some of her other songs, for that matter!  Luckily, a bit of YouTube-research turned up several videos that only have the lyrics, including this one of the boys’ favorite Lady Gaga song:

(And, as an added bonus, my 6-year-old can practice his reading while hearing the lyrics at the same time!)

Some other quick searches turned up lots of other songs with the similar format.  Of course, use your discretion — sometimes you might find the thought of your child(ren) reading the actual lyrics WORSE than them seeing the video in question!

Yes, I’m a bit obsessed with these time-lapse videos (see here and here).  What can I say?  They are really cool to watch!  It helps that both of my kids are really into science, and these videos are a great way for them to see — in action — some of what makes up the vast realm of the scientific.  I also think that videos such as these can help any child become interested in the world around them.  Just one more reason to watch them with your children!

This week I want to highlight two videos, both of which show the potentially darker side of that natural world.  The first is a time-lapse video of a thunderstorm.  Fear of thunderstorms is relatively common in young children (older ones, too, not to mention the occasional household dog or cat!).  But this storm — seen from a distance — shows the power of nature in a particularly non-threatening way.  Watching those thunderclouds move from one side of the horizon to another is down-right hypnotic.  And several cameo-making shooting stars just serve to add to the visual experience.

The second video is of the Simi Valley fire, which consumed several thousand acres (Wikipedia says 7,000; the YouTube note says 25,000) outside of Los Angeles in late September of 2005.  Parents definitely need to use their discretion in deciding whether or not this video would be a good one for their particular child.  Obviously, children who have experienced a fire or a fire evacuation will be much more sensitive to this video than other children.  But older kids who follow the news may have heard of recent fires in Colorado and California (or in other places), and might be interested in this video.  For those with an interest in the dramatic, the music accompanying this video adds a great touch.  Budding astronomers will also enjoy seeing stars, planets, and the moon rising over the flames.

Oh, OK, I can’t resist adding one more video.  This one is of the Aurora Borealis.  (Here’s a good link for info about the so-called “Northern Lights.”)  No warnings on this one.  Just…enjoy!

I have two more cool, time-lapse videos for you today.  Any child who is interested in space will be captivated by these videos.  For that matter, so was my space-loving husband!

The first one is a total lunar eclipse, which occurred on February 20, 2008.  The filmmaker, Pete Herron, writes about the video:  “The image shakes because the moon moves during the night, obviously. It’s hard to keep the moon in the exact same spot of the frame while it’s constantly moving. The sound was from video that I recorded for the purpose of giving the timelapse a more real-time feel to it.”  Check out Pete’s website for other cool videos.

(Did anyone else get an ad for the new Twilight movie when they watched this video?  I, for one, found that quite amusing.  But don’t worry, no ads on KidDesktop.)

The second video shows the earth rising and setting, as seen from the moon.  Those images would be interesting enough, but this filmmaker actually introduces the earth-rise/earth-set with video taken from astronauts aboard Apollo 8 on December 24, 1968.  Having just made the first human passage around the moon, the astronauts are amazed to see the earth-rise.  The remainder of the video comes from 2007, and was taken about the Japanese Kaguya satellite.