Today’s a rainy day here in Washington DC, and I can’t stop thinking how happy everything that grows must be about all this moisture.  (We’ve had a hot, dry summer!)  This made me think how cool it would be if the kids and I could actually SEE the plants growing amid all this wet stuff coming down.  And that led me to the miracle of time-lapse videos and YouTube.

Here’s one of fast-growing corn plants:

And another one of fast-growing bush beans.  Also cool, but lacking the fun music of the corn plants.

Last one for now is here.  Few kids would say that radishes are their fave foods, but the music is back and it’s really hypnotic to watch these roots grow, even after the stems and leaves have slowed down.

There’s some very cool time-lapse videos out there (as well as a lot of meh ones).  They make a great teaching tool, in addition to a fun way to keep the little guys entertained on a rainy day!

We love OK Go, and the new OK Go video is another wonderful one for adults and kids alike!

Like their previous videos — including Here It Goes Again and This Too Shall Pass — White Knuckles includes catchy music and deceivingly simple visuals.  But this one also features a classic kid-favorite addition: cute animals.  These dogs* are absolutely adorable, from the way they jump, run, and walk around the set to the way they bob their heads in perfect rhythm with one another and the musicians.  If your children haven’t seen this video yet, trust me, they’ll love it!

Oh, and for anyone who’s wondering: yes, OK Go did make this video with their trademark “one take.”  No pieces of film sliced and diced together here.  And, yes, it was verrrryyy challenging!  Gizmodo did a great piece on the problems the musicians, trainers, and animals faced, and the excitement of knowing that it all came together perfectly.

* PS Did you see the goat around 2:50?!?!?

I’ve written before (here and here) about some of the great Muppet videos that are available on YouTube.

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!

…On the most sensational inspirational celebrational Muppetational…

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):

By now, everyone has seen the great Rube Goldberg machine in the OK Go video, This Too Shall Pass.

In fact, you might have even seen the Colbert Report’s take on a Rube Goldberg machine the night OK Go appeared on the show!

But have you thought about adding one or more OK Go videos to your child’s YouTube playlist?  Kids are as intrigued by this band as adults, and — even though I can’t really classify this as educational — they’ll definitely get a kick out of it!  In fact, “mesmerized” is the word one friend used to describe the songs’ effect on her children.

This Too Shall Pass is great, but so is Here it Goes Again.  They’ll like it both for the catchy music and the fun visuals!  Let us know if there are other music videos that your child(ren) enjoy!

At last, my long-awaited LEGO post!

You can start by putting the LEGO website on your little enthusiast’s KidDesktop.  Of course, this is a huge site with lots of pieces to explore.  So, here are a couple of activities that my boys particularly enjoy:

• The City Police Chase game, where your goal is to bump into the villains’ getaway vehicles.  I have it on good authority that the helicopter is the hardest!

• They also like LEGO City Coast Guard, where you literally get to pluck errant swimmers out of the water and pull them up into your Coast Guard helicopter.  Naturally, you have to avoid obstructions such as birds and sharks, and stay aware that your helicopter can only carry so many people at once.

• There are dozens of other games, sorted into creative, exclusive, preschool, and puzzle categories.  Let me know your favorites!

• They also enjoy “shopping” for new LEGO toys.  The site helps them find age-appropriate sets, and when they find something they like, they put it on their wish list.  (They can also sort by theme, category, etc…those clever LEGO folks make it easy for the little people.)  When a gift-giving opportunity comes around, I can check out their wish list for something I know they want.  A warning, though: you (or your kids) can shop directly from the site.  So make sure you don’t leave your payment information in when the kids are playing.  Unless, of course, you WANT an untold number of LEGOs charged to your card and delivered to your door…

Last thing.  My kids really got a kick out of this YouTube video.  It’s in the “Oh no, Mr. Bill” tradition.  Very amusing for both kids and their parents to watch the poor LEGO man attempt to fly.

OK, my boys are officially addicted to watching model trains on YouTube, with a definite leaning towards LEGO trains.  I don’t know if  this latest obsession is leftover from the holiday season or just kids and trains, but in either case they love it!

Here is a cute one from the Great Western Lego Train Show:  (Soundtrack courtesy of The Dandy Warhols, and it doesn’t even make me nuts when they watch it 3 times in a row!)

Here’s another example, this time with music from Futurefunk.  Not quite as good as the first one, but pint-sized train or LEGO enthusiasts will like it.

More LEGO to come next week…

This weekend I took the kids to the Holiday Magic Exhibit at the US Botanic Gardens.

First, let me say it is an amazing exhibit, and if you live in or will be visiting the DC area before January 4 you should definitely check it out!

Second, it gave me a great idea for some new YouTube videos for my kids!  Since they loved watching the trains at the exhibit, I found these clips from previous years:

Also, older kids (early elementary on up) will enjoy this “behind the scenes” Voice of America video about how the magic comes to life.

Choo, choo!

For the remainder of the summer, my kids will be attending “Camp Mommy” with yours truly acting as Camp Director, Head Counselor, Sports Coach, the entire cafeteria team, and just about every other role you could imagine.  Luckily, there are tons of interesting activities to keep all of us busy; luckier still, some of these interesting activities are leading me to new blog topics!

Today I took the kids to see back-to-back performances by Cathy & Marcy & Christylez Bacon and Hobey Ford.  The three performers each have video pages on their websites, and my kids had a blast re-living the shows by watching the videos.  All the videos are on YouTube, including my boys’ favorites:

(Human Beatbox)

and (Hip Hop Humpty Dumpty).  They also particularly enjoyed seeing Jubilation.  Note to Christylez, Kathy, and Marcy: we’d love to see a YouTube version of the “spoon-off!”

Hobey Ford’s puppet creations are a hit as well, especially

(Peepers).  El Coqui and Happy Feet (or Tin Man, as my boys call it) were not part of today’s show, but the kiddos absolutely loved them anyway.

I hope your kids enjoy these videos as much as mine do.  Cathy & Marcy’s CDs, washboard, and other items are available on their website, as are some coloring pages.  Hobey Ford’s site includes some PDF downloads about puppeteering that adults will find interesting, and you can buy his “peepers” here.

Christylez’ site includes info on his upcoming shows.  If you are in the DC area, you should definitely try to attend a show.  He’s incredible!

Almost from the moment we launched our YouTube playlist, one video remained steadfastedly in the Popular Videos list: The Elephant Song by Eric Herman.

So, when I was asked to listen to Eric’s newest CD, What a Ride, I happily obliged.  I have to say that I like the CD just fine.  Whereas some kids’ music makes me want to drive nails through my eardrums, Eric’s music is catchy and fun without being obnoxiously repetitive or mind-numbing.  Even more important, though, my kids love the CD!  It helped get my 4 1/2 year old through a week-long bout of fever-induced confinement in the house.  His favorite track is “How to Move a Monster,” a really cute song about a monster who moves from the school to City Hall when a brave little girl kindly asks him to do so.  I giggle at “Carseat Snack,” too.

A couple of quick words about Eric.  Like many musicians who cater to kids, he involves his whole family in his music-making.  His wife Roseann and his daughters Becca and Evee perform with him at festivals and events.  Kids of all ages will enjoy his music, but it is directly towards those 4 to 8 who have mostly outgrown The Wiggles and other songs for preschoolers.  He also blogs about kid music.  (This website isn’t directed towards kids, more towards grown-ups looking for kid music.)

Although the videos from What a Ride aren’t yet available, much of Eric’s older songs are on YouTube, such as The Tale of the Moon and the Sun (a lullaby):

and Crazy Over Vegetables (a funny kid-pleaser that parents will also like because of the eat-your-veggies message):