Do you have a picky eater? Is your child reluctant to try new foods? Looking for a fun way to teach your child about different foods? I received a message from a pediatric feeding specialist asking me to review her book and CD with songs for kids about food. I now have great products to recommend to these parents of picky eaters. Congratulations to Melanie Potock , MA, CCC-SLP, for her wonderful resources for parents. This post is about Dancing in the Kitchen: Songs That Celebrate the Joy of Food! This is a collection of old favorite tunes to new words and five original songs for kids about food . It is a collaborative work by Melanie Potock , as executive producer, and Joan Huntsberry Langford as producer with Bob Schlesinger. Melanie Potock has also written a parenting book, Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids. You might know her from her site, My Munch Bug …for the love of food.
Songs for Kids About Food
Today three of my granddaughters helped me review the CD, Dancing in the Kitchen: Songs That Celebrate the Joy of Food! The girls are 5, 9 and 12 years old and I could easily see that the youngest was really into it. As soon as each song began she was jumping with excitement to dance along. The two oldest, even though they were not dancing preferring to play with Lego, were bouncing and bobbing their bodies to the beat of every song. The three could quickly sing along to these amusing, catchy lyrics. When our three children were growing up we had hours of fun singing along with Raffi and Melanie Potock and Joan Langford’s CD reminds me of this.
If variety is the spice of life, the eleven songs chosen for this CD are very spicy! There is a wide range of musical styles to please everyone and motivate children to move with the music: latin, pop, blues, a silly opera, one with a calypso beat… Easy to learn lyrics will keep kids singing along and wanting to hear it often. I can easily see how playing Dancing in the Kitchen will make those long car trips seem shorter and more fun. Teachers and other child care givers will have this CD on their resource shelves. When I was teaching, during March, Nutrition Awareness Month, we would look everywhere for songs celebrating foods. Found it… only a few years too late! Another feature teachers will appreciate is the slow lullaby-like last song entitled “A Good Day… from sunrise to sunset…a gentle ending to a good day.” This song will calm the students to settle down and transition to another class.
Who else will buy Dancing in the Kitchen? Many … all adults who care for children and have time and space for song and dance will want to have this CD. Are you a Scout, Cub, Guide or Brownie leader in need of lively interactive activities for your weakly meetings or campouts? Are you working for an after school program or a school break/Spring Break session? Are you a homeschooler, grandparent, or babysitter? Dancing in the Kitchen is for you all. It is entertaining, educational, and has endless possibilities for providing FUN for the kids in your care.
What other features make Dancing in the Kitchen a good buy? Listeners can immediately participate because six songs are to the tune of familiar, all-time favorites only with new lyrics and the other five original songs will quickly become favorites. Melanie Potock efficiently included professional advice designed for fostering joyful, stress free mealtimes inside the 8 panel CD package when she introduces each original song. Melanie says, “The lyrics to many of the songs tie into my philosophy: Keep it light, keep it fun and reward each step, one at a time.”
The simple melodies are clear; we hear men, women and children’s voices, and a variety of musical instruments. When we listened to Dancing in the Kitchen a second time to choose a favorite, The Operetta: I Love Peas! came out on top. However by the giggling and toe tapping going on I know they enjoyed them all. On another visit to their home, they ASKED to listen to Dancing in the Kitchen so their two friends visiting could hear it too. That day we had five little girls, with grins from ear-to-ear singing and dancing… Melane Potock and Joan Langford, it would have brought you to tears to see how your music entertained these kids, their moms, and even grandma!
Melanie and Joan have created a very entertaining way for families to talk and in this case “sing” about the various aspects of food. “Gimme’ Something to Chew!” will surely help your child to be a more adventurous eater by introducing new foods or food combinations. The piano music in this song made even me want to dance! What better way to open a conversation with your picky eater than to refer to these comical lyrics.
Melanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLP, is a certified speech language pathologist who specializes in the assessment and treatment of feeding disorders. In her interview she said,”Carly, my two year old, was my picky eater. She taught me that learning to be a more adventurous eater is a process that takes time. Years later when I was working in pediatrics at a hospital, I became interested in feeding disorders. The more I began to understand the motor, medical and sensory aspects of why kids have difficulty eating, the more I began to apply what I already knew from those years with Carly. Carly taught me to take it step by step and keep it fun! Celebrate the tiniest steps and most of all, keep your sense of humor! For a speech pathologist, keeping the fun in feeding meant my days were filed with nothing but adorable little kids and food – my two most favorite things ever! That’s how I came to specialize in assessing and treating feeding disorders.”
About Joan Huntsberry Langford
Joan Huntsberry Langford has been a songwriter for 25 years and a music educator for 15. She has written two popular children’s CDs: “Under the Jewelberry Tree“, and “Under the Jewelberry Moon.” Joan recently co-wrote an adult singer-songwriter CD, “Choosing June.” She is excited to be writing a novel for young teens, The Lost Songs of Cambria, a captivating story about what happens to a young girl when a country banishes all its musicians. Writing for children is one of Joan’s greatest joys. Melanie wrote this about her collaborator,”Joan dedicated 18 months of creative energy and endless hours writing and rewriting lyrics and melodies. She enlisted top musicians and vocalists to perform in order to add a dash of sophistication for the parents. Local children’s voices added just the right amount of sweetness. She threw in a pinch of silliness for the kids, folded in a heaping cup of humor for everyone and then, mixed them all together to create Dancing in the Kitchen: Songs That Celebrate the Joy of Food!”
How to connect with Melanie Potock
Buy Dancing in the Kitchen CD and Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids here.
See interview with Melanie Potock here.
See review of Happy Mealtimes with Happy Kids: How to Teach Your Child About the Joy of Food!
Web site
Melanie will be Speaking at these Conferences & Seminars