African Playground

After seeing "The Last King of Scotland" (decidedly NOT for the kiddies!!!), I desperately wanted some African music, so I went online and found "African Playground". I listened to the samples, ordered the CD, and upon receiving it, was surprised (and somewhat embarassed) to see that its intended audience was children."Oh well," I said to my dog, "what the heck. I'm pretty immature anyway..." So I tried it out, and became completely addicted.There is such a wide variety of styles, instruments, and languages throughout the disc, one could never become bored listening to it, and there's not a bad song in the bunch. What unites all of them is their unquestionable beauty and contagious happiness. One of the songs (Track 3, by the Mahotella Queens) is so beautiful it actually made me cry the first time I heard it!While I have no doubt that kids would enjoy it, adults shouldn't be afraid of falling in love with with this gorgeous, cheerful, utterly charming CD.P.S. My dog likes it too :)

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Great CD for kids or, really, anyone who enjoys African rhythms. My 2-year old loves to play over and over (and I don't mind one bit!). So much better than the annoying nursery rhyme CDs that are out there. We dance/march around the house to this every day - it's very upbeat and fun. Seriously, I can be so tired and lethargic but, once this CD starts to play, I am suddenly energized and ready to dance! Just LOVE it. Even put it on my iPod :)Also got the "World Playground" CD, which is great - though I like this one a little better.

Absolutely divine music, performed for children but grownups will jump up and dance when they hear it. My granddaughter always requests it when she visits. Beautiful singing and rhythms from artists throughout sub-Saharan Africa. I highly recommend it.

This recording was made for children but I play it as a perky background when I'm working around the house. It lifts the chores and turns what might be drudgery into joy. (I'm an old lady.)

With many kids' CD's, the kids like it, but it drives adults crazy. This one has quality tracks with variety. It's engaging for the kids AND enjoyable for adults. This has served us well both at home and on road trips with a tribe of kids ages 10, 6, 4, 2, and baby.

I love this cd! I am taking classes in college to be a preschool teacher, a great buy!

I have the first World Playground and the Dreamland Putumayo CDs and they are wonderful. Since I love African music, I ordered this CD, but it does not live up to the others. If you have Lion King, then this is very similar. My biggest disappointment is that it is sung in English with a few scattered African phrases that we all recognize (i.e. "hakuna matata" and others from Lion King).The music is nice enough (hence the 3 stars), but too commercial. The entire time, I just kept thinking Disney.

Este disco es genial, muy divertido para los niños. Y los ritmos africanos te hacen bailar. Además pueden aprender palabras en suajili. Lo recomiendo a todo el mundo

Loved this CD. As a teacher, this CD was informative and provided an excellent resource for our Black History Month. Students came in to the school dancing to the music as they walked down the hall and got ready for the day to begin. We also used the text provided in the CD as information that was read on the announcements about the music. Students used the music in their Afro- Caribbean fashion show. Money well spent! Up lifting music!

Schöne Songs mit viel positiver Energie. Und meiner kleinen Tochter (1 Jahr alt) gefallen sie auch gut - sie tanzt sofort los, wenn ich das CD abspiele. :)

J'utiliserai ce cd avec un jeune public pour des activités ludiques spéciales enfants en sophrologie. Il y a des morceaux entraînants tout particulièrement adaptés. C'est ce que je recherchais

This is a real treat for children and adults alike. If you want to feel soaked in the African exuberant spirit then this is the CD for you. We play it a lot and often play it in our van on the way to gymnastics on a saturday morning to get the kids in the mood and to do some warm ups, shaking their hands, heads, wiggling their toes etc... It never fails to properly wake us all up and put us in a cheerful mood.It is enlivening and beautiful music for children without being patronising or dumbed down like some awful children's albums. Sheer magic. If you go on the Putumayo website, there are free downloads associated with the album, and info on the awards it has won. The most exiting and easy way into understanding a culture is to feel it's rhythms - far more fun and important than learning facts and figures and geography as taught in textbooks - this will do much more to get your kids interested in Africa - it will get under their skin and breathe new life into them!