For those of you with little kids, here is something my kids just LOVE to watch – and sing and sing sing. I have no idea how we initially came across “The Hamster Dance”, but somehow we did and it has become a favorite hit in our house.
You watch the video on YouTube a few times and your whole family will be singing it non-stop for the next few weeks. Of course, you need to be extra careful when your kids are watching anything on YouTube, as the videos they may click on can turn very inappropriate in a matter of seconds!
An interesting note on the Hamster Dance song, it orginated from the beginning song in the original animated Robin Hood movie. There is a chicken that hums the song in the beginning of the movie. Somehow it morped into the craze of Hamster Dance. Have fun!
We, as a family, are very into old movies. If my husb and and I get a rare date night out, we almost always choose to see a movie at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, which is a refurbished old movie theatre that shows nothing but classic, old movies. It’s like taking a trek back in time for an evening – even the popcorn is priced as if you’re seeing a movie in the 50’s.
When we had kids, we of course started to look into what old movies would be good for them to watch. As they have gotten a bit older (they are 7, 5 and 4 right now), we have slowly introduced them to more and more classics. At first, it took them a little getting used to, as when they were little they only watched animated movies like Little Mermaid, Nemo, Toy Story, etc. With little or no animation in these movies, there is a lot ‘pausing’ to explain the story lines, which you usually have to do this with many of these films. But it’s worth the effort – they have come to realize that most films have intricate story lines and that they’re fun to follow and figure out as they watch. As they get older, they ‘get’ some of the deeper meanings of some of these movies and it’s very fun to see that happen.
One of the first old classics they watched and loved was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Some of our other favorites are Sound of Music, The Absent Minded Professor, the original Herbie (Herbie the Love Bug), the original Freaky Friday, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, Mary Poppins, and our absolute favorite right now: Music Man.
Music Man
Music Man is such a wonderfully fun and funny story, with fabulous performances by Robert Preston, Shirley Jones and a very young Ron Howard. There is some great music that comes from this film and it’s just fun to watch for both us parents and the kids. Our youngest, who is four, has a harder time sitting through it, but there are enough great scenes in it to keep him captivated enough. Right now the whole family is walking around the house singing ‘Gary Indiana’ or ‘Seventy-Six Trombones’ and it just makes you appreciate it that much more.
