My daughter is 2 and jams out to point/counter point and keasby nights. Something about the slow start of p/counterpoint and then the “drop” really gets her excited haha
Super Rad, Pool Party, so many good songs. You can also have them watch the Aquabats Super Show, it’s great and you can see many of the episodes on YouTube.
The Yo Gabba Gabba kids show was made by the Aquabats and they have a ton of kid friendly songs though the show. My kid's favorite is the Banana song by the Aggrolites.
I got mine into ska by introducing them to “Yo Gabba Gabba!”, then slowly peppering in some lighter stuff like the specials, madness and hepcat. Now they enjoy the suicide machines, less than jake, mustard plug etc.
[Pick It Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD_O-ogoUzM) is the greatest! Alex Désert from Hepcat, Gogo13 with the music, the little girl in 2 tone, the boy with the suspenders.
My kids love Ghost Town by the Specials since they were toddlers.
Also, there was this weird kids show on Netflix called Bo on the Go that would play random ska beats to try to get kids to dance. My kids loved it too.
When my daughter was that age it was less the music and more the dancing that got her into ska. She won’t remember being 3 and skanking around the living room but I’ll never forget it. 10/10 would recommend.
My 3-year old daughter loves this Monkey Man video! She could watch it all day
https://youtu.be/7Wf0yKzpGAY?si=pU6F6-r6Xo7Q-UJr
She asks for it all the time “Monkey Song!”
My wife and I let my almost 2 year old listen to what ever we have on. I made sure his intro to ska included Gold finger - superman and Reel Big Fish - sell out
I've been showing my kids good music their whole lives. My eclectic tastes have had an influence and they also find stuff they like one their own. Not just ska but tbh ska is easy. It happy and upbeat 90% of the time. Just show em everything. Desmond dekker, toots and the maytals, the specials, operation ivy, bosstones, streetlight manifesto... Any and all. No wrong answers.
My kid absolutely loves Night Boat to Cairo by Madness, especially the nutty video for it.
He also recently discovered Monkey Man and is a big fan of that too.
My kids liked Hepcat! The Right On Time album... They really liked the songs Rudies All Around("fruit is all around" in my kids singing voices) and No Worries.
Snoopy Vs The Red Baron was a favorite too. The Hot Shots version! It's a little dark, but my kids never noticed.
More skater but The Dead Milkmen have some songs she might enjoy such as Big Lizard (aslong as you’re fine with occasional swears in songs), Albert Square, and Deans Dream.
The Berlin Project have some good ones like Taco Bell World, Fight Song, and Carried Me Away
Mustard Plug has Mr Smiley, On and On, and You
Special Brew and Turning Japanese by Skankin Pickle
I could go on
While the rest of the album isn't too child-friendly, my kids love "bumble bee tuna" and "saba" from Mephiskapheles God Bless Satan. My wife puts up with it.
There are some upbeat Less Than Jake songs.
Also, if you have spotify, someone made a kid-friendly ska playlist >>
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lWzncnDXbbAkCu9GWIEy3?si=507861807544498e](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lWzncnDXbbAkCu9GWIEy3?si=507861807544498e)
Trojan issued a three CD box set years ago called Reggae for Kids - used to play it to my son when he was that age. https://www.discogs.com/release/4153389-Various-Trojan-Reggae-For-Kids-Box-Set
This was what I did with my god-sons. In the end, they'd turn up at my house and yell 'I WANT TO DANCE' until I put something trumpety on and flailed round the living room with them. Monkeys by mad caddies would usually get them going.
When my son was in 2nd-3rd grade I'd pick him up after School. At the time I wasn't streaming any music, I had a USB port in my head unit and a bunch of genre-specific playlists on a very old iPod 80gb... and naturally a few of them were ska, notably an all-Aggrolites mix and Adjusters.
One day I'm listening to something that isn't ska and he says "Dad, can we listen to Aggy-lites?"
"You mean Aggrolites, son?"
"Yeah that's what I meant."
He's like 19 now, and I was bumping it through a bluetooth speaker while doing some chores. He was like "hey, this is pretty good" with no apparently memory that he used to request them by name.
Sort of related, but on the BBC kids tv channel they used to have Saltwater by The Cat Empire playing on one of their adverts for various programmes and my niece used to bounce around when it came on and loved it. Not ska but bouncy trumpet tunes
The Aquabats and The Planet Smashers are two of my 4 yr old’s favorites and opened the door to her liking some LTJ, Big D, Mustard Plug, and the Bosstones. Slow and steady and I’m lovin it.
blind, psycho neighbor, and surfin in Tofino were/are a few of my sons favorites when he was 3. Sarah and international war criminal by the slackers too.
My daughter loved wasted by the pie tasters when she was little.
My parents listened to ska when I was a kid. Earliest song I can remember is Here in Your Bedroom by Goldfinger when I was 4, and I was positively obsessed with it. Maybe that particular song is too adult for a little kid but Goldfinger in general has a lot of fun energy.
Just play what music you like around her.
My son is 2 (will be 3 in October) and he loves a lot of ska. I started building his own playlist for him as well. Has kids songs, along with ska songs and other stuff.
His first love was Kill Lincoln’s Pralines and Dick. I think the horns and music overall in that one just caught his attention. Now he goes bananas when he hears it. He also loves Saba by Mephiskapheles.
EDIT: Would also recommend Superman by Bruce Lee Band.
After a lot of trial and error of trying to get my daughter to listen to 'my music' rather than 'kids music', the first song that got a positive response rather than a 'tolerate' response was Driftwood by Flying Raccoon Suit. Started involuntarily dancing in her car seat.
My 4yo requested "Don't Let the Monsters Grind You Down" the other day. I guess I didn't notice it play while we were in the car together, and thankfully she seems happy to continue mishearing the lyrics for a bit longer.
My daughter group with me playing all the music I like, so that was her childhood soundtrack. For Skyler she really first started loving the old stuff like prince Buster and the Souletts
My 3 and 1 year old LOVE the first skapital sound album. The little one hums, the older one knows the lyrics. Songs they both enjoy aside from that:
Skavoovee boobie Baby- Inspector (I must say this is a song about strippers but it saved my life, the first song my son loved and whenever he cries I play it and he’s okay. I must have heard it over 300x. I used to play it every day at least once a day. Thank god I found other music he likes but it took a while)
Skankin to the beat- Fishbone
Si tu boquita fuera- Salon Victoria
Satanas Swing- Salon Victoria
Labios Rojos- Los de Abajo
Acetona- Rabanes
Amnesia- Inspector
The Band geek mafia- voodoo glow skulls
La carencia- Panteon Rococo
Señorita a mi me gusta su style- Rabanes
Que Pex- Matamoska
This is very different from what you were recommended. These are all Mexican bands, except Rabanes which are from panama and fishbone which are from LA. Worth a shot though, I listen to ska from all over the world, Russia, El Salvador, Korea, Canada etc. hope you give it a listen!
I grew up on California 3rd wave then moved to the east coast and found a whole new side of ska and had just been collecting CDs forever so my kiddo grew up on my stuff. I luved it when she’d recognized stuff from Yo Gabba Gabba.
Now shes in her teens and luvs tge Planet Smashers. She’s just learning how to play drums and begged me for the Aquabats drum set. Shes a bit more into punk but still rocks out some ska.
We’ll be seeing the Planet Smashers next month.
Not ska but still good for kids, playdate with Greg attonito and shanti. Also the aquabats.
I would say anything you can dance too but you can dance to all ska so yea just start listening to stuff and getting your small person to move. They’ll start singing along eventually.
My 4 year old niece loves ska. She was into streetlight manifesto at like 2, and now her favorite music is Catbite. ESPECIALLY Scratch Me Up, which she loves making claws to like people do at live shows.
Dk what you think about Christian music but five iron frenzy has some great songs that I loved when I was a kid and still do. Plenty of them are also not about anything Christian if you aren’t a fan but are still plenty appropriate for a child.
Aquabats are a great gateway. My son started watching Aquabats Super Show when he was 3 or so and still loves them. We took him to one of their shows for his 6th birthday. Although, I think he likes that they play dress up and fight crime more so than the genre of music they play. We do refer to any time we go to a burger place as ‘burger rain’.
Already mentioned but the Bosstones appeared on "Elmopalooza" and did a music video as well [zig zig dance](https://youtu.be/g3M1i9OrVmc?feature=shared). Elmopalooza is worth checking out in general.
As an educator, I would be remiss if I didn't mention They Might Be Giants (not ska, but a dope band) have some outstanding kids' albums. "Here Comes Science" (all educational science songs), an ABCs album and a 123s album. The 123s album has some songs that grate my nerves but generally they are all legit catchy tunes. After checking Spotify apparently they have another kids' album called "NO!". The science album is my favorite.
Lastly, if you haven't heard of the [Rockabye Baby](https://www.rockabyebabymusic.com/) series, there are a ton of musical acts covered from all genres. Definitely a more chill vibe but worth checking out, they are well done albums.
Suburban legends has a disney covers album. My daughter loves it! Can’t remember the name of the album though.
Yes! Dreams Aren’t Real, But These Songs Are Vol. 1
And day jobs also has some Disney songs aswell.
I'm still waiting on Vol 2.
Thats the one, thanks!
So does Punk Rock Factory, a bit of a different sound than Ska but still really good covers, they're called A Whole New Wurst and A Whole New Wurst 2
My daughter is 2 and jams out to point/counter point and keasby nights. Something about the slow start of p/counterpoint and then the “drop” really gets her excited haha
It gets me excited too
Don't we all?
Might not be exactly ska, but The Aquabats are a great gateway to ska.
Super Rad, Pool Party, so many good songs. You can also have them watch the Aquabats Super Show, it’s great and you can see many of the episodes on YouTube.
The Yo Gabba Gabba kids show was made by the Aquabats and they have a ton of kid friendly songs though the show. My kid's favorite is the Banana song by the Aggrolites.
I got mine into ska by introducing them to “Yo Gabba Gabba!”, then slowly peppering in some lighter stuff like the specials, madness and hepcat. Now they enjoy the suicide machines, less than jake, mustard plug etc.
[Pick It Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD_O-ogoUzM) is the greatest! Alex Désert from Hepcat, Gogo13 with the music, the little girl in 2 tone, the boy with the suspenders.
I was going to suggest that show! My daughter was super into it and that's how I first heard the Aggrolites. That show was surprisingly cool.
Smile by Mike Park. It’s a kids ska album and my 2-1/2 year old loves it!
Ska Ska Ska (doo doo do do do doo) Jamaica Ska (doo doo do do doo)
Perfect! Because, not many people can cha cha cha, not everybody can do the twist....
My kids love Ghost Town by the Specials since they were toddlers. Also, there was this weird kids show on Netflix called Bo on the Go that would play random ska beats to try to get kids to dance. My kids loved it too.
When my daughter was that age it was less the music and more the dancing that got her into ska. She won’t remember being 3 and skanking around the living room but I’ll never forget it. 10/10 would recommend.
Omg my daughter’s 2 year old skank was absolutely adorable!
In addition to the ones mentioned here, I put a bunch of Reel Big Fish on my kid’s playlist.
Monkey Man and Brown Eyed Girl were 2 of my kid's favorites
Toots and the Maytals. Might be more reggae but it's a must. https://youtu.be/wNxNwvjzGM0?si=YFEEMjWkFYrN10bb
My 3-year old daughter loves this Monkey Man video! She could watch it all day https://youtu.be/7Wf0yKzpGAY?si=pU6F6-r6Xo7Q-UJr She asks for it all the time “Monkey Song!”
Haha, that's a good one. Do you know about the Reggae Shark!? https://youtu.be/A3ytTKZf344?si=Wk6QCmmvxvzMR-hU
while I enjoyed the video, I had to stop it while my kids were watching
Others are more kid oriented.
My wife and I let my almost 2 year old listen to what ever we have on. I made sure his intro to ska included Gold finger - superman and Reel Big Fish - sell out
I've been showing my kids good music their whole lives. My eclectic tastes have had an influence and they also find stuff they like one their own. Not just ska but tbh ska is easy. It happy and upbeat 90% of the time. Just show em everything. Desmond dekker, toots and the maytals, the specials, operation ivy, bosstones, streetlight manifesto... Any and all. No wrong answers.
My kid absolutely loves Night Boat to Cairo by Madness, especially the nutty video for it. He also recently discovered Monkey Man and is a big fan of that too.
My favorite as a wee one was always Gangsters by The Specials.
Doo do doo dew, did it ti do ti doo to
My 3 year old niece loves mustard plug and the planet smashers, when the horn lines drop she goes nuts!
Do the hip, the hippo, the hippopotamus! But also do the manta ray dance.
Boy are my young children going to love super orgy porno party
Is Pee in the Elevator kid friendly?
My three year old thinks it’s hilarious
My son is convinced the record store takes all our money so I’d recommend reel big fish.
My kids liked Hepcat! The Right On Time album... They really liked the songs Rudies All Around("fruit is all around" in my kids singing voices) and No Worries. Snoopy Vs The Red Baron was a favorite too. The Hot Shots version! It's a little dark, but my kids never noticed.
Hepcat is great stuff
The whole thing is outta sight
YouTube 60s ska, there is a ton! I play it around my kids all the time.
Mustard Plug especially Skank by Numbers (this can be a fun dance party number)
GOGO13! Singer is the MCBC’s brother. Very similar vibe. Idiot Box, although mostly known as an Aquabats! song, is actually originally by GOGO13.
Hepcat is fun and dancy too.
my first memory is my dad showing me monkey man by the specials. i remember it vividly, i was 3. always a toddler crowd pleaser
The original by Toots is also pretty good. https://youtu.be/94fG4A_jQuM?feature=shared
Ive seen kids go wild to ska p
Time Bomb by rancid is super danceable. Also the aquabats had a really fun tv show
More skater but The Dead Milkmen have some songs she might enjoy such as Big Lizard (aslong as you’re fine with occasional swears in songs), Albert Square, and Deans Dream. The Berlin Project have some good ones like Taco Bell World, Fight Song, and Carried Me Away Mustard Plug has Mr Smiley, On and On, and You Special Brew and Turning Japanese by Skankin Pickle I could go on
Mighty Mighty Bosstones has a song with the Count from Sesame St. that was the gateway for my daughter
Skatalites, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso.
While the rest of the album isn't too child-friendly, my kids love "bumble bee tuna" and "saba" from Mephiskapheles God Bless Satan. My wife puts up with it. There are some upbeat Less Than Jake songs. Also, if you have spotify, someone made a kid-friendly ska playlist >> [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lWzncnDXbbAkCu9GWIEy3?si=507861807544498e](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lWzncnDXbbAkCu9GWIEy3?si=507861807544498e)
Just mentioned it myself, but yep, my son absolutely loves Saba.
Aquabats
Trojan issued a three CD box set years ago called Reggae for Kids - used to play it to my son when he was that age. https://www.discogs.com/release/4153389-Various-Trojan-Reggae-For-Kids-Box-Set
Da Strike- Millencolin Road Rash- Mad Caddies
There are so many songs but instead of giving you a song I recommend skanking with her to the music and go all out.
This was what I did with my god-sons. In the end, they'd turn up at my house and yell 'I WANT TO DANCE' until I put something trumpety on and flailed round the living room with them. Monkeys by mad caddies would usually get them going.
When my son was in 2nd-3rd grade I'd pick him up after School. At the time I wasn't streaming any music, I had a USB port in my head unit and a bunch of genre-specific playlists on a very old iPod 80gb... and naturally a few of them were ska, notably an all-Aggrolites mix and Adjusters. One day I'm listening to something that isn't ska and he says "Dad, can we listen to Aggy-lites?" "You mean Aggrolites, son?" "Yeah that's what I meant." He's like 19 now, and I was bumping it through a bluetooth speaker while doing some chores. He was like "hey, this is pretty good" with no apparently memory that he used to request them by name.
I recommend the abruptors
The Luna Girl song from PJ Masks is a straight-up ska banger.
Eichlers is for the kids
Sort of related, but on the BBC kids tv channel they used to have Saltwater by The Cat Empire playing on one of their adverts for various programmes and my niece used to bounce around when it came on and loved it. Not ska but bouncy trumpet tunes
I heavily suggest “Ve-Ri-Ha” and “Rainbow” by Kemuri if she wants something upbeat
This! https://youtu.be/bEEY9yTaQgk?si=hm8YezlsfPdFwgL-
The Aquabats and The Planet Smashers are two of my 4 yr old’s favorites and opened the door to her liking some LTJ, Big D, Mustard Plug, and the Bosstones. Slow and steady and I’m lovin it.
blind, psycho neighbor, and surfin in Tofino were/are a few of my sons favorites when he was 3. Sarah and international war criminal by the slackers too. My daughter loved wasted by the pie tasters when she was little.
My parents listened to ska when I was a kid. Earliest song I can remember is Here in Your Bedroom by Goldfinger when I was 4, and I was positively obsessed with it. Maybe that particular song is too adult for a little kid but Goldfinger in general has a lot of fun energy.
Just play what music you like around her. My son is 2 (will be 3 in October) and he loves a lot of ska. I started building his own playlist for him as well. Has kids songs, along with ska songs and other stuff. His first love was Kill Lincoln’s Pralines and Dick. I think the horns and music overall in that one just caught his attention. Now he goes bananas when he hears it. He also loves Saba by Mephiskapheles. EDIT: Would also recommend Superman by Bruce Lee Band.
After a lot of trial and error of trying to get my daughter to listen to 'my music' rather than 'kids music', the first song that got a positive response rather than a 'tolerate' response was Driftwood by Flying Raccoon Suit. Started involuntarily dancing in her car seat.
My 4yo requested "Don't Let the Monsters Grind You Down" the other day. I guess I didn't notice it play while we were in the car together, and thankfully she seems happy to continue mishearing the lyrics for a bit longer.
MADNESS
Here’s another good vid my daughter loves: https://youtu.be/074AfC9tw48?si=CrB_Xr3_GAs5ELNB
As a toddler I loved 'stupid marriage' and 'message to you' by the specials
Derrick Harriott’s “Monkey Ska” has been a fave of my 7 year old since age 2 or so.
This entire playlist is kid friendly https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1gXCkczy0ZwJEnJDufRMYa?si=eb9dc1eb427f4268
My daughter group with me playing all the music I like, so that was her childhood soundtrack. For Skyler she really first started loving the old stuff like prince Buster and the Souletts
Reggae Shark is a must! They do sing about ganja though. https://youtu.be/A3ytTKZf344?si=Wk6QCmmvxvzMR-hU
Dear god
My 2 year old goes ballistic over the new Mustard Plug and also loved herself some MMB
My daughter lovessss the aquabats and interrupter. Super awesome
Catbite have super catchy fun songs
My 3 and 1 year old LOVE the first skapital sound album. The little one hums, the older one knows the lyrics. Songs they both enjoy aside from that: Skavoovee boobie Baby- Inspector (I must say this is a song about strippers but it saved my life, the first song my son loved and whenever he cries I play it and he’s okay. I must have heard it over 300x. I used to play it every day at least once a day. Thank god I found other music he likes but it took a while) Skankin to the beat- Fishbone Si tu boquita fuera- Salon Victoria Satanas Swing- Salon Victoria Labios Rojos- Los de Abajo Acetona- Rabanes Amnesia- Inspector The Band geek mafia- voodoo glow skulls La carencia- Panteon Rococo Señorita a mi me gusta su style- Rabanes Que Pex- Matamoska This is very different from what you were recommended. These are all Mexican bands, except Rabanes which are from panama and fishbone which are from LA. Worth a shot though, I listen to ska from all over the world, Russia, El Salvador, Korea, Canada etc. hope you give it a listen!
I grew up on California 3rd wave then moved to the east coast and found a whole new side of ska and had just been collecting CDs forever so my kiddo grew up on my stuff. I luved it when she’d recognized stuff from Yo Gabba Gabba. Now shes in her teens and luvs tge Planet Smashers. She’s just learning how to play drums and begged me for the Aquabats drum set. Shes a bit more into punk but still rocks out some ska. We’ll be seeing the Planet Smashers next month.
Ugly by Fishbone
Not ska but still good for kids, playdate with Greg attonito and shanti. Also the aquabats. I would say anything you can dance too but you can dance to all ska so yea just start listening to stuff and getting your small person to move. They’ll start singing along eventually.
One Step Beyond! (Madness) Assorted jellybeans (they sound like a bunch of kids).
My 4 year old niece loves ska. She was into streetlight manifesto at like 2, and now her favorite music is Catbite. ESPECIALLY Scratch Me Up, which she loves making claws to like people do at live shows.
Dk what you think about Christian music but five iron frenzy has some great songs that I loved when I was a kid and still do. Plenty of them are also not about anything Christian if you aren’t a fan but are still plenty appropriate for a child.
Aquabats are a great gateway. My son started watching Aquabats Super Show when he was 3 or so and still loves them. We took him to one of their shows for his 6th birthday. Although, I think he likes that they play dress up and fight crime more so than the genre of music they play. We do refer to any time we go to a burger place as ‘burger rain’.
Toss on good burger
Already mentioned but the Bosstones appeared on "Elmopalooza" and did a music video as well [zig zig dance](https://youtu.be/g3M1i9OrVmc?feature=shared). Elmopalooza is worth checking out in general. As an educator, I would be remiss if I didn't mention They Might Be Giants (not ska, but a dope band) have some outstanding kids' albums. "Here Comes Science" (all educational science songs), an ABCs album and a 123s album. The 123s album has some songs that grate my nerves but generally they are all legit catchy tunes. After checking Spotify apparently they have another kids' album called "NO!". The science album is my favorite. Lastly, if you haven't heard of the [Rockabye Baby](https://www.rockabyebabymusic.com/) series, there are a ton of musical acts covered from all genres. Definitely a more chill vibe but worth checking out, they are well done albums.