Environmental Education Through Music

August 16, 2010 at 5:00 am (Amber Bobnar, Contributing Writer, Ecology, Family Music, HF Contributing Writer, music, Sustainability)
Tags: Environment, Family Music, music

An Environmental Education for Kids … Through Music!

Have you noticed that green is in? We’ve become big recyclers, we drive a very fuel efficient car, and we take our reusable bags to the grocery store.

But even though the best way to teach a kid any lesson is to practice what you preach, it can still be hard to explain exactly why protecting the environment is important and how doing things like recycling can really help.

These kids’ musicians can help you get the message across… in a fun sing-song way!

PETER PUFFIN

Peter Puffin (aka Peter Lenton) is a Canadian artist who focuses on both the environment and how we treat each other.

His music has a rich folksy sound and his newest CD, Proud Like a Mountain, includes guitar, banjos, fiddle, bass, mandolin, and all kinds of percussion instruments.

But his message is what makes his music so memorable. Songs like Homegrown Tomatoes remind us about what really goes into growing the food we eat, and If I Were You teaches kids that rivers and clean water bring us all life.

You can listen to a clip of Proud Like a Mountain here.

BILL SHONTZ

Bill Shontz is a very earth conscious musician (he is the spokesperson for the environmental groups EarthWatch and Green Up Vermont) and many of his songs remind us of our relationship with nature and our responsibilities.

We really like his album Animal Tales for its message of caring for and living with animals. Of course, we also like this album for its silly songs and funny rhymes. Pelican Will is a great song about a confused pelican, and You Are What You Eat is another fun song about animals acting like their food—why else would monkeys go bananas?

COCO KALLIS

Coco Kallis, another artist from Vermont, also sings about our relationship with the environment in her aptly titled CD Environmental Songs for Kids.

Coco’s songs teach kids that even their little actions can have a great big impact, from simply taking the time to Recycle to maintaining the beach ecosystem when we Keep Off the Beach.

Coco has a very sweet voice and sings songs that kids will immediately relate to, helping to cement the environmental message. She also plays with different styles, from calypso to the blues, which children just love hearing.

MARIA SANGIOLO

We saw Maria Sangiolo perform last year at TCAN and we were really impressed. Not only is her music beautiful and soothing, but she also manages to teach kids important lessons about love, friendship, and caring for the environment.

Maria’s song, It’s Too Hot! is a very moving tale of polar bears living through global warming, and Power Shower teaches kids to conserve water when they bathe.

Her two CDs, Fairy Moon – Songs of the Ring and Under the Mystic Sea, are great additions to any music collection. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amber Bobnar

Amber lives with her husband and son in Watertown, MA. Originally hailing from Hawaii, Amber and her family moved to Watertown to be closer to the Perkins School for the Blind where her son attends preschool. She has a Master’s degree in English from Tufts University and spends most of her “free time” writing about being a parent of a disabled child on WonderBaby.org or about the family’s musical adventures around Boston on BostonChildrensMusic.com. But really most of her time is spent caring for and playing with her little boy. info@bostonchildrensmusic.com. (Originally posted at Boston Children’s Music.)

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