Matt the Music Man

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this CD to review. It just means that I get to share more great local talent with you!*

“More music! More music!” This is what my 2 year old niece yelled when we turned off Matt the Music Man’s CD.

Songs for Kids Age 1 to 101 is a 20-song all-original album with special guests such as Heather Kelday, Andy and Ariana, Jim Tranquilla of iTromboni, Laura McFarlane Tranquilla, Ananda Kavanagh, children singers and more! It’s fun music ranging from folk to rock ‘n’ roll for the whole family.

Matt The Music Man is more than your typical man from Nova Scotia with a guitar. He’s also quite possibly the only children’s performer around with a pirate hat and a platypus for a sidekick.

I have a musical background. I grew up a part of choirs and bands and am now trying to instill that love for music in my sons. We always have music on in the background, and my older son has taken 2 years of music lessons.

So, when Matt the Music Man asked us to review his new CD, we were happy to take on the job!

In three words: I love it!

This is a fantastically fun CD for kids and adults. The songs are very catchy with easy, memorable lyrics – especially for kids. One afternoon, I overheard my 8 year old singing the song Fat Cat which has quickly become our favourite.

The lyrics are clever and don’t downplay to children. Children can learn about things such as the solar system, why it’s important to read and even about platypuses! The Twinkle Twinkle Black Sheep song is extremely clever and unique and very fun to dance to!

I would equate Matt the Music Man to Raffi. It’s a CD even adults won’t grow tired of listening to because the music is fun and encompasses many different styles.

The CD is best suited for preschoolers and lower elementary school students.

To listen to some of the samples of music, visit the website.

Locally, Matt the Music Man’s CD is available in New Minas at Go As You Grow or in Coldbrook from Baby Central. It can also be ordered on line. CDs are $15.

To give us some props to use while listening to Matt the Music Man’s Fat Cat song, we decided to make a few simple cat puppets.

I am NOT crafty, so we chose three easy designs. I made up a few samples and had my sons and my nieces choose which one they would like to make. They ranged in age from 2 to 8.

Here’s what we came up with:

Folded Paper Cat

Take a square piece of paper and turn it so it is a diamond. (You may have to cut it to make it square).

Fold in the corners to make ears

Draw on a face

Attach a popsicle stick to the back

Paper Plate Cat

Cut out eyes, ears and whiskers.
Glue the ears on to the back side of the plate and the glue on the eyes and whiskers on the front.
Draw a cat face
Attach a popsicle stick to the back

Paper Bag Cat

This by far was the most popular puppet!

Cut out eyes, ears and whiskers from construction paper.
Glue the ears onto the back of the bag and the eyes, nose and whiskers to the front
Draw in the rest of the face
Put your hand inside the bag to use the puppet

I laid all the supplies out on the table and let the kids choose which puppet they wanted to make. We had a wide variety of cats!

With our new puppets we had a dance party to Matt the Music Man’s Fat Cat song. As you will see, the kids really got into the song! It was a big hit!

If you are looking for something new to add to your music collection, would like to support local musicians, or need a Christmas gift for someone, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Matt the Music Man’s children’s CD.

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