About European Playground
Download the European Playground Teaching Guide and the European Playground Map! Download Song Lyrics (PDF)
European Playground, the newest release in Putumayo Kids’ acclaimed Playground series of CDs, is a collection of 15 songs that takes families on a fun-filled cross-genre musical tour around the continent. Europe is a favorite destination for travelers who marvel at the continent’s rich cultural variety. Europe is home to almost 50 countries, each with its own unique culture, history, traditions, food and music. European Playground features a lively and engaging selection of family-friendly music from contemporary artists from these very diverse regions. The multilingual songs are easy to sing and dance along to, no matter what language you speak.
The song themes speak to children’s interests and spark their imaginations. The Swiss tune by Roland Zoss is about a magical land where teddy bears come to life. Sås & Kopp sing in Swedish about jumping on a trampoline with friends in the backyard, and German favorite Alex Schmeisser celebrates the friendship between a big cow and a little mouse. Alain Le Lait highlights the French love of good food while London-based Herbie Treehead explores a universal theme in a fresh new way with his “Change Song,” noting, “We all have to change sometimes!”
As with all Putumayo Kids releases, European Playground showcases the ways in which musical styles become global phenomena. The universal appeal of Caribbean musical styles is evident in tunes from artists working in the Netherlands, Greece and Denmark. Similarly, the mutual influence that Scottish and Irish music and North American folk music share can be heard in songs by Scotland’s Ian Benzie and Ireland’s Sharon Shannon.
Watch the video: Herbie Treehead - "Change Song" | England is an ancient country that has had a king or queen for more than 1,000 years. Many famous writers and musicians have come from England, including William Shakespeare, Beatrix Potter and The Beatles. London is the capital city and if you took a walk there, you would see Buckingham Palace (Queen Elizabeth’s home), London Bridge and the London Eye (a giant ferris wheel!). Herbie Treehead has performed music, comedy, magic and juggling on the streets of London for many years. On “Change Song,” he sings that sometimes change is good, like when you change your wet socks after a rainstorm, when tadpoles change into frogs, or when seeds change into plants. |
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