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17 Songs for a Rockin’ Dance Party With Your Kids

By Kelly Holmes| This content may contain affiliate links.

Inside: Next time you or the kids have a case of the crankies, fire up this playlist of dance music for kids and boogie away the bad mojo. (No Yo Gabba Gabba here!)

In our family, the person who makes it home first from work or school on a Friday afternoon has an important responsibility: Set everything up for our official Friday night family dance party.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Clear the living room floor of LEGOs and baby teethers,
  2. Queue up our playlist of the best kids’ dance songs, and
  3. Crank the volume.

And if you’re the last person home?

Nothing beats that feeling of walking in the door, hearing the notes of happiness reverberate through the house, and stepping into the living room to see your whole family dancing and giggling.

A family dance party is one of the best ways to connect with your kids after a day apart – or if you’re just feeling cooped up indoors because of cold/rainy/sweltering weather. Plus, dancing is good for your health in lots of ways, from heart health to stress levels and more.

Related: How to Connect With Your Child: The Magic of the 5:1 Ratio {Printable}

Happy Songs: Dance Music for Kids and Parents, Too!

17 Happy Kids’ Dance Songs That Parents Love, Too

Here’s a playlist that’s fun for the whole family to shake their booties to. These contemporary, upbeat tunes have clean language, but unlike most dance music for kids, they’re not so kiddish that you’ll lock yourself in the bathroom til they’re over. Yo Gabba GAG ME.

Next time you and/or the kids have a bad case of the crankies, fire up a few of these songs and dance away the bad mojo. (Research shows that babies and toddlers especially get a big dose of happy when moving their bodies to a rhythmic beat.)

You’ll tire the kids out before bedtime, plus you’ll burn a few calories yourself. Which means you can skip working out, or at least skip feeling guilty for not working out.

You’re welcome!

1. When Can I See You Again? by Owl City

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

2. Hey Mama by Mat Kearney

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

3. Be OK by Ingrid Michaelson

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

4. More of This by Vetiver

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

5. Hey Na Na by Katie Herzig

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

6. Brand New Day by Lindsey Ray with Tim Myers

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

7. Sleepy Tigers by Her Space Holiday

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

8. A-Punk by Vampire Weekend

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

9. Riptide by Vance Joy

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

10. The Sound of Sunshine by Michael Franti and Spearhead

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

11. Kids by MGMT

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

12. Black Horse & The Cherry Tree by KT Tunstall

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

13. Happy by Pharrell Williams

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

14. Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

15. Try Everything by Shakira

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

16. Safe and Sound by Capital Cities

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

17. Let’s Be Young by Evan McHugh

Listen: Apple Music | Amazon Music

Before you go, download my FREE cheat sheet: 75 Positive Phrases Every Child Needs to Hear

Want More?

For another fun family-friendly playlist, check out 12 Songs for a Carefree Summer.

Your Turn

What are your favorite kids’ dance songs? Share in a comment below!

Happy Songs: Dance Music for Kids and Parents, Too!
Kelly Holmes

I’m a mom of four, a Certified Parent Educator, and the author of Happy You, Happy Family. I believe if you want to nurture a loving parent-child relationship that will last into the teenage years and beyond, the time for nurturing that kind of relationship is now. As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, download my free cheat sheet of 75 Positive Phrases Every Child Needs to Hear, plus three important pitfalls to avoid when encouraging your child with positive phrases.

Filed Under: Kids' Activities, Playlists

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Arts of Eska
Arts of Eska

Honestly, I am not sure how I found you through the web but I am currently smitten. I do have to agree with you on several of your rockin’ kids dance songs. I’m currently riding the Riptide and Bastile’s Pompeii.

I found my rockin’ songs a different way though. I downloaded Pandora Radio on my iphone and select the Children’s Indie Radio Station they have. After a little guidance through like/dislike votes I have it fine tuned. It’s so good that I will listen to it whenever I want a happy pick me up, kids or no kids.

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Kelly
Kelly
Reply to  Arts of Eska

Smitten? *blush* Thank you! That is quite a nice compliment. :-)

We’re just sitting around enjoying coffee and watching the kids be silly this morning, so I’m going to play Bastile’s Pompeii for the kids right now!

I love your Pandora suggestion too. I’ve used Pandora, but I’m so impatient so I end up thumbs-downing my whole allotment right away, then I get stuck listening to junk I can’t skip and I just give up. I should give it another go though, thank you for the reminder about it!

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Sybil Brun
Sybil Brun

Kelly you are such a good writer! Honestly – how do you make it look so darn easy? This is the second post of yours I’ve read in one day and I am so impressed! Have to share this one too : )

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Erica Layne
Erica Layne

Thanks so much for this! Sharing tomorrow on Facebook!

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AskMamaMOE
AskMamaMOE

I love this post – and your pictures are adorable! I’m a big believer in good music for families too. My suggestion for you is an awesome song if you haven’t thought of it yet: Can’t Get Next To You by The Temptations – it’s an oldie but a goody! My boys love it! :)

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Kelly
Kelly
Reply to  AskMamaMOE

Oh, that is a good one! Thank you for adding your pick to the discussion. :-)

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