Baby Jamz Music Crew Review by Alyice Edrich

This past week I was fortunate to check out a new line of toys geared towards toddlers who love hip hop music. The toy is called, "Baby Jamz Music Crew" and will be available at Walm-Mart®. There's even a Baby Jamz music CD available.

From what I gather, the creator, Matthew Knowles, was inspired by his grandson, Julez, to create a product line that reflected the interests of today's kids. The music CD contains some old favorites set to hip hop beats and is rather entertaining. In fact, I found my thirteen year old daughter playing the CD while browsing YouTube the other day. There are thirteen songs on the CD:

1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star 2. Wheels On The Bus 3. Hush Little Baby 4. Brahm's Lullaby 5. There Was An Old Lady That Lived In A Shoe 6. Buckle My Shoe 7. Bingo 8. Mary Had A Little Lamb 9. Old MacDonald 10. Skip To My Lou 11. This Old Man 12. Three Little Kittens 13. Mary Mary Quite Contrary

The toys have a great concept: match the bottom of the figurines to the top of the boom box correctly and you hear a 20 second song. The sample I received played, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. There is one drawback, the song only lasts 20 seconds. I would have much preferred that the entire song be played when correctly matched.

I had a music teacher who swore that children learned best when music was introduced into their lives. She'd make a little game out of everything we needed to retain and put it to song. Makes sense, after all, how do children learn the alphabet best? By singing the ABC song.

If your children are into hip hop music and you cringe every time your toddler hears an inappropriate word, it may be time to switch to something a little more friendly.