Kids Dance Party

DJ Kid offers a child-friendly version of the Baha Men's "Who Let The Dogs Out," while Taj Mahal's cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin" is a little less strident than either the original or the Jackson 5 version. Los Lobos serve up a great folklórico version of "La Bamba." But the one your kids are going to adore is also the one guaranteed to drive you round the twist after the second performance: "The HampsterDance Song." If you have a sibling or "friend" with a child, and you want to pay them back for some earlier transgression, this is your opportunity.

If Jerome Howard (né Horowitz) needed a memorial in addition to the 100-plus shorts he starred in as Curly of the Three Stooges, Jump 'N The Saddle Band provided it with the Western swing-tinged "The Curly Shuffle." Harry Belafonte's "Jump In the Line" was used brilliantly in the film Beetlejuice, should you need a visual cue as to possible dance steps. And the Pop Pickers' version of Little Eva's "The Loco-Motion" (co-written by Carole King and later covered by Grand Funk Railroad) is sweet without being saccharine.

Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot" gets the toddler treatment here, to fine effect. And if you want to expose your tots to the world of Cajun and zydeco music (the accordion is always a big hit with the kids), check out "Choo Choo Boogaloo" by Buckwheat Zydeco and "Alligator Stomp" by Anna Moo. Should you have any little potential heshers around, "Goofy Goober Rock" (from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) will set their tiny heads to bangin'…as it will yours, after a few spins.

One thing every parent knows is that kids have extra energy, which they love to burn off by dancing. This is true of both boys and girls — that is until boys acquire the mistaken idea that dancing is solely for girls, which renders most of them clumsy and ungraceful on the dance floor for the rest of their lives. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. While they're still young, your tots can express their natural urges to thrash about to some tunes that might even get your toes to tapping. (And remember, you're gonna hear these about 100,000 times, so make sure you get a wide variety.)