Wiggles legend Paul Field releases second album for kids and shares the educational benefits of music
"It’s quite magical to see the positive impact music has on children."
Music has the power to calm and soothe children or to entertain them and stimulate their early childhood development.
Now, there’s a music destination for parents and kids alike that ticks all of these boxes and more.
Peachy Keen is a new entertainment brand created by Paul Field, The Cockroaches singer and The Wiggles former long-time manager.
Incorporating music and education, Peachy Keen’s first album, Animal Songs launched in May 13 across all music streaming platforms and went straight to number on the iTunes Children’s Chart that month.
The success is followed by Lullabies (released July 9), which also stars country music icon Shane Nicholson, who wrote and performed six new songs for the album.
Shane knows a thing or two about music! He’s won 15 Golden Guitars and is a three-time ARIA winner for Best Country Album. In 2022 hewon Album of the Year, Alt Country Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Apple Music Song of the Year at The Golden Guitar Awards.
Country music star Shane Nicholson wrote and performed six new song on Lullabies.
In April 2022, Paul and his brother John Field were presented with the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.
Paul says making music that was not only fun but also educational was key for Peachy Keen, so he enlisted the help of his brother John who wrote over 300 songs for The Wiggles and he also called on a selection of great musicians and singers to bring his vision for Peachy Keen to life.
“Children learn best through play and experiencing music is a vital part of early childhood development,” he says. “It’s quite magical to see the positive impact music has on children.”
Lullabies is a collection of 20 peaceful songs for young kids to help them “relax, rest and restore”.
Former manager of The Wiggles, Paul Field has a new entertaiment brand, Peachy Keen.
Paul shares the educational benefits of music
1. It is fun!
“For a young child, music making is a natural part of general play, almost always connected to movement, vocalising, role play, and pretend play.”
2. Close relationships develop and are strengthened
“Music develops an understanding of rhythm and beat, building connections between parent and child. When children and parents share musical adventures, everybody wins.”
3. Music ignites all areas of child development
“Music helps children to speak more clearly, develop a larger vocabulary, and strengthens social and emotional skills.”
“It’s quite magical to see the positive impact music has on children.”
4. Music for preschoolers helps to promote school readiness
“It correlates positively with increased school readiness, leading to pro-social skills, and better literacy and numeracy outcomes at ages four to five.”
5. Listening to music is time well spent
“How you choose to incorporate music into time with children matters less than the fact that it is done.”
6. Songs about animals
“Young children like animals and are interested in the way they move and the sounds they make. They observe animals interacting with each other and with humans. Animal Songs demonstrate differences and similarities; provide opportunities to practice the sounds used in language. This may be connected to movement, vocalising, role play, and pretend play. They go further in helping children understand that animals need care; they can be stepping stones to a sense of empathy and other prosocial skills.”
Peachy Keen’s debut album Animal Songs is followed by Lullabies.
7. The importance of repetition
“The song, Kangaroo, Kangaroo has simple and effective lyrics with plenty of repetition (which makes it easier for young children to remember) and has lots of scope for children to be a kangaroo using movement and action while singing.”
8. Encourages imagination
“Young children have a fascination with dinosaurs and are familiar with the names of many of them. This familiarity is a big confidence booster and is also beneficial for cognitive development. One study found that sustained intense interests, particularly in a conceptual domain like dinosaurs, can help children develop increased knowledge and persistence, a better attention span, and deeper information-processing skills. Learning about dinosaurs with our song, My Dinosaur is a great way to spark and encourage a child’s imagination.”
9. Boost gross motor skills and rhythm
“Make Like A Monkey is a perfect vehicle for gross motor activity. Such activities improve balance, coordination and rhythm. Singing and movement is also a good aerobic exercise linked to stress reduction, physical fitness and overall good health as well as being a lot of fun!”
10. Improves literacy, numeracy and movement
“An insect theme is fun to explore as spring approaches and throughout the season and this song would be an excellent inclusion as children learn about and observe different insects and the roles they play in nature. The song, Dragonfly lends itself to music and movement as children are encouraged to fly like a dragonfly and to arts and craft where children can model or paint a dragonfly or other insects. You can also use toy insects or natural materials such as rocks, sticks, or leaves as manipulatives for many learning activities including teaching maths and literacy concepts.”
The Peachy Keen Theme Song is out now and Peachy Keen’s debut album, Animal Songs (listen here) will be available across all music streaming platforms from Friday May 13. Peachy Keen will also be made available in immersive Spatial Audio on Apple Music.
Follow Peachy Keen on social media:
Facebook: https://fb.me/PeachyKeenOfficial
Instagram: @peachykeen_official
Youtube Channel: bit.ly/PeachyKeenOfficial
Tiktok: @peachykeenofficial
