Christina Refford

In my neck of the woods, all eyes are on the trees to see when the colors of fall start putting on their gorgeous show. Add that to two kids who are itching to learn Spanish this year, and I'm so pleased to have found a great song to get…

From the first five seconds off her debut CD, Middle of Nowhere , I knew I was in for something totally, deliciously different from Iceland's one-named Elska. These notes lead into an electronic-filled, peppy tune that will have your kid…

The alphabet song is one of those staples I'm willing to bet every kid (and grown-up) knows. But for an alphabet song with a lot more oomph and a whole bunch of critters, we've got a great download and new video from one of our favorites…

The photos I see on Instagram are many things: evocative, funny, sweet, and sometimes just plain cool. But they are also really small. Which is why I'm digging a successful Kickstarter campaign that will make it so easy to get to enjoy t…

Based on how well she takes care of her Nintendo DS, my tween's future electronics are going to need to grow some thick skins if they are going to survive living with her. So if you have a kid who has been handed a precious iPad for her …

New sneakers, new backback, new pencils..yes, the new school year is starting up for the kiddos. But this week, we're going way, w-a-y back for a Chuck Berry song that has been rocking kids out the door for over fifty years. Chuck Berry'…

Is there any creature more perfectly suited for toddlers to love than a monkey? Mischievous, adorable, snuggly, and prone to making gigantic messes, it's no wonder that almost every toddler I meet will go bananas (heh) for this song. Mon…

Listening to compelling audio books has been my #1 way to prevent backseat squabbles between the kids as we do everything from a six-hour drive to Maine, to a 15-minute jaunt to gymnastics practice. And one of the best ways to get our ha…

Woody Guthrie would have been 100 years old this summer, so it seems fitting that we pay our respects to his legacy. CMP favorite Elizabeth Mitchell has more than done his music justice with her gorgeous children's CD Little Seed which f…

My niece will be hopping on the school bus for the first time in just a few weeks. For her and her fellow kindergartners, I've found the perfect song to sing them out the door off the debut album of kindie favorites The Not-Its! Kicking …

When an IKEA opened a few miles from me, I became one of those devotees who believes one can never have enough EXPEDIT bookcases--provided you can figure out how to put them together. Not all of us have that gene (or understanding of Swe…

Ice cream for dinner. Late nights blowing off bedtime. Skipping baths because, Hey!, we cleaned off in the pool, right ? Oh, I do love summer, which can feel like one big party, and if you agree, grab this download and get ready to par-t…

Who invented the alphabet? is my son's latest impossible-to-answer question. I've tried to placate him with some smart talk, but the creators of the much loved ebook The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore have come up with a much …

My kids have used their fingers and toes to help them understand numbers and counting from the days of 10 Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed through basic addition. And now there is a new app that uses technology to help reinforce these con…

For the past few years, one of our favorite storytellers is the gifted musician, singer, and spinner of tales, Randy Kaplan . And on his latest, release, Mr. Diddie Wah Diddie , my kids love to hear one song about a boy named Carl, a boy…

Along with all those things I can't leave home without, my iPad is at the top of my list this summer. But, since I don't want to add more bulk to my overstuffed bags, I'm digging this slim and clever sleeve stand that gives my precious c…

As a mama of a child with speech issues, I know how frustrating it can be, both for him and for those trying to understand what he is saying. So it may explain why I so love CMP favorite Lunch Money's Molly Ledford's short and sweet song…

As soon as my kids were old enough to hold a crayon, I started apologizing to the trees. Wow, they run through a ream of paper in no time at all with all their pictures, notes, and stories. And while I appreciate their creativity, I also…

At all the summer parties, there is one staple of suburban life that makes my kids jump for joy every time they see it: The big, inflatable bounce house. And now they have an enthusiastically rocking ode to those inflatable fun houses fr…

I have always wanted to be a runner. But each time I'd start up again, my knees would hurt---a lot. I was so slow, my dog-partner didn't even need to trot. And, inevitably, I'd overextend myself, get hurt, and stop for yet another six mo…

My loud-noise-averse son finally agreed to see the fireworks this year and was hooked after the first BOOM. But I'm not about to put on Baby You're a Firework to keep the spirit going; instead, I found this tune from Gustafer Yellowgold …

While cleaning out the office yesterday, I kept coming upon relics from my not-so-distant past, like some weird archeological dig in my house. This, children, is a floppy disk. We used it to store information on before the Cloud. And her…

Ever since I first heard Shine and the Moonbeams perform at Kindiefest a year ago, I've been a huge fan of their sound and cannot wait until they can get a full-length CD produced. I'm not the only one who thinks so either, as evidenced …

Lazy Sundays in the early summer are just about our favorite days ever, especially when there are both sunshine and ice cream in the forecast. And now these days have their own background music with this song by CMP favorites, Sugar Free…