Take a walk through Spring, a swim through Summer, then drift into Autumn and slide into Winter with these seasons and weather inspired songs for kids.

My aim is that this album inspires families to express themselves through music and poetry, and encourage the act and art of singing together.

I have been singing through my own parenting life ever since alighting into motherhood in 2006. I learnt to keep on the level through the highs and lows by singing with my babies daily, and keeping a songwriting diary in notebooks, scraps of coloured paper, on my blackberry, the answering phone and later on voice memos and my evernote library. 

These song fragments and chats would help me remember funny things the kids would say, or moments we had shared together.

I would sing these tunes with my little ones, then later I'd sing at their kindy and in their school mat times and assemblies, and now I sing them at festivals and libraries and theatre shows and also increasingly in online shows too as we all adapt to this changing world.

I hope these songs that express the joy of growing up connected to nature and the seasons, imbued with memories of my family life and the universal rhythms of life that we all share strike a chord with you too.

There is also a digital songbook associated with this project that is available on kindle and through my bandcamp, it was illustrated by my friend Elise De Silva whose artwork adorns all the song covers and album cover here. The whole project was funded by Creative New Zealand and the songs were produced by Tom Fox at The Sound Room.

Sing Through The Year - A Little Wild Childhood

Tune in to the music of our oceans - and add your voice to the choir. This album is an invitation for children and adults to sing and learn about some of the wonders of life underwater on this big blue marble that we call home. 

Sing For the Sea is an album and songbook of 24 original children's music tunes celebrating our oceans and the little, the wild and the gentle giant creatures that call it home.

Songwriter/Performer: Claudia Robin Gunn at Little Wild Music 
Producer: Tom Fox at The Sound Room
Mastering: Mike Bloemendal
Illustrator: Elise De Silva 
Graphic Design: Claudia Robin Gunn 
Science Communicator: Melissa R Gunn
Funded by Creative New Zealand

Buy on Bandcamp

Sing For The Sea - Little Wild Ocean Friends

Tune in to the beautiful chorus that our world makes - and add your voice to the choir. This album is an invitation for children and adults to sing and learn about some of the wonders of life on this planet.

Shining a spotlight on wildlife conservation and climate awareness, this album and songbook (PDF download included) from APRA Award winner Claudia Robin Gunn, contains 25 original tunes. Celebrate our planet and a diverse range of the fascinating creatures who inhabit the trees, the plains, the mountains and the rivers, the coastlines and even the ice floes alongside us humans.

The songbook includes science notes and activity ideas for children to explore written by Dr Melissa R. Gunn and is illustrated by Elise De Silva. 

The biodiversity crisis is referenced in the heartfelt song Rainbow World, and the tragedy of extinctions is catalogued in the song Feathers and Bones (Extinction Elegy). This tune offers an emotive call to remember creatures long disappeared from her homeland of Aotearoa New Zealand - hula, moa, Haast's eagle and the greyling. 

Fellow land of the long white cloud inhabitants that feature in other songs include the myriad critters of 'Don't be Scared of Bugs', little blue penguins (kororā) in The Little Blue Sushi Shop Penguins (another true story), disco number Tara Tuatara and the delights of kiwi hatchlings in Animal Families.
 
The incredible monotremes of Australia get a shout out in the gentle and reassuring collab with Angie Who 'Echidna Lullaby', and in 'We Are The Platypus' which pays tribute to this enigmatic being with a to the front rock number.

Have a boogie with zoo animals, with actions in te reo Māori,  in the Zoo Hullabaloo featuring Loopy Tunes Preschool Music and send a love letter to your best friend in Lovebirds Love featuring Itty Bitty Beats.

Claudia and Melissa's mother Deni Gunn lends clear and resonant harmonies to the fun and quirky songs Loopy the Inchworm and Roly Poly Polar Bear. 

Created with funding from Creative New Zealand, this is part two of a two album project following on from Sing For The Sea - Little Wild Ocean Friends. All tracks have been produced by Tom Fox at The Sound Room.

Songwriter/Performer: Claudia Robin Gunn 
Featuring guest vocalists Deni Gunn, Itty Bitty Beats (Jenny and Lucy), Angie Who and Loopy Tunes Preschool Music (Siu and Leah) 
Producer: Tom Fox at The Sound Room 
All Instrumentation: Tom Fox 
Mastering: Mike Bloemendal 
Illustrator: Elise De Silva 
Graphic Design: Claudia Robin Gunn 
Science Communicator: Melissa R Gunn 
Funded by Creative New Zealand

Sing For The Earth - Little Wild Animals

Songs for littles with big lights to shine. Introducing 'Firefly' - 11 sparkling and optimistic songs for little wild kids everywhere, featuring Dean Jones on harmonies and instruments throughout plus Suzi Shelton and Little Miss Ann on the track 'Colours'. Produced and engineered by Dean Jones at No Parking Studios, and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music.
FYC - Best Children's Album
Gratefully created with support from NZ On Air.

Firefly

Kids In Autumn

Kids In Autumn (Acoustic)

For all of us who have ever wished an old tree could tell us their story; the vast, wide girthed, towering, reaching, encompassing, dizzying ones that we might just be lucky enough to encounter at the corner of our street, in the park or reserve, on a hillside by the sea, or deep in the bush where few folks tread. Every tree has a tale to tell, if only we stop and listen.
Children have a deep connection with the trees of their childhood; they know the nooks that are good for sitting, or the footholds for climbing, or the perfect shade for resting in. This song is a wish for those trees’ protection, both singly and in their multitudes, for our very existence may just depend on them.

Grandfather Tree

Where did this song come from? Well, we had a DIY bird mobile that came with all the cut out wooden bird shapes, and a cross hanger and coloured embroidery thread to connect it all up. The idea was to paint and decorate each bird yourself.
Little miss 4 years old had a story in her head for how this should proceed - she decided that each bird was a different kind of sky - so we had to paint a starry night sky, a cloudy sky, a blue sky, a rainbow sky, a thundery sky, a sunset sky and a raining sky.
This song was my diary entry from that day’s crafting: the skybirds that bring the rainbows..

The Skybirds

Words have weight, and power and even somewhat magical abilities. When we use the kind ones, the helpful words, the honest and supporting phrases, we can build ourselves and others up. Words can also hurt us, and stay in our head long after the speaker has forgotten them.
This song uses gentle metaphors marrying kind words and phrases with different kinds of weather because maybe the feeling of words is just as important as their dictionary meanings. Kind words can feel like sunshine after a storm - let's share them around as much as we can and use our power for good.

Kind Words

We can’t see the wind, only how it ruffles the world as it passes by - and it’s always been a favourite subject of poets and songwriters, and the stuff of legend around the world.
This wind song tumbled into my head one day after a particularly gusty morning breeze had blown over all the dustbins throughout the neighbourhood again. The tune and first lines of the song started looping in my head and as I went about my day the rest of the verses and lyrics drifted into place.
There is a fascinating relationship between wind, breath, and instruments that use the movement of air. Blowing across the mouth of a bottle, the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, how a human body makes its voice by air passing across our vocal chords - there are so many ways we can experiment with the breath of life, and the science of sound.

The Wind

“Where do we go in our imaginations? In a treehouse, we can be anywhere at all. Our family spent more than a year house hunting for our family home, many years ago now. Our 2 year old son would get very grumpy with all the trudging through open homes, and by the time we found it and moved in baby number two was about to land on the scene too. We promised him that if we could find the right house, the first thing we would do was build him a treehouse.
We built it in a giant monkey apple tree at the bottom of our garden, just before the hill dips down to a creek that runs behind all the houses out to the bay below. 11 years on, it’s been the scene of many adventures as our kids grew up, and in lockdown it became my treehouse where I took refuge and played music when the teenagers made too much noise in the house. I love the sound of the cicadas out there in summer, and the Tui in spring and even the dripping rain in wintertime has its own odd charm!

Treehouse

The system of our bodies is a bit like an orchestra being kept in time by some divine inner rhythm. When we tune into the pattern made by our beating hearts, our breaths, our footsteps and the purposeful music we can make with our hands as we clap in time, we are better able to appreciate the rhythms of nature and the world around us too.
The way our wake and sleep cycles connects in with the days and seasons is called our circadian rhythm, or our body clock.
A fun activity to do with this song is for kids to try out different ways of creating body percussion, and actions reflecting the patterns in the song. How would we represent the beat of a heart? The flash of neurons? The pulsing of blood in our veins? Like the song lyrics say: feet can stamp, fingers click and hands clap or simply hold our hands to our chest and feel and listen to the beat of our own hearts.

Heart Beats

A song about resilience for all the budding meteorologists and climate scientists. In New Zealand we are surrounded by ocean, so change is the one thing we’re certain of when it comes to the weather. In our climate, kids often need both a raincoat and sunhat on the same day.
This song marvels at the experience of the changing weather and also sends a message that no matter what kind of weather is on the way, it always helps to be prepared.
Climate change is expected to bring lots more extreme weather events now and in future, so understanding how weather forms and how we predict, map and model weather systems is, now more than ever, an essential element in learning journeys.
Kids could do movements with this song to act out the shining, soaring sun with arms outstretched like an airplane, the sprinkling rain with wiggly fingers, or the thundering sky with drumming feet on the ground.

The Weather Report

Where do rainbows come from? And where do they go? The science of light spectrums is so fascinating - and so is hearing little kids theories of what creates rainbows. Their imaginations are endless...
So this is a slightly silly song about a lost and found rainbow in the hope that it may bring lots of rainbow joy to singing sessions and music times, and add another tune to the chorus of gorgeous inspiring rainbow songs.
Our daughter has always been the kind of soul who loves to line up the pens and books in rainbow order so ‘Lucky Rainbow’ is a celebration of many fun art and crafting days with her too.

Lucky Rainbow

Whether we prefer the beach, the mountains, the forest, the park or our garden at home - nature is the ultimate happy place, and time spent in green and in blue spaces is shown to reduce stress and enhance our mental health and resilience.
Whether it’s the blue skies and sunshine of summer, or the breezes of spring or the winds of winter, anytime is the perfect time for spending more time in nature. We can switch on all our senses and really be in the moment. This song provides a gentle reminder about sun safety too - sunhats are always mandatory as we can get sunburnt even on cloudy days.

Happy Place

Camping holidays are so much fun. Bucket baths, driftwood forts, hammocks in trees, kayaking, stargazing, toasting marshmallows, homemade bread on the fire – all the memorable stuff that goes along with a week in the woods, by the coast or at the lake.

I nearly called this song ‘Yes Moments’ for the way when families are on holiday there seems to be lots more time for yes's to kids ideas, and lots less 'next times', 'maybe laters' or 'one days'.

We made a list of yes moments for other times when we are not lucky enough to be away camping. As it turned out, having to stay home to stay safe through Covid 19 led to plenty of chances to try out and expand this list.

What does your yes moments wish list look like?

Camping Holiday

Beach life! Summertime is such a fun time for chasing the sunshine, and also seeking a spot in the shade too. The joy and impatience of preparing for a day at the beach is infused through this song, with a little bit of a reminder of what we need to do, and wear and notice to stay safe. Our beaches can have dangerous waves, so respecting the surf report and the lifeguards who help us stay safe at the beach is a key message woven into this song.
There’s also a little nod to the universal parent experience of how long it can take to simply leave the house, when everyone says they’re ready, but sunscreen is still in the bottle, hats are on the hook and towels are rolled up in the cupboard!

Summertime and Sunshine

Summertime And Sunshine

This is a memory song, to help us listen and remember the Māori names for a forest full of NZ plants and trees. My friend Lucy Hiku who lives in Christchurch joins me on this song both on writing and vocals - both our families love to go walking in the ngahere (the bush).
When we get to know the names and shapes of the different leaves, it’s easier to identify these unique plants out in the world with our friends and family. It’s a fun soundtrack for a gentle trees game - kids can play at being big trees and small shrubs, using props like homemade felt leaf shapes or hand coloured paper leaves.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of NZ native plants - just as many as we could include in this rhythm and rhyme, sort of alphabetically. As an activity kids could also think about some more plant and tree names and have a go adding new verses to this song.

Listen to the Leaves - Whakarongo ki ngā Rau

Listen To The Leaves - Whakarongo Ki Ngā Rau

The name umbrella comes from the Italian for ‘umbra’ (shadow). Adding ‘elle’ to the end makes it literally mean ‘little shadow’, which is sort of what it does to protect us isn’t it? The first umbrellas sheltered humans from the sun, not the rain and were known as far back as Ancient Egypt, over 3500 years ago. The first waterproof umbrellas were developed in China in the 11th century BC then their popularity spread to Ancient Greece and Rome and beyond.
The colourful parade of umbrellas on busy rainy days is how this song took its cue. I wrote Dear Umbrella inspired by the idea of umbrellas having feelings, and that they might enjoy the rainy day processions to and from school with the kids, but also feel left out if forgotten or neglected in the coat cupboard rather than brought along on adventures, just in case!

Dear Umbrella

When we sing in choirs or small groups we get the sensation of being immersed in sound in all directions, and the resonance of voices harmonising above or below our own part is warm and enveloping and empowering.
Here is a song that is well suited for simple parts singing in families, classrooms and choirs.
Originally written with a ukulele backing, this can be performed both acapella (with no instruments), or with accompaniment. It describes some vivid autumn moments along with their textures, feelings and colours, to give listeners and singers the sound and images of sanctuary and space that crisp autumn evenings can bring.

Kids in Autumn (Acapella)

Kids In Autumn (Acapella)

Seasons are created by the movement and turning of our planet through space as it rotates on its axis, and orbits the sun.
If we could take a stroll through the seasons, how would that feel, smell, sound and taste like? Celebrating the senses through the different seasons of the year, this song is my way of inviting my friends to bounce through spring, skip through summertime, drift through fall and slide into wintertime.
This song can be a prompt for an seasonal nature foraging activity - selecting natural items like fallen leaves, seeds, twigs and blossoms for each season where we live and through the year adding new objects as the seasons change, to form an evolving seasonal collage or mini collection.

Walking Through The Seasons

This is a wake up and say hello to the day kind of song about life and hope and taking chances - a little musical potion that can be sung out loud in the middle of the kitchen at breakfast time, or played loud on cloudy days to help remind us all of the potential for goodness in every moment.
Putting these words into the air felt to me like casting a spell to summon strength and lightness to dance with the rollercoaster of life.
Recorded in memory of songwriter Arthur Baysting - a truly good human who made the most of each day and scripted his own story full of family, friends and song.

Every Day Is A Dance

What’s not to love about the rain? Add a good raincoat, a sturdy brolly, decent gumboots and no puddle is too large. There are just some kinds of rainfall that simply invite us to step out and revel in the water that falls from the sky.
There is even a name for the lovely smell of rain on very dry ground - it’s called petrichor, describing a chemical called Geosmin that is emitted by microbes in the soil.
Before I learned to love the rain though, I once got stranded in a terrible downpour while waiting for a bus in another country. There was no bus shelter, I didn’t have a phone and it was just me and the rain, for over an hour.
At first the waiting wasn’t bad, the skies were clear and it was a quiet green walled neighbourhood with ornate gates and mute letterboxes... But the moments ticked on and on, and it started to rain in big thick pelting droplets. After feeling sorry myself for a little, I started singing to the raindrops, trying to ignore the drips as they seeped through my denim jacket. I sung my way through all the rain songs I could think of before a bus finally pulled up to the rescue. Raindrops are a very tolerant audience, and they don’t judge your timing or delivery, so it was an experience that I’ve never forgotten.

I Love The Rain

The humble apple; it features in folklore, myth, nursery rhymes and fairy tales. From simple good luck token to magical golden agent of change and preserver of immortality, apples and the trees that bear them take us back in time in story and song.
This apple tree song counts through the leaves that sprout from a tiny apple seed ‘til it grows into a fully grown apple tree. The song is a celebration of nature, time, growing up and the strength in family trees.
What stories will your apple tree sing to you?

Apple Tree

Discover the stars from the safety of Planet Earth. Little Wild Universe is an out of this world album to inspire families who love to dream big.

Family music for beautiful minds, this is a musical journey that takes curious listeners on a joyful and uplifting rocket ride through the solar system.

Honouring kids' evergreen curiosity about all things stars and space, they can learn the names of planets in our solar system, be introduced to the small dwarf planet wth the big heart, the mighty solar powered spacecraft orbiting Jupiter and most importantly, be encouraged to ask big questions about what lies beyond (and how we can protect) our tiny blue dot.

This 15 song album of original songs is produced by Tom Fox at The Sound Room, with funding from NZ On Air Music through the "New Music Kids' fund, with grateful thanks.

Little Wild Universe

Dark Skies

Dark Skies (Bonus track)

My Name is Juno Hello Jupiter

My Name Is Juno Hello Jupiter

Pluto We Heart You

Don't forget to look up! Where are all the little songbirds? 

Little NZ Birds is an NZ take on the classic traditional circle song 'Little Bird' featuring 5 small NZ manu (birds) - Toutouwai (NZ Robin), Miromiro (Tomtit), Kakaruia (Black Robin), Pōpokatea (Whitehead) and Mōhua (Yellowhead). 

In New Zealand, as an island far from the world's continents, we have an astounding variety of birdlife, but they are threatened by predators, habitat loss and climate change so conservation organisations that work to protect them need our support. 
This song was inspired by the Bird of the Year competition that Forest and Bird runs annually to raise awareness and support for our native bird life. 
There are lots of ways families can help protect native birdlife, wherever we are in the world - by keeping our cats in at night time, by setting traps and helping support forest regeneration projects. Also by planting trees ourselves where possible. 
It's important in places where native birds are starting to return to inhabited areas to plant bird friendly plants in our gardens, and water especially in dry areas, but not to feed the birds - they are better off finding their own safe food sources.

Little NZ Birds - Lyrics

Toutouwai please fly through my garden
Toutouwai please fly through my garden
Toutouwai please fly through my garden
Sing your song this morning

Miromiro miromiro fly through my garden
Miromiro miromiro fly through my garden
Miromiro miromiro fly through my garden
Sing your song this morning

Come and find some nectar sweet 
Or tasty worms and bugs to eat  
Sing your song this morning

Kakaruia please fly through my garden
Kakaruia please fly through my garden
Kakaruia please fly through my garden
Sing your song this morning 

Come and find some nectar sweet 
Or tasty worms and bugs to eat  
Sing your song this morning

Pōpokatea fly through my garden
Pōpokatea fly through my garden
Pōpokatea fly through my garden
Sing your song this morning

Come and find some nectar sweet 
Or tasty worms and bugs to eat  
Sing your song this morning

Mōhua Mōhua fly through my garden
Mōhua Mōhua fly through my garden
Mōhua Mōhua fly through my garden
Sing your song this morning

Manu manu fly through my garden
Manu manu fly through my garden
Manu manu fly through my garden
Sing your song this morning

Come and find some nectar sweet 
Or tasty worms and bugs to eat  
Sing your song this morning

Sing your song this morning

Little Birds EP

Little NZ Birds

Round Robin

Rainbow Fish

It's the best kind of vitamins!

Lyrics:

I need vitamin sea
I need sand underneath my toes
I need vitamin sea, I need rolling waves
I need tides that come and go
Let me jump in the ocean and I’m home

You know I always keep my wetsuit on
So I can swim all day long
And I always got my snorkel and mask
So I can dive in fast

I need vitamin sea, I need rolling waves
I need sand underneath my toes
Gimme salt water and I’m home
I need vitamin sea, I need rolling waves
I need tides that come and go
Let me jump in the ocean and I’m home
I’m home

I always pack my swimming togs and towel
Ready for a manu and a splash down
And I always keep my surfboard by my side
For when the waves are just right

I need vitamin sea, I need rolling waves
I need sand underneath my toes
Gimme salt water and I’m home
I need vitamin sea, I need rolling waves
I need tides that come and go
Let me jump in the ocean and I’m home
I’m home

It’s the best kind of vitamins
It don’t come in a packet or a jar
So I’m taking my vitamins
Every time I feel that water splash

I need vitamin sea, I need rolling waves
I need sand underneath my toes
Gimme salt water and I’m home
I need vitamin sea, I need rolling waves
I need tides that come and go
Let me jump in the ocean and I’m home

I need vitamin sea
I need vitamin sea
I need vitamin sea
I need vitamin sea

Sing for the Sea - Little Wild Ocean Friends

Vitamin Sea

Sing a ferry song and visit the archipelago on our doorstep - the Hauraki Gulf / Tikapa Moana

Lyrics:

All aboard, all the family on the ferry
Setting out to the archipelago on our doorstep
Have you ever been there yet?
We can take a picture, we can read the paper
All the little kids sing
Let’s go buccaneers, we’re buccaneers

All aboard, captain and the crew
Setting out into the big wide ocean blue
It’s waiting for me and you

We’re gonna find an island
We’re gonna run on a beach
Gonna spot some fascinating creatures
Gonna swim in the sea

Did you see a splash, maybe it’s a dolphin
All the little kids sing
Nice to meet ya, nice to meet ya

It’s a ferry song, it won’t be very long
Until the salt spray blows our blues away

All aboard, all the family on the ferry
Setting out to a treasure island out in the harbour
Just a little bit further 

It’s a ferry song, it won’t be very long
Until the salt spray blows our blues away
It’s a ferry song, it won’t be very long
Until the salt spray blows our blues away

We’re gonna find an island
We’re gonna run on a beach
Gonna spot some fascinating creatures
Gonna swim in the sea

All aboard 
All aboard 
All aboard 
All aboard

Ferry Song

Ray the eagle ray wants to escape the chasing orca and ends up meeting some kids in the shallows - a guitar driven anthem ensues.

Ray, Ray, eagle ray
Ray, Ray, eagle ray

First we saw gannets dive
Then we saw orca
Then we got stuck on the rocks
And Mama came saved us
Then we saw an eagle ray 
Swim right in the bay
As we splashed in the evening waves 
At Sandy Bay

It glided in shallows and hid in the shadows
It surfed through the breakers
Under the blue sky avoiding the orca

So we gave it space 
And we watched it play
None of us had ever seen 
An eagle ray

Ray, Ray, eagle ray
Ray, Ray, eagle ray

It glided in shallows and hid in the shadows
It surfed through the breakers
Under the blue sky, no sign of the orca

Then the eagle ray
Flipped its wing and waved
Now the coast was clear
Hope to see ya again round here

Wave wave for the eagle ray
Wave wave for the eagle ray

Ray, Ray, eagle ray
Ray, Ray, eagle ray

Eagle Ray

Dive in deep to meet some curious symbiosis at work in the garden that doesn't need watering - the coral reef

Lyrics:

There is a garden
That doesn’t need watering
Cos it’s under the sea
Down where the clownfish 
Hide in their anemones 
In the coral reef

Reef gardens grow
Zooxanthellae they glow
It forms a place 
For thousands upon thousand
Lifeforms to call home

Corals are animals not plants 
Together in a coral colony
By the light of the full moon 
Coral polyps spawn in synchrony
Corals can also clone themselves in buds
To start new colonies

Reef gardens grow
Zooxanthellae they glow
It forms a place 
For thousands upon thousand
Lifeforms to call home
Coral reefs take thousands 
And thousands of years to form
So coral gardeners around the world
Are diving and seeding the nurseries
To keep corals living on

So here is the garden 
That doesn’t need watering
Cos it’s under the sea
It only takes sunlight
Time and community 
To build a coral reef
For a coral reef

Reef gardens grow
Zooxanthellae they glow
It forms a place 
For thousands upon thousand 
Lifeforms to call home
Coral reefs take thousands 
And thousands of years to form
So coral gardeners around the world 
Are diving and planting and helping
To keep corals living on

Coral Reef

The new album and songbook from Claudia Robin Gunn.

Lyrics:

Baby butterfly bobtail squid 
Got an idea and she ran with it
Made a big plan and she conquered it 
That baby butterfly bobtail squid

Baby butterfly bobtail squid 
Made a little scheme and she worked for it 
Had a big dream and she flew with it
That baby butterfly bobtail squid

Baby butterfly bobtail squid 
Had a bunch of friends in symbiosis
Turning on the light or dimming it down
Everywhere she roam in the deep dark down

She shines 
Even where the sun and moon don’t show
She lights her own way 
Sparkling her own luminous glow 

That baby butterfly bobtail squid
If she gets in trouble she can deal with it
Luminescent power she’s down with it
Baby butterfly bobtail squid

Baby butterfly bobtail squid
You can be a part of the protectors 
You can make a plan how to care for the ocean 
With the baby butterfly bobtail squid

She shines 
(do do do do do, do do do do do, do do do do do)
She lights her way 
(do do do do do, do do do do do, do do do do do do)
Where the sun and moon don’t show 
(do do do do do, do do do do do, do do do do do)
Sparkling her own 
(do do do do do, do do do do do) 
Luminous glow  

Baby butterfly bobtail squid
Now you know the name you can roll with it
Cephalopods of the deep Pacific
In the Indian ocean and wide Atlantic

Baby butterfly bobtail squid
Baby butterfly bobtail squid 
Baby butterfly bobtail squid
Baby butterfly bobtail squid

Baby Butterfly Bobtail Squid

Play peek a boo with a baby blue whale calf and its mama.

Lyrics:

Baby baby blue
Baby baby blue whale
Baby baby blue, baby baby blue
Baby baby blue whale
Baby baby blue, baby where are you?
Baby baby blue whale

Show me show me 
With a flip flop flip of your tail
Baby blue whale
Tell me, call to me 
With a sing song sing of your song
Baby blue don’t be long

Mama Mama blue, Mama I’m here too
Mama Mama blue whale
Mama Mama blue, Mama I love you
Mama, Mama blue whale

Mama Mama blue
Where oh where are you?
Mama Mama blue whale
Tell me, call to me 
With a sing song sing of your song
Mama blue don’t be long

Baby baby blue, baby baby blue
Mama Mama blue, Mama Mama blue
Baby baby blue, baby baby blue
Mama Mama blue whale

Baby Blue Whale

Dance with zoo animals in this fun bilingual action song featuring guest stars Loopy Tunes Preschool Music  (Thank you Siu and Leah!)

Backstory:
Getting to go and play in the band rotunda and also the domes at Auckland Zoo several years in a row pre-pandemic inspired the writing of this song - I needed something new to sing and most importantly dance to with the kids that was active, as noisy as we wanted and related to some of the animals they would see on their visit. My lovely friends in Loopy Tunes helped me refine the te reo in this song, and we trade lead vocals through the verses and harmonies through the choruses. Hope you have fun with this tune!

Lyrics:
It’s the zoo hullaballoo
Come and sing with us too

Waiata, pakipaki, takahia, tārere
Hurihuri,  kanikani 
All together, tātou katoa
   
Waiata, can you sing too?  
Come and do the zoo hullabaloo
Waiata, waiata,  sing like a korimako, waiata
Sing sing sing sing sing sing waiata 

Pakipaki,  can you clap too? 
Come and do the zoo hullabaloo
Pakipaki, pakipaki, clap like an otter, pakipaki     
Clap clap clap clap clap clap pakipaki	

Takahia can you stomp too? 
Come and do the zoo hullaballoo
Takahia, takahia, stomp like an elephant, takahia
Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp takahia 

Waiata, pakipaki, takahia, tārere
Hurihuri,  kanikani 
All together, tātou katoa

Tārere can you swing too
Come and do the zoo hullaballoo
Tārere, tārere, swing like orangutans, tārere
Swing swing swing swing swing swing tārere

Hurihuri can you twirl too?
Come and do the zoo hullaballoo
Hurihuri, hurihuri, twirl like a fur seal, hurihuri 
Twirl twirl twirl twirl twirl twirl hurihuri

Kanikani, can you dance too?
Come and do the zoo hullaballoo
Kanikani, kanikani dance like a cockatoo. kanikani
Dance dance dance dance dance dance kanikani

Waiata, pakipaki, takahia, tārere
Hurihuri,  kanikani 
All together, tātou katoa

Waiata, pakipaki, takahia, tārere
Hurihuri,  kanikani 
All together, tātou katoa
All together, tātou katoa

Oooh can you do the zoo
Can you do the zoo
Can you do the zoo 
Can you do the zoo hullaballoo?

Zoo Hullabaloo

The song is a shout out to the important role that Zoos play in species conservation.

Backstory
Inspired by visits to our own Auckland Zoo across the years and all the zoo babies in that time, growing up to be mummies and daddies themselves in all kinds of animal families. With a nod to the fun of collective nouns, and the delightful antics of just a few of the fun and cute little baby animals we have been lucky to meet. 

Lyrics:
We got animal families 
In 2 by 2 and 3 by 3 
There’s zoo babies everywhere
Come on in and show you care 

Our little tribe of kiwi’s growing
Here at our city zoo
Recently the family’s been expanding                                     
Darling little featherlings stretching out 
On their first morning

Oh won’t you come and see
Welcome to the family
Our little kiwi kinderling
Longest beak and tiny wings
Join the tribe of kiwilings

Our flamingos are flamboyant
Here at our city zoo
Don’t you know our family’s been expanding
Fluffy gray flamingolings
Cute as a button little things
Hanging out and having fun

Oh won’t you come and see?
And welcome to the family
Our pink flamingo finery
A regiment of plumery
Rosy tinted colony

There is a romp of playful otter
Here at our city zoo
Recently our family’s been expanding
So come and see the otterlings 
and welcome to the family
Little otters so divine
It’s nearly swimming time

(Ooh ee)
Welcome to the family 

All the zoos across the world 
Are joining up to help preserve 
The families and habitats 
Of creatures big and small

And our spider monkey troop is growing
Here at our city zoo
Recently the family’s been expanding
Little spider monkeys
Clinging on to dad and mummy
Flying high from tree to tree
It must be lovely

(Ooh ee)
Welcome to the family
Little spider monkey babes
Curiouser everyday 
Monkey business all the way

Stripy zebra dazzling, giraffes a towering  
A lion’s pride, a keeper’s smile 
Kea conspiracy, kororā chattering 
Elephants a memory, red panda cuddling 
Merry bound of wallaby, tiger cubs a tumbling
Tortoise Galapagos, so many families

(Ooh ee)
Welcome to the family
(Ooh ee)
Welcome to the family

Animal Families

Backstory:
Written for my little wild kid when he was small and lived day and night in various halloween costumes year round. One of the favourites was a wild thing suit made actually by my sister Pipi, which was reluctantly passed on to a younger family member when he grew out of it. Growing up is tough! This song tells the tale of a lucky kids with a crafty daddy lion who makes their book character day costume - a lion suit! Celebrating the kids who LIVE for dress ups and of course playing lion families with their tribe - homemade is the best!

Lyrics:
I’m wearing my lion suit 
For book character day 
I’m going as the lion in the meadow
Daddy made the costume
Just yesterday

He stitched the ears
He made the tail it’s fluffy
Like a lion’s tale should be
And I’m proud like a lion 
Walking up to school 
For book character day
  
And I’m gonna
Play like a lion, run like a lion
Be brave like a lion can be 
And I’m gonna
Roar like a lion, be strong like a lion
Do you wanna play lions with me? 

Other kids have a costume from the store
Some of them think mine’s funny
But mine was made with love
So I don’t mind if it’s a little crinkly

Did you know mama lions do the hunting?
Daddy lions do the big roar
Lion cubs do the tumbling 
Let’s play like a lion some more

We can play like a lion, run like a lion
Be brave like lions can be 
We can roar like a lion be strong like a lion
Be brave like a lion with me 

When I get home I ain’t taking it off
I’m gonna be a lion cub again tomorrow
Cos I had fun like a lion
Playing like a lion
Like the lion in the meadow

Now I’m gonna sleep like a lion
Snuggle like a lion 
Dream like a lion dream
And when I wake up 
I’m gonna stretch like a lion
Will you be a lion with me? 

Play like a lion, brave like a lion
Daddy you’re my favourite lion

Brave Like A Lion

Backstory:
I started writing a simple and playful rainforest tune about the songs of tropical birds using an echo pattern, but then I happened to read more about the Bellevista Cloud Forest in Equador because of a project my kids were doing in Geography. And I put that song back into the drafts folder and this song emerged, imagining a gentle adventure through this global important ecosystem, with a call for protection and conservation as I learned more about the biodiversity in this region.

Lyrics:

In the cloud forest canopy
The songbirds call
All the hummingbirds and toucans
And umbrella birds and more
If you walk down below
Among the orchid blooms 
Don’t forget to look up and see 
The colours up there too 

Hear the cloud forest chorus 
The cloud forest song    
Hear the hummingbirds and toucans 
And umbrella birds and more 

In the cloud forest you might see 
The spectacled bear 
Yellow tailed woolly monkey 
Or the mountain tapir
If you walk down below 
Be sure to look around
In the cloud forest magic 
May always be raining down   

Hear the cloud forest chorus 
It’s a cloud forest song    
Hear the hummingbirds and toucans 
And umbrella birds and more 
It’s a cloud forest chorus 
Of biodiversity
If we wanna hear the chorus
We must save the trees 

There are many kinds of wildlife
In the cloud forest shade  
Like the rain frog, tortoise beetle
And the giant snail  

It’s a cloud forest chorus 
A cloud forest song  
Let the hummingbirds and toucans 
And umbrella birds live long
It’s a cloud forest chorus 
Of biodiversity  
If we wanna hear the chorus
We must save the trees

Cloudforest Chorus

Backstory:
We got to learn about the amazing FBI (fungus, bacteria and insects) during one of the kids' school visits to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, and I am sure I took more notes than even the teachers did! I came away from that parent helping trip with this song, and another about the 'royal soil' that I also promise to share with you all soon. Aotearoa have an incredible variety of insects, amphibians, arachnids and invertebrates and I am proud to say I have overcome my own childhood squeamishness to appreciate the diversity and uniqueness of these incredible beings. I literally can't even squash a spider - they get trapped by a piece of cardboard and a glass and taken outside... lucky we don't of course have the venomous kind like in other countries otherwise perhaps I'd have a different view!

Lyrics:

I’m a busy honeybee
I’m a daring dragonfly
I’m an Archeys frog
I’m a katipo hiding in the driftwood
I’m a happy huhu grub
I’m a little blue ladybug
I’m a red admiral butterfly

Don’t be scared of bugs

Insects, amphibians, arachnids and invertebrates
Bugs are many; bugs are very interesting and numerous 

Don’t be scared of bugs

I’m a silky spinning spider
I’m a shy and secret slater
I’m a pink and wriggly earthworm
Keeping all the soil turned
I’m a copper caterpillar
I’m a giant wētāpunga
I’m a powelliphanta snail

Don’t be scared of bugs

Insects, amphibians, arachnids and invertebrates
Bugs are many; bugs are varied, interesting and numerous 
Insects, amphibians, arachnids and invertebrates
Bugs are many; bugs are very interesting and numerous 

Don’t be scared of bugs
Don’t call us names or make a nasty fuss
We’re just little bugs in a big big world 
Come on now

Insects, amphibians, arachnids and invertebrates
Bugs are many; bugs are very interesting and numerous 
Insects, amphibians, arachnids and invertebrates
We are many, we are varied, interesting and numerous
Don’t be scared of bugs

I’m a three eyed tuatara  
I’m a stick insect in the Manuka
I’m a bright green beautiful puriri moth  
Flying aloft for just one night

I’m a glow worm shining by the river 
(don’t be scared of bugs)
I’m a cicada in the summer 
(don’t be scared of bugs)
I’m a giant centipede 
(don’t be scared of bugs)
Hiding in the leaves 

Da da da  (Don’t be scared of bugs)
Da da da  (Don’t be scared of bugs)
Da da da da da da da 
Da da da da da

Just a little bug!
Don’t be scared of bugs

Don't Be Scared Of Bugs

If we are all kind to the earth, imagine what better kind of world it would be?

Backstory:
At zoo's around the world they often do these gorgeous fruit or vegetable cakes for the animals on their birthday, and I was trying to imagine what would be the kindest gift we could give the earth on its birthday?

Lyrics;
If I had 100 hearts 
I would give em all away
To make the world a kinder place
Even better than it is today

If I had 100 dollar bills
I would make a great big cake  
Made of every kind of food my friends would like    
And share it with all earthkind 

For we all have countless gifts that we can give
And we can make a difference 
Even if we’re still just little kids 
For we all have limitless love and courage and hope
When we find it, hold strong
For this is how we roll

Count it up for all earthkind
You know the count goes on and on  
Count it up were counting on      
Infinity goes on and on

If I had 100 stars in my hands 
I would throw them right back to the sky 
I’d never let the Milky Way go dark 
We should all share the light 

If I had 100 years 
I would try to make the most of 
Every single second 
Cos no one knows just how much they’re given 

For we all have countless gifts that we can give
And we can make a difference
Even if we’re still kids 
For we all have boundless love and courage and hope
When we find it, hold strong
For this is how we roll

Count it up for all earthkind
You know the count goes on and on 
Count it up we’re counting on
Infinity goes on 

Count it up for all earthkind
And the count goes on and on
Count it up we’re counting on
Infinity goes on and on and on and on and on 

Be kind for all earthkind

Earth Kind

Little wild songs for kids with big lights to shine. The new album from Claudia Robin Gunn, produced by Dean Jones.

Scooter

Opposite Miracles

Focus On The Good

Lettuce Dance

Superheroes

Winning

Hope Is A Verb

Only One You

Colours

Little By Little

Claudia Robin Gunn is a songwriter in a little suburb of Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Her songs brings a touch of starry eyed wonder to kids music time with warm, indie-folk melodies and harmonies that capture the golden essence of childhood. 

This original kindie catalogue of 6 albums and many more singles ranges from sweet lullabies to jangly circle time songs. loved and trusted by smart parents and bright eyed kids alike, like a warm hug in sound that sets imaginations free. 

She releases her kindie music on indie label Little Wild Music and also collaborates on beautiful alternative dance music for grown ups with her band Substax 
https://on.soundcloud.com/5h5Xg7sNLQU1waFr8.

Claudia Robin Gunn

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