Music
Noodle Loaf
Kids sing, clap rhythms and dance along with short, playful music episodes led by educator Dan Saks.
Noodle Loaf is an interactive music podcast created by Dan Saks, a musician, early childhood music educator and children’s book author. Episodes on Apple Podcasts tend to run 10 to 20 minutes, and they are clearly meant for joining in rather than sitting still. Kids echo back silly songs, clap and stomp rhythm patterns, play call-and-response games and move around the room. Underneath the fun, real musical ideas turn up: beat, tempo, loud and soft, and how a song is put together. Guest musicians have dropped in over the years, Ziggy Marley among them. The archive holds years of episodes, which seems like plenty for a rainy morning or a long drive. Preschoolers through early elementary kids look like the core audience; older children might find the songs a little young, though they may still enjoy leading a younger sibling.
- Ages
- Preschoolers, kindergartners and early elementary kids
- Works on
- iPhone and iPad app; Android app; Web browser
- Topics
- Music, Movement, Early learning
- Languages
- English
- Listed
- 2026-10-18
What kids do
- Echo back a call-and-response song
- Clap and stomp a rhythm pattern
- Dance around the room to the music
- Play a listening game
Who it suits
Preschoolers, kindergartners and early elementary kids.
Notes for parents
Created by music educator Dan Saks. Nothing on it involves reading, so even toddlers seem able to join in once the music starts.
What you need
- A podcast app or web browser
More Music
- musictheory.net: Short lessons and drills on reading notes, rhythm, scales and chords.
- Chrome Music Lab: A collection of browser experiments for playing with sound, pattern and rhythm.
- Ableton Learning Music: Browser lessons from Ableton on how beats, basslines, chords and melodies fit together.
- Ableton Learning Synths: Interactive lessons on how synthesizers shape sound, with controls kids drag and then listen to.
- Incredibox: A music game in which kids drag sounds onto animated performers to build a mix.
- Blob Opera: Kids appear to conduct a quartet of singing blobs, dragging each one to shift its pitch and vowel.
- Piano Maestro: Kids play a real piano or keyboard while the iPad seems to listen in and light up the notes they hit.
- Classics for Kids: Kids hear composer stories on a weekly radio show, play note and rhythm games, and write little tunes of their own.