100+ Kid Friendly Songs You Won’t Hate (2021 Update)

Some of the kid-friendly songs out there were made to drive parents insane. This post has over 100 clean songs you won’t hate. We’ve compiled, sorted through, read lyrics and made a list of the best dance music for kids out there. These are even appropriate songs for school – nothing racy or inappropriate to have to worry about or censor. 

This post was originally posted May 3, 2017 and has since been updated. 

Growing up, my parents always played music. My dad was/is a big classic rock fan while my mom was more of a top 40’s kind of a person. Because of this, music became ingrained in me, as I’m sure it has in so many of you.

When my kids were born, I was so excited to share this part of my life with them. Sharing with them my favorite artists and songs felt so special. Except, the vast majority of the songs I adore are just not kid-friendly.

Today, I’m sharing 5 playlists that you can create from 5 different genres that are full of kid-friendly songs. I checked each song’s lyrics before adding them so you can listen without worrying about having to explain mature content to your kiddos or them going to preschool rapping about big booties or goodness knows what.

100+ Kid-Friendly Songs You Won’t Hate

**I’ve been asked a few times if these are appropriate songs for school.

Yes! These are all screened for lyrics and content. That being said, as with everything, I would look the lyrics up on a lyrics site or listen to them before playing theses songs for the classroom.

Everyone’s opinion on what would be appropriate songs for school differs.

Want to make some playlists?

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Kid Friendly Mainstream Rock Playlist

As a millennial who was a teen during the whole “emo” phase and grew up with a classic rock loving dad, alt rock is my favorite genre. If you want to help your kids hone their air guitar skills without the cursing, I’ve got you.

• Heat Waves – Glass Animas
• A-O-K – Tai Verdes (clean version)
• fake friend – nothing.nowhere
• Colors – Black Pumas
• All About You – the Knocks
• Is it True – Tame Impala
• Oh Yeah! – Green Day
• Level of Concern – 21 Pilots
• Bang! – AJR**
• OK OK – HOKO
• Upside Down – Mondo Cozmo
• No Roots – Alice Merton
• The Man – The Killers
• Feel It Still – Portugal, the Man
• Something to Believe In – Young the Giant 
• Girlfriend – Anderson East
• I Bet My Life – Imagine Dragons
• Trouble – Cage the Elephant **
• Ocean Avenue – Yellowcard
• The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
• Good Grief – Bastille
• Welcome to Your Life – Grouplove
• HandClap – Fitz and the Tantrums
• Take It All Back – Judah and the Lion
• You & I – Colony House
• Shake It Out – Florence + the Machine
• The Closest That I am to Living Life on the Edge – Valencia
• Cecilia and the Satellite – Andrew Macmahon and the Wilderness
• I Will Wait – Mumford and Sons
• Lonely Boy – The Black Keys
• Grand Theft Autumn – Fall Out Boy
• Roll Up – Fitz and the Tantrums

Kid Friendly Hip Hop and R&B Playlist

** Make sure you grab radio edits of these to be safe.

Not gonna lie – most of the rap/hip hop I listen to are NOT kid-friendly songs, so I struggled here. I think your safest bet is just listening to the radio edits if you really want to listen to it or go old school. Old school rap isn’t necessarily kid-friendly, (obviously, go edited versions) but it’s WAY less raunchy and inappropriate than what’s being made today. Here are some of my favorite kid friendly rap songs

• Outta Time – Bryson Tiller
• So Done – The Kid LAROI
• Buss It (Radio Edit) – Erica Banks
• Calling My Phone – Lil TJat (grab the radio edit, has n word in normal version)
• Streets – Doja Cat
• Toosie Slide – Drake (clean version)
• Death bed – powfu
• Take What You Want – Post Malone
• Old Town Road – Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus
• Butterfly Effect – Travis Scott
• These Days – Rudimental**
• Finesse – Bruno Mars (not the Cardi B. remix)
• God’s Plan – Drake
• Magic – B.O.B
• Hotline Bling – Drake **
• Hey Mama – Kanye West
• Now or Never – Kendrick Lamar
• All We Got – Chance the Rapper
• Crazy in Love – Beyonce + JayZ
• Pretty Girl Rock – Keri Hilson
• Happy – Pharrell Williams
• Dynamite – Taio Cruz
• Kick, Push – Lupe Fiasco
• Hold On, We’re Going Home – Drake
• Survivor – Destiny’s Child

Find my tips for finding clean rap music and a playlist of hip hop songs for kids here!

Kid Friendly Pop Playlist

Pop music can get a bad rap – the boy bands and the ear worms that never end can get annoying. But in general pop music can be super kid friendly and super fun to dance around the kitchen to. Here are my favorite kid friendly pop songs!

• Dynamite – BTS
• Prisoner – Miley Cyrus
• Deja Vu – Olivia Rodrigo
• Mad at Disney (radio edit) – selma ilese
• Cover Me in Sunshine – P!nk
• Watermelon Sugar – Harry Styles
• Intentions – Justin Bieber
• Daisies – Katy Perry
• Say So – Doja Cat (clean version)
• Rain on Me – Lady GaGa and Ariana Grande
• Adore You – Harry Styles
• Sunday best – Surfaces
• Break My Heart – Dua Lipa
• Look What You Made Me Do – Taylor Swift
• Havana – Camila Cabello
• Cheap Thrills – Sia
• What Do I Know? – Ed Sheeran
• No Excuses – Megan Trainor
• The Middle – Maren Morris
• How Long – Charlie Puth
• Sit Still Look Pretty – Daya
• Wake Me Up – Avicii
• Irreplaceable – Beyonce
• Can’t Stop the Feeling – Justin Timberlake
• I’m yours – Jason Mraz
• Count On Me – Bruno Mars
• Halo – Beyonce
• Firework – Katy Perry
• Hey, Soul Sister – Train
• Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
• Wrecking Ball – Miley Cyrus
• We Are Never Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift
• Who Says – Selena Gomez
• Love Yourself – Justin Bieber
• Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
• I Don’t Wanna Live Forever – Zayn

Looking for more? Try this post on dance music for kids or this one with clean upbeat songs. 

Kid Friendly Country Playlist:

I love jamming out to the country station, especially now that I have kids. It seems to me that country is the ‘safest’ option on today’s radio. Here are my favorite kid friendly country songs.

• I Called Mama – Tim McGraw
• Hard to Forget – Sam Hunt*
• Almost Maybes – Jordan Davis
• Happy Does – Kenny Chesney
• Forever After All – Luke Combs
• Chasing After Your – Ryan Hurd
• Long Live – Florida Georgia Line
• Next Girl – Carly Pearce
• Be a Light.- Thomas Rhett
• The Bones – Maren Morris
• I hope – Gabby Barrett
• Here and Now – Kenny Chesney
• Hard to Forget – Sam Hunt
• More than my Hometown – Morgan Wallen
• Meant to Be – BeBe Rexha ft. Florida Georgia Line
• Top Down – Brown & Gray
• Singles You Up – Jordan Davis
• Queens Don’t – Raelynn
• I Was Jack – Jake Owen
• Most People Are Good – Luke Brian
• Take Back Home Girl – Chris Lane
• Cry Pretty – Carrie Underwood
• Get Along – Kenny Chesney
• No Such Thing as a Broken Heart – Old Dominion**
• All Your Life – The Band Perry
• Raised On it – Sam Hunt
• Mama’s Broken Heart – Miranda Lambert
• A Woman Like You – Lee Brice
• Fast – Luke Bryan
• Wanna Be That Song – Brett Eldredge
• All-American Girl – Carrie Underwood
• Humble and Kind – Tim McGraw**
• Crazier – Taylor Swift
• Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not? – Thompson Square
• Kick the Dust Up – Luke Bryan *
• Chainsaw – The Band Perry
• Dibs – Kelsea Ballerini
• Knee Deep – Zac Brown Band
• Honey Bee  – Blake Shelton*
• Buy Me a Boat – Chris Janson
• Homegrown – Zac Brown Band*

Love country music? Check out my list of over 35 Country Songs for Kids here!

Kid Friendly Classic Rock Playlist

My dad is a huuuge classic rock fan and he definitely passed it on to me. Here is a list of the best kid friendly classic rock songs.

• You’re My Best Friend – Queen
• Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
• Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac
• Don’t Stop Believing – Journey
• Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty
• Come Sail Away – Styx
• Come Together – The Beatles ( find more Beatles Songs for Kids here!)
• Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf
• Up Around the Bend – Creedence Clearwater
• Dream On – Aerosmith
• I Wanna Hold Your Hand – The Beatles
• She’s Not There – the Zombies
• American Pie – Don McLean*
• Take It Easy – The Eagles**
• The Joker – Steve Miller Band **
• Another Brick in the Wall, Pt.2 – Pink Floyd **

Ready to rock more? Check out this post on the best rock and roll songs for kids. 

Notes about these kid-friendly songs: 

No song is perfect – some of the songs above are noted with **. Below you’ll find some of the lyrics that you might want to be prepared for.

• These Days – Rudimental** Cigarettes are mentioned once
• Hotline Bling – Drake ** mention of champagne. The whole song is about a booty call, but honestly it never says it right out so it will most likely go over kids heads.
• No Such Thing as a Broken Heart – Old Dominion** make sure you grab the radio version – it bleeps out ‘bulls***’. I included it because I seriously listen to this song with my boys daily because the message is everything.
• I Bet My Life – Imagine Dragons ** says “Hell” in one verse, but it’s a sweet mother-son song that I dig.
• Humble and Kind – Tim McGraw**  Very vague reference to sex. “I love you ain’t no pick up line”
• Take It Easy – Jackson Browne** Pretty sure this is about wanting a casual relationship but it’s far from explicit or even very clear.
• The Joker – Steve Miller Band ** This song references smoking, “I’m a smoker, I’m a mid-night toker” but it’s such a fun song for kids to bop around to that I like to overlook it.
• Another Brick in the Wall, Pt.2 – Pink Floyd ** I mean, this one talks about not going to school but it’s a classic, so there’s that.
• Bang! – AJR** Say “it’s been a hell of a ride”

Also, some of these songs have one asterisk next to them – this is because of a noted slight mention of something. I am not super uptight with this kind of thing, so I let it go with my own kids, but if a song says something along the lines of, “grab a drink” or “go home with me” I let it slide.

I tried to note them with a single asterisk. It’s a personal preference, but I did note it in case that’s not your speed.

More kid friendly song playlists

Girl power Songs
Songs for Daughters
Funny Songs for Kids
Poop Songs for Kids