Lol, Linda, I sang all those songs as a kid, with the exception of the Texan songs at the end!
Regarding kids and instruments, probably the most accessible are voice and percussion, as mentioned above. They can be found just about anyplace, anytime. You bring your voicebox with you, as well as your limbs. I recall, for example, emerging from a river very cold and deciding that I needed to keep moving. So, in an act of self-preservation, I started to bang sticks and stones lying about. Friends joined me and by the time I had warmed up we had a pretty good interactive percussion thing going
I would include the sing-song voice of an adult reading to a child in the 'voice' category, particularly where humour, alliteration and rhyming are involved. Some memorable examples are Dr. Suess, especially Cat in the Hat, and Jamberry. It's a short walk from these to making up your own songs and/or lyrics, so one could see this as a progression. Some of my fondest memories with my children are walking along singing a song we made up to suit the moment (there was often that 'necessity is the mother of invention' element involved, too
). It often ended in our howling with laughter and generally pleased with our own inventiveness.
As the kids get older they can pick up wind, string instruments and brass, though some simple ones to start might be the harmonica or kazoo or those things they had at the FIFA World Cup in Johanesberg (long tubular honking things) for winds; the little 'boingy' metal spiral things on the backs of doors (endless fun) or plucked bedsprings for strings and a saw sawing away at some parentally approved object (can make great sounds, though watch the fingers!). The goofier the better.
Really, the main thing is enjoyment. If they pluck something and stop to listen to it, or hum to themselves while concentrating, they are making music. Best way to enhance their perception and enjoyment of sounds and music is to take their lead and play with it. Pluck it in counterpoint to them. Hum back at 'em faster or slower or higher or lower. By the time you are all laughing together, you know you've done something right.
Or, as a brilliant music teacher once taught us parents as she organized the band and spoke to us over her shoulder "The best way to get them practicing their instrument is to let them know, 'Hey, I like that. Can you play it again?'"
The best lesson my kids taught me regarding music is that parents can only offer and that they'd be wise to let the kids decide on the instrument, set the pace and play with different ones to try them out (lots of places have programs to make this financially easier, if you ask for it). Our kids took piano lessons for years at a place that had the enjoyment thing pretty well figured out. Then we moved. They both decided to stop taking lessons. We questioned if they were sure (a lot) but did not push (with some difficulty). We had a piano, so we offered that they could play when they wanted and put the thing in the middle of the living room. When they played we told them we liked it, perhaps clapped and asked if they could play it again. Repeatedly. We played with them sometimes. They drifted back into playing, learned some songs by ear, added goofy lyrics whenever they could think of any, played whenever we had guests (built in entertainment!) and continued playing that and other instruments, loving every minute of it. The best part was when they sat down at an emotional moment to play. How awesome is that for self-therapy! Very different from my response when I was told I had to practice 1.5 hours a day since so much had already been invested in me. I minimized practice time and fought it wherever I could. I learned to play scales while reading a book... very bad scales!
Most creative points go to instruments one can make: shakers made of cardboard+beans, boingy or plucky string things, bottles with varying amounts of water in them, glass rims that one plays the by running a wetted finger over the rim (some great concertos of this available on-line)...
Last point is that there are some really cool things to be found on-line showing folks who are doing amazing stuff with their instruments. When our kids decided to try some instruments for band, I found a classic piece in each instrument of their choice and another piece that showed creativity and inventiveness... like the Celtic lady who plays violin and dances in her music videos, "Pink Panther" on the clarinet, etc. It took all of a very well invested hour or so and they knew what instrument they were inspired to try first. So even if you don't have the bandwidth to offer them lots of instruments to try, they can get a taste of it from someone else's unique take on any given instrument. Or you could visit a music store with its endless possibilities of trying things out!
Hope this helps and is perhaps even related to what you had in mind, lol!
