This month, the Little Kids, Big Hearts podcast is focused on the power of music! We shared some of our favorite songs from the LKBH podcast, and today, we're excited to share a brand new challenge for our listeners and their families: The Song of YOU Mission!

Todd and Christy challenge our listeners to make up their own song that tells the story of their feelings, their experiences, their hopes and dreams ...

We'd love to hear your song: Share it with us at podcast@playsparkler.org.

Learn more about the podcast on our website: playsparkler.org

Or you can listen to episodes on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LittleKidsBigHearts

We're SO excited to share some of our favorite songs from the Little Kids, Big Hearts podcast on this special episode about the power of music to help people express our feelings and become braver, kinder, and stronger! 🎶 🎹 🎸

Here's the lineup of songs you'll hear on the episode:

❤️ "Super Superpower," by Benjamin Weiner and performed by Q. Smith

❤️ "Try," written and performed by Bill English

❤️ "Together," written by Lance Horne and performed by Lauren Elder, Julie Garnyé, and Lance Horne

❤️ “A Little Bit Better," written by Benjamin Weiner and performed by Benjamin with kid guests Aurelia, Cris, Henry & Guest Qook-a-lacka Amir Arison

❤️ "I Have the Key," written by Benjamin Weiner and performed by Rebecca Naomi Jones

❤️ "Just As You Are," by Benjamin Weiner

❤️ “You Can Use Your Imagination!” written by Benjamin Weiner and performed by Nadiyah Dorsey

Sound design and mixing is by Ryan Marth.

Please learn more about the episode online at https://playsparkler.org

We'll be re-posting the music videos of the songs on our youtube: @LittleKidsBigHearts ​

Ali Stroker is a trailblazing actor and advocate who joined the Little Kids, Big Hearts podcast as a guest Qook-a-lacka on our episode focused on inclusion. Today, Ali is back — out of character, as her amazing self — to talk with LKBH Host Todd Loyd about her own experiences with disability and inclusion.

❤️ She reflects on what Scarlett and Zach said on the episode: "When I hear Scarlett talking about horseback riding: It felt like she was explaining something that was so normal. And that, to me, is progress."

❤️ She shares her own personal motto — Turning Limitations into Opportunities: "It can apply to somebody with a disability or not because as human beings, we have limitations. It's part of existing in the world."

❤️ She talks about being a mom with a disability — and how being a mom in a wheelchair affects her parenting and her son's independence.

❤️ She talks about the power of "inclusive playgrounds." "I never had one inclusive playground growing up, and to this day, I still go to the playground and I have this like funny feeling in my stomach because it was a place of confusion and shame and frustration for me as a child ... Every kid deserves that freedom and that ability to play in an outdoor space with their friends."

❤️ She talks about a moment when she was in 1st grade and her PE teachers included her in a lesson on "how to skip," which changed her life. "Thirty-one years later, I still remember it because it felt like I was included and someone had taken a little bit of time to get creative and make me feel like I was learning a new school too, and that I could be a part of the group in moving...And that meant everything to me, everything!"

❤️ She talked about her children's book "Ali and the Sea Stars," which was based on her own experience as a six year old being introduced to musical theater by her neighbor on the Jersey Shore. "It basically set my entire life journey of becoming a musical theater and actress and everything that I do now."

❤️ She shares advice for kids with disabilities who want to try something new that hasn't been done before.

Ali Stroker is a Tony Award winner for her role as ‘Ado Annie’ in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! She made history as the first actor in a wheelchair to appear on Broadway in Deaf West’s acclaimed revival of Spring Awakening and the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony. She was a series regular on the Netflix series, Echoes, and starred in the Lifetime holiday film, Christmas Ever After. Ali recurred in the final season of Netflix's Ozark and in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. She co-wrote the novel, The Chance to Fly and its sequel, Cut Loose!; and she wrote the children's book, Ali and the Sea Stars. She was recently seen opposite Matthew Broderick in Babbitt at Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC and played 'Lady Anne' in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III. She’s performed her one woman show all over the country. Her mission to improve the lives of others through the arts is captured in her motto: “Turning Your Limitations Into Your Opportunities.”

Learn more on our episode webpage: https://playsparkler.org/inclusion/

Watch on our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/@LittleKidsBigHearts