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

Welcome to storytime!

This new fictional story, set in the Land of Qook-a-lackas, is about making sure that everyone has the opportunity to play.

The main character is Quiggle, a little Qook-a-leekie who travels around the Land of Qook-a-lackas in chair with rainbow, sparkling wheels. When it's time for the annual tradition of climbing the Twisty Tree as a class, all the Qook-a-leekies have to come together to figure out a way to include ALL their classmates, including Quiggle!

"Quiggle's Wheels" is read by our host, Todd Loyd, who is a teacher in New York City who LOVES a good storytime, along with Christy Pusz Decatur, the LKBH creative producer.

Find resources on inclusion — the focus this month — from LKBH online at: https://playsparkler.org/inclusion/

VISIT and subscribe to our YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@LittleKidsBigHearts

#story #storytime #inclusion #disability #similarities #workingtogether #playingtogether #parenting

On this special episode, Little Kids, Big Hearts host Todd Loyd chats with award-winning composer, lyricist & performer Lance Horne 🎶 about the disability he was born with and how he overcame his early challenges to become an Emmy Award winning songwriter and musician.

Lance explains: "I spent four summers of my childhood with my head wrapped in a bandage. And it meant not being able to go out and play on the swing set or having people kind of point and wonder what's going on or getting ready for a surgery or being excited about a surgery..."

He goes on to recount how two different teachers — Miss Roseberry and Susan Grove — inspired him to pursue music and to write his own songs.

At the end of the episode, Lance shares the new song he created — TOGETHER — inspired by the words Zach and Scarlett shared earlier this month on the LKBH episode "Inclusion Matters With Ali Stroker."

Recording & Mix: Jacob Tourjeman

Vocals: Lauren Elder, Julie Garnyé, Lance Horne

Whistling: Lauren Elder

Music: Lance Horne

Lyrics: Lance Horne & Todd Loyd

***

Lance Horne is an Emmy award-winning composer, pianist, singer, music director, and producer who has arranged for/performed with Alan Cumming, Jake Shears/Scissor Sisters, Ricki Lake, Rufus Wainwright, Pink Martini, Liza Minnelli, Kylie Minogue, the von Trapps, Ben Folds, Neil Gaiman, Chita Rivera, Justin Vivian Bond, Sandra Bernhard, Shoshana Bean, Amanda Palmer/Dresden Dolls, Cheyenne Jackson, Jelani Remy, Kelli O’Hara, Ken Page, Ana Gasteyer, Meow Meow, Taylor Mac, the Gatlin Brothers, Boston Pops, Seoul Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, London/SF/LA/NY Gay Men’s Chorus, Sydney Dance Company, Michael Feinstein, Carol Channing, and Sesame Street. He performed with Kristen Chenoweth for President Obama, the First Lady, and Queen Elizabeth.

Broadway: vocal arrangements for Little Women, arrangements and appearance in Regina Spektor on Broadway. Music for ‘Bent’ dir. Moises Kauffman at Mark Taper Forum. Producer and performer: World Pride, Copenhagen 2021; Broadway in the Park Series, Mexico City; Secret Broadway, Australia featuring Shoshana Bean. Work with the A.R.T. in Cambridge includes Prometheus Bound, Cabaret, and Extraordinary. Multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, and London's West End.

Albums include compositions and arrangements for “Jake Shears” featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, “Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs”, and John Cameron Mitchell's "New American Dream". Music Supervisor, producer, arranger, and composer, “Each and Every Day” documentary for HBO, dir. Alexandra Shiva. Composer of Ricki Lake Show theme (FOX), Macy's Parades (NBC), multiple film scores, specialty material for television. Multiple residences at Joe’s Pub, host of weekly Mondays in the Club with Lance, now in its seventh year at Club Cumming. Two original musicals currently in development.

Mr. Horne is a Steinway Artist, recipient of Jonathan Larson, Bistro, and ASCAP Awards, Helpmann Award Nominee, Interlochen graduate with BM, MM in Composition, The Juilliard School. Previously on faculty at Juilliard, NYU, and EAMA Paris. Currently on faculty at Syracuse University.

During the most recent "KidVenture" of Little Kids, Big Hearts, "Inclusion Matters with Ali Stroker," two kids — Zach and Scarlett — help to devise a brand new sport in the Land of Qook-a-lackas that EVERYONE can play TOGETHER called Quibble Launch.

Today, we're back with to challenge our listeners to participate in the You, Me, We Mission — which is all about figuring out new ways to play together!

🌟 First, Todd and Christy hear from Leo, who shares how he took on our last mission: The Mighty Mistakes Mission!

🌟 Then Todd and Christy introduce this month's special mission for kid listeners: The You, Me, We Mission!

Come back next week for a song/interview about inclusivity by our friend LANCE HORNE!

We'd love to hear from kid listeners about how you're taking on this month's mission! Please email your audio memos to podcast@playsparkler.org.

You can also visit us for videos of our podcast and more on our YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/@LittleKidsBigHearts.

Find more info on the podcast on our website: https://playsparkler.org/inclusion/

On this kidventure episode, two kids — Scarlett and Zach — talk about their disabilities and share their experiences with inclusion (on inclusive playgrounds and in other contexts). As Scarlett explains, inclusion "means that everybody can play, no matter your disability or how you walk or how you roll or anything like that."

After a chat on Earth, the kids and Todd travel on the colors of the rainbow to the Land of Qook-a-lackas, where they meet a Qook-a-lacka friend, Quinnly, who is trying to figure out how the Qook-a-lackas and their new neighbors, the Link-a-doos, can play TOGETHER. The Qook-a-lacka's favorite sport, Quibble, is played on the ground with a big ball — while the Link-a-doos' favorite sport, Loop-a-launch, is played in the sky with a little bouncy ball. The kids and Todd help Quinnly to brainstorm a whole new game (Quibble Launch!), which has special rules and a two tier playing field that is perfect for the new neighbors to play together!

Little Kids, Big Hearts was THRILLED to be joined on this episode by guest star Ali Stroker, who plays the role of Quinnly.

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.”

Sound design and mixing is by Ryan Marth, and the ukulele music you hear is by actor and composer Bill English.

The Little Kids, Big Hearts team wants to say a big, public "THANK YOU" to Inclusion Matters by Shane's Inspiration, the amazing organization that helped us find the brilliant, insightful kids who appear on this episode, Scarlett and Zach. Inclusion Matters by Shane's Inspiration is an international non-profit organization that creates play, dignity and social equity for children with disabilities through inclusive playgrounds and education programs that unite children of all abilities. Scarlett and Zach played — and met "buddies" — on inclusive playgrounds created by this organization, which has built these sensory- and literacy-rich playgrounds in the US, as well as Mexico, Israel, Canada, Ecuador, Russia, Argentina, South Africa, Armenia, the Dominican Republic, and beyond. THANK YOU!!! Learn more about Inclusion Matters on its website: https://inclusionmatters.org/

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

Also...Little Kids, Big Hearts now has a YouTube channel. Please join our growing community on YouTube! Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/@LittleKidsBigHearts

Everyone — even the "queen of children's music" — makes mistakes on occasion!

We are thrilled to share an interview with Laurie Berkner, the bestselling, award-winning children's recording artist, about making music and making mistakes.

Laurie's albums have been bestsellers on a chart typically dominated by movie soundtracks and major label compilations. With more than 1 billion total streams, an average of more than 22 million monthly streams, more than 535 million YouTube channel views, and millions of CDs and DVDs sold, Laurie’s songs have become beloved classics for children worldwide. Her debut DVD, which went quadruple platinum, was the first-ever indie children’s music DVD to enter Billboard’s Top Music Video chart at #1. Laurie’s 16th album, A Laurie Berkner Halloween, was released in September 2024, and a Laurie Berkner Greatest Hits album will be out in May 2025.

A longtime fixture on TV’s Noggin and Universal Kids (formerly Sprout) channels, Laurie was the first recording artist to ever appear in a music video interstitial on Noggin and was featured in nearly all the episodes of the channel’s Jack’s Big Music Show. Laurie can also be heard in two seasons of the ten-chapter Audible Original series she created, Laurie Berkner’s Song & Story Kitchen.

Laurie has written the music and lyrics for three children's musicals and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers has published a series of three picture books with Laurie, each based on one of her songs: We Are the Dinosaurs, Pillowland, and Monster Boogie.

In this interview on the Little Kids, Big Hearts podcast, Laurie chats with LKBH host Todd Loyd about making mistakes: The theme of the month!