Hip Hop for kids: Mom launches CDs and videos

Hip hop music is popular in advertising, on local radio stations and in dance clubs.

Since adults like it so much, why wouldn't kids?

That's the idea behind suburban mom Candi Carter's new CD and DVD collection, "It's Hip Hop Baby!" which makes counting to 10 or songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" enjoyable for adults. The music is geared toward ages 2 to 6.

"This is family-friendly hip hop music that kids love," said Carter, a mother of two from Oak Park. "The beats are just fun. The kids like it and start singing along."

It's not just singing, though. It's dancing, too.

"If you do hip hop exercise with your kid, you will be exhausted. 'Hip Hop Simon Says.' 'Hip Hop Wheels on the Bus' -" Carter said.

Carter's son, Emerson, 5, has a severe speech disorder and can only say a handful of words and phrases. Carter found she could communicate with him better through music, which is how the idea for the CDs and DVDs were born.

Just as most people learn their ABCs from the song rather than nonmusical memorization, Emerson found it easier to learn new words by hearing them sung rather than recited.

"We'd be waiting for the school bus and I'd sing, 'Waitin' on the school bus, waitin' on the school bus - ooo, ahh!' And he said 'schoo buh!'" said Carter, a 40-year-old Emmy-award-winning TV producer who now works for a nationally syndicated show based in Chicago (she asked that we not identify the show).

"I haven't necessarily recreated the wheel, but I'm tapping into things that work," she said. "My child learns slower than most children, so this is the inspiration behind them."

The CDs and DVDs will be available on iTunes and in stores starting March 17. They're available for order now at itshiphopbaby.com/.

Perfume for the heart

To benefit the American Heart Association, Perfumania is selling a $39.99 limited-edition three-pack of fragrances called "The Red Collection." For each purchase, Perfumania will donate $5 to the AHA's Go Red for Women movement.

Perfumania has stores in Gurnee Mills, Woodfield and Hawthorn malls, and Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora.

New from benefit

Those bad gals at benefit cosmetics just introduced some new waterproof, smudge-proof eye products: the BADgal Waterproof Eye Pencil ($20) and the BADgal Waterproof Mascara ($19). The latter is a smaller, thinner tube of their popular BADgal mascara.

In the suburbs, they're available at Macy's stores and at the benefit cosmetics boutique, 214 S. Main St., in Naperville.