Tune Up

It's time to put on your dancing socks 🧦🎶! In this special episode, host Benjamin shares a special "mix tape" of catchy kids' songs from the Tune Up podcast — as well as the debut of the full Tune Up theme song. Each song in Tune Up is inspired by a conversation between host Benjamin and a child about something tough they're dealing with — from learning to be flexible to saying sorry. The kids' words turn into lyrics and their humming and drumming turns into the notes of the songs. The songs are performed by Benjamin with the kid guests — and produced by GRAMMY®-winning musician Dean Jones! They're being released first here, and then as an album. On today's episode, you'll hear the following original songs from Tune Up 📼🎶: 🎶 TUNE UP featuring Benjamin, Dean, and Kids from Tune Up! 🎶 FLEXIBILITY featuring Benjamin with Zaira, 8🎶 WAIT FOR ANYTHING featuring Benjamin with Nico, 5🎶 SIBLINGS ARE TOUGH, featuring Benjamin with siblings Zaira, 8, and Zaim, 5🎶 THE CLEAN UP DANCE, featuring Benjamin with Georgia, 5🎶 I CAN SAY SORRY, featuring Benjamin with Zaim, 5Tune Up is perfect for kids ages 3–10 and for listening together as a family.Grown-Ups, You Can Extend the Learning By:🌟 Having a dance party as you listen to the episode!🌟 Discussing the words you hear in the songs. Which words stick in your heads? Why? 🌟 Using the Tune Up method with your child to talk about and then make up a song about something tough — one of the topics in this episode or something challenging happening at home or school. About the Tune Up Podcast:Tune Up uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle challenges of early childhood, from cleaning up to including others. In each episode, teacher and musician Benjamin Weiner chats with a child about a difficult topic. Together, they write an empowering song to take on the challenge. Tune Up helps children to build social and emotional skills, growth mindset, coping skills, emotional regulation, resilience, and mindfulness skills. It's also FUN and a perfect co-listening experience for kids and their grown-ups.About Host Benjamin:Benjamin Weiner is a writer, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes for shows including Dora on Paramount Plus, Rosie’s Rules on PBS, and Vida the Vet on Netflix, and makes kids music as Princess Backpack and Benjamin. His first picture book is in the works with Simon & Schuster.Subscribe, Rate, and Share:If this episode resonated with your family, please subscribe, rate, and share the show. It helps other families discover Tune Up.🎧 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@tuneupsparkler 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/tuneupsparkler📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/TuneUpSparkler/Credits:Tune Up is hosted by Benjamin Weiner. It is produced by Julia Levy at Sparkler Learning, with support from Brittany Sommer Katzin and Dana Stewart.🌈 Visit The Tune Up Website: https://playsparkler.org/tuneup

Welcome! In this episode, host Benjamin and his friend Zaim (age 5) discuss something that is challenging but necessary: SAYING SORRY!The episode begins with a playful and honest conversation about how Zaim sometimes does something inconsiderate toward his sister or a friend, and then needs to say "Sorry." With help from Benjamin's puppet friend Bloop, they practice saying sorry like they mean it and they talk about the importance of genuine apologies. They discover that after a genuine apology, people are usually able to forgive, move forward, and ... return to playing!  Using the Tune Up method, Benjamin and Zaim co-create a catchy song about saying sorry — with Zaim's tune and words. (The song was produced by GRAMMY®-winning musician Dean Jones. It will be released as a stand-alone music video soon!)Perfect for kids ages 3–10 and for listening together as a family.Grown-Ups, You Can Extend the Learning By:🌟 Discussing saying sorry: "Tell me about a time when YOU had to say sorry. What happened? What did you say? What did your friend say?" 🌟 Asking your child: "What does it feel like to say 'I'm sorry?'"🌟 Sharing a moment when YOU had to apologize. Tell your child what you felt like before saying sorry ... and how you felt after saying sorry.🌟 Telling your child, "It can be scary to say sorry, but apologizing can help you and another person feel better." Let's practice with puppets or stuffed animals.🌟 Using the Tune Up Method with your child to create your own song about saying sorry.About the Tune Up Podcast:Tune Up uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle challenges of early childhood, from cleaning up to including others. In each episode, teacher and musician Benjamin Weiner chats with a child about a difficult topic. Together, they write an empowering song to take on the challenge. Tune Up helps children to build social and emotional skills, growth mindset, coping skills, emotional regulation, resilience, and mindfulness skills. It's also FUN and a perfect co-listening experience for kids and their grown-ups.About Host Benjamin:Benjamin Weiner is a writer, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes for shows including Dora on Paramount Plus, Rosie’s Rules on PBS, and Vida the Vet on Netflix, and makes kids music as Princess Backpack and Benjamin. His first picture book is in the works with Simon & Schuster.Subscribe, Rate, and Share:If this episode resonated with your family, please subscribe, rate, and share the show. It helps other families discover Tune Up.🎧 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@tuneupsparkler 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/tuneupsparkler📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/TuneUpSparkler/Credits:Tune Up is hosted by Benjamin Weiner. It is produced by Julia Levy at Sparkler Learning, with support from Brittany Sommer Katzin and Dana Stewart.🌈 Visit The Tune Up Website: https://playsparkler.org/tuneup

Welcome! In this episode, host Benjamin is joined by his friend Georgia (who was 5 years old when the podcast was recorded) talked about something that's challenging for Georgia and many other kids: CLEANING UP! The episode begins with a playful and honest conversation about cleaning — why it's hard even though your parents insist it's important and some ways that we can make the chore of cleaning a little more fun. Georgia shares her idea of a clean-up DANCE, which she says makes the work of cleaning  more tolerable.Using the Tune Up method, Benjamin and Georgia co-create a catchy song about cleaning up — with Georgia's tune and words: THE CLEAN UP DANCE. (The song was produced by GRAMMY®-winning musician Dean Jones. It will be released as a stand-alone music video tomorrow!)Perfect for kids ages 3–10 and for listening together as a family.Grown-Ups, You Can Extend the Learning By:🌟 Discussing Cleaning Up: Do you like cleaning up your room? What's hard about it? Does anything make cleaning up your room (or your home) a little easier? 🌟 Sharing: If YOU struggle with cleaning up (as many grown-ups do!) share any tricks and tips you have about cleaning up. Did you learn any of these tricks when you were little?  🌟 Asking your child: Can we come up with any of our own moves (choreography) for THE CLEAN UP DANCE? Let's practice some of our own dance moves!🌟 Using the Tune Up Method with your child to create your own song about cleaning up!About the Tune Up Podcast:Tune Up uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle challenges of early childhood, from cleaning up to including others. In each episode, teacher and musician Benjamin Weiner chats with a child about a difficult topic. Together, they write an empowering song to take on the challenge. Tune Up helps children to build social and emotional skills, growth mindset, coping skills, emotional regulation, resilience, and mindfulness skills. It's also FUN and a perfect co-listening experience for kids and their grown-ups.About Host Benjamin:Benjamin Weiner is a writer, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes for shows including Dora on Paramount Plus, Rosie’s Rules on PBS, and Vida the Vet on Netflix, and makes kids music as Princess Backpack and Benjamin. His first picture book is in the works with Simon & Schuster.Subscribe, Rate, and Share:If this episode resonated with your family, please subscribe, rate, and share the show. It helps other families discover Tune Up.🎧 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@tuneupsparkler 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/tuneupsparkler📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/TuneUpSparkler/Credits:Tune Up is hosted by Benjamin Weiner. It is produced by Julia Levy at Sparkler Learning, with support from Brittany Sommer Katzin and Dana Stewart.🌈 Visit The Tune Up Website: https://playsparkler.org/tuneup

Welcome! In this episode, host Benjamin is joined by his friends Zaira (age 8) and Zaim (age 5) to talk all about the ups and downs of having a sibling — and to create a brand new song inspired by their experiences.The episode begins with a playful and honest conversation about what it’s really like to have a sibling. Zaira and Zaim share some of the best parts of being brother and sister, like always having a built-in play partner, as well as some of the challenges, like sharing things that both want and working through disagreements. Together, they explore their feelings and what helps when things get tough.With support from their stuffies (who are siblings, too!) and Benjamin’s puppet friend Bloop, the conversation turns creative. Using the Tune Up method, Benjamin transforms Zaira and Zaim’s ideas into a fun, original song called SIBLINGS ARE TOUGH, helping turn real-life challenges into something kids can sing through and feel empowered by. (The song was produced by GRAMMY®-winning musician Dean Jones. It will be released as a stand-alone music video tomorrow!)Perfect for kids ages 3–10 and for listening together as a family.Grown-Ups, You Can Extend the Learning By:🌟 Discussing Siblings: What is a sibling? Siblings have at least one parent in common. Siblings can live together or in different homes. Siblings can be any gender and any age! Sometimes they look like one another (like twins, even!) and sometimes they look very different. (If your child doesn’t have a sibling, you can talk about a cousin or really close friend, who is like a sibling to them.) 🌟 Sharing: If YOU have a sibling, share a story from your childhood that includes your sibling! That is a great way to start the conversation. 🌟 Asking your child: Is your sibling older or younger than you? How are you and your sibling similar ... and different?🌟 Asking your child: What do you like to do together with your sibling? What is something you like that your sibling dislikes?🌟 Saying: It can be tough to  have a sibling! What happens when you and your sibling disagree?🌟 Using the Tune Up Method with your child to create your own song about siblings!About the Tune Up Podcast:Tune Up uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle challenges of early childhood, from cleaning up to including others. In each episode, teacher and musician Benjamin Weiner chats with a child about a difficult topic. Together, they write an empowering song to take on the challenge. Tune Up helps children to build social and emotional skills, growth mindset, coping skills, emotional regulation, resilience, and mindfulness skills. It's also FUN and a perfect co-listening experience for kids and their grown-ups.About Host Benjamin:Benjamin Weiner is a writer, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes for shows including Dora on Paramount Plus, Rosie’s Rules on PBS, and Vida the Vet on Netflix, and makes kids music as Princess Backpack and Benjamin. His first picture book is in the works with Simon & Schuster.Subscribe, Rate, and Share:If this episode resonated with your family, please subscribe, rate, and share the show. It helps other families discover Tune Up.🎧 YouTube: www.youtube.com/@tuneupsparkler 📸 Instagram: www.instagram.com/tuneupsparkler📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/TuneUpSparkler/  Credits:Tune Up is hosted by Benjamin Weiner. It is produced by Julia Levy at Sparkler Learning, with support from Brittany Sommer Katzin and Dana Stewart.🌈 Visit The Tune Up Website: https://playsparkler.org/tuneup

Welcome! We're so excited that you’re joining us for our second episode of Tune Up!In this episode, host Benjamin is joined by his friend Nico, age 5, to discuss patience and waiting and write a brand new song about it.The episode begins with an open and meaningful conversation between Benjamin and Nico about waiting! Waiting can be hard for Nico, and for lots of people, but using your imagination can make the time pass faster. Nico and Benjamin share ideas about what kids can do while they are waiting, and turn their ideas into a song. After discussing waiting with Nico and Benjamin's puppet friend Bloop, Benjamin turns Nico's words into a new song about waiting using the Tune Up method — which is designed to adapt the words and ideas of children into empowering songs that can help them to cope with hard things and overcome day-to-day challenges that all kids experience in a joyful way. The episode concludes with the original music video of the song that Benjamin and Nico wrote. The song is called WAIT FOR ANYTHING. Perfect for kids ages 3–10 and for listening together as a family.Grown-Ups, You Can Extend the Learning By:🌟 Asking your child: "What are some things that you have had to wait for?"🌟 Asking your child: "What are things we have to wait for at school? What are things we have to wait for at home?" 🌟 Discussing: "What does it feel like when we have to wait for something?" 🌟 Saying, "It can be hard to wait, especially when you’re waiting for something exciting! What are some ways that YOU can think of to make the waiting easier?"🌟 Use the Tune Up Method with your child to create your own song about waiting!About the Tune Up Podcast:Tune Up uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle challenges of early childhood, from cleaning up to including others. In each episode, teacher and musician Benjamin Weiner chats with a child about a difficult topic. Together, they write an empowering song to take on the challenge. Tune Up helps children to build social and emotional skills, growth mindset, coping skills, emotional regulation, resilience, and mindfulness skills. It's also FUN and a perfect co-listening experience for kids and their grown-ups.About Host Benjamin:Benjamin Weiner is a writer, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes for shows including Dora on Paramount Plus, Rosie’s Rules on PBS, and Vida the Vet on Netflix, and makes kids music as Princess Backpack and Benjamin. His first picture book is in the works with Simon & Schuster.Subscribe, Rate, and Share: If this episode resonated with your family, please subscribe, rate, and share the show. It helps other families discover Tune Up.🎧 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TuneUpSparkler 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuneupsparkler 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tuneupsparklerCredits:Tune Up is hosted by Benjamin Weiner. Produced by Julia Levy at Sparkler Learning, with support from Brittany Sommer Katzin and Dana Stewart.🌈 Visit The Tune Up Website: https://playsparkler.org/tuneup

Welcome friends! We're so excited that you’re joining us for our FIRST EVER episode of the Tune Up podcast! In this episode, host Benjamin is joined by his friend Zaira, age 8, to discuss flexibility and write a brand new song about it. The episode begins with an open and meaningful conversation between Benjamin and Zaira about what it means to be flexible and some times when Zaira has had to be flexible with her thinking. Benjamin’s puppet friend, Bloop, joins the conversation and role-plays different social and emotional scenarios with Zaira related to flexibility. Zaira concludes that when she’s flexible, she’s able to have more fun. For example, she might have to play inside if there’s bad weather — but she can still play and it’s still fun! After discussing flexibility, Benjamin and Zaira collaboratively write a song about being flexible using the Tune Up method — which is designed to adapt the words and ideas of children into empowering songs that can help them to cope with hard things and overcome day-to-day challenges that all kids experience in a joyful way. The episode concludes with the original music video of the song that Benjamin and Zaira wrote. The song is called FLEXIBILITY.  Perfect for kids ages 3–10 and for listening together as a family.Grown-Ups, You Can Extend the Learning By:🌟 Asking your child: "What are some things about being a kid that are tricky?” “What are some things about being a kid that are fun?” 🌟 Asking your child: “What does it mean to be flexible?”🌟 Saying, “Yes, being flexible is being willing to change or compromise. Sometimes plans change, or you can’t do the thing that you want to do; being flexible is when you’re OK with something different.”🌟 Asking your child: “Can you think of a time when we have had to be flexible?”🌟 Discussing: “What does it feel like when we have to be flexible (before, during, after)?”About the Tune Up Podcast:Tune Up uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle challenges of early childhood, from cleaning up to including others. In each episode, teacher and musician Benjamin Weiner chats with a child about a difficult topic. Together, they write an empowering song to take on the challenge. Tune Up helps children to build social and emotional skills, growth mindset, coping skills, emotional regulation, resilience, and mindfulness skills. It's also FUN and a perfect co-listening experience for kids and their grown-ups.About Host Benjamin: Benjamin Weiner is a writer, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes for shows including Dora on Paramount Plus, Rosie’s Rules on PBS, and Vida the Vet on Netflix, and makes kids music as Princess Backpack and Benjamin. His first picture book is in the works with Simon & Schuster.Subscribe, Rate, and Share: If this episode resonated with your family, please subscribe, rate, and share the show. It helps other families discover Tune Up.🎧 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TuneUpSparkler  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuneupsparkler 📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tuneupsparklerCredits:Tune Up is hosted by Benjamin Weiner. Produced by Julia Levy at Sparkler Learning, with support from Brittany Sommer Katzin and Dana Stewart. 🌈 Visit The Tune Up Website: https://playsparkler.org/tuneup

Tune Up 💜🎶 is a short-form podcast series that uses the healing power of music to help children (and the adults who love them) tackle challenges of early childhood, from cleaning up to including others on the playground. In each episode, teacher and musician Benjamin Weiner chats with a child (aged 4-8) about a difficult topic, and together, they write a song to help themselves and other children learn from the challenge and grow. Benjamin’s candid conversations with young children can help parents, educators, and children work together as they  navigate tricky situations like apologizing for mistakes, being patient, and trying new things. Find Tune Up Everywhere!Coming soon to YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever your family listens to podcasts! Find it on the Sparkler App, too!Sparkler families: You'll also find Tune Up on your Sparkler app! Sparkler Learning is the nonprofit organization that produces Tune Up. Sparkler is also a technology platform that helps early childhood professionals connect families with developmental screening and play-based learning activities to boost children’s early learning and development. About the HostBenjamin Weiner is the host of the Tune Up podcast. He worked with the team at Sparkler Learning to create Tune Up. Benjamin Weiner is a writer, composer, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. After being a classroom teacher for 10 years, he became a writer and composer. He writes for shows like Dora the Explorer on Paramount Plus, Rosie's Rules on PBS, and Vida the Vet on Netflix, and makes kids music as Princess Backpack and Benjamin. His first picture book is in the works with Simon and Schuster. He has worked with Sparkler since 2022, and he regularly composes and performs songs for Sparkler's Little Kids, Big Hearts podcast. Learn more: playsparkler.org/tuneup