We gathered all the children's audio projects we could find that released this year, popped them in the player, and narrowed down the stack to our top dozen favorite albums for Christian kids. Some are straight music, some contain stories and songs, and some are, well, just a whole lot of fun.

We concentrated on releases that focused mainly on the pre-'tween set, with a couple of notable exceptions that are designed for kids but can be lots of fun for the whole family. We came up with a spectrum of music and fun for the tiniest of tots, the preschool set, and elementary kids. Many of our choices stuck mainly to a couple of tried-and-true formulas: 1) modern worship songs sung by kids, for kids; and 2) instrumental and softly sung lullabies for the littlest listeners. However, there are a few brave new offerings that dared to try something new. Here is our Top 12 list for 2005:

#12
Turn Up the Fun! Christian Hits for Kids

Various Artistsp
Sparrow/EMI

Turn Up the Fun! Christian Hits for Kids, which hits stores on Dec. 27, is a by-kids, for-kids collection of the most recent top Christian radio hits, like Switchfoot's brand-new "Stars," Building 429's "Glory Defined," tobyMac's "Gone," and Joy Williams' "Hide." The two-disc collection has 13 songs and comes in split-track, so kids can sing along with the voices or pop it into the karaoke machine and perform all by themselves.

#11
Hide 'Em in Your Heart, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

Steve Green
Sparrow/EMI

Both of Steve Green's Bible memory music albums have effectively been teaching kids Bible verses for years—and that never goes out of style. Now the albums have been reissued and come packaged with DVDs at less than $15 for the combo. Each disc contains at least 20 memory verses set to music, from Matthew 7:12 ("Do to Others") to the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), and from "I Can Do All Things" (Philippians 4:13) to "When a Child" (Proverbs 20:11). The easy-listening music and lots of repetition make Bible learning fun.

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