Best Growing Up Songs for Slideshows

Discover a playlist of songs to accompany your slideshow of memories
Growing up songs for slideshows

Want an engaging accompaniment to your kid’s birthday, graduation party, or a wedding reception? Then put together the best photos and videos of the children growing up and turn them into a short movie with sentimental or uplifting music. Don't know where to start? No worries - we’ve got you covered.

In this post, you’ll find the best songs about kids growing up for slideshows for different events and of different vibes: emotional, upbeat, Christian, and more. Not only will we recommend some background music, but we’ll also give you a few tips on how to pick a soundtrack to perfectly match your project. Now let’s see which growing up songs will work best for your slideshow.

How to Pick Perfect Growing Up Slideshow Songs

It’s impossible to name a perfect slideshow song, since each situation is truly unique. The choice will depend on the relationship between you and the viewer, your taste in music, the concept of your slideshow, and so on. But here are a few tips that will hopefully help you pick the right song.

  • Decide on the role of the music. To choose suitable growing up songs for your slideshow, it’s important to know what effect you expect them to make. Is the added music supposed to create a cute atmosphere, or should it have meaningful lyrics to give a narrative to the slideshow? Music can also give a video deep and sad vibes. By the way, it doesn’t have to be just one song - you can pick many, cut out certain segments, and add them to different slides so that the viewer experiences the full spectrum of emotions.
  • Consider the person’s taste. It might be so tempting to pick music by your favorite artist. But it often turns out that the slideshow viewer is not quite fond of it. Instead, look up good songs for the growing up slideshow in the playlists of the person you’re making the video for. If you don’t have access to their music, just like the trending tiktokers, ask them what their favorite song of all time is. At least, try to find out the genres they prefer.
  • Make sure lyrics are appropriate. Sure, you can pick almost any song for your friend, but there are situations that require particular attention to the lyrics. For instance, you’re a teacher making a slideshow for your graduating students. Most importantly, make sure the song doesn't contain obscene language. If the track is in a foreign language, it’ll be a good idea to read the translation of the song.
  • Mind the song duration. Tunes can vary greatly in their length - some songs last 7 minutes, some barely last a minute. To make them fit the video length, you can cut the long track in the software where you’re making the slideshow if it has an audio cutting tool. Alternatively, you can include multiple short songs.

Already have a slideshow maker in mind? If not, then go for SmartSHOW 3D, a slideshow program that will help you seamlessly blend music into your video. There's everything you may need for editing your soundtrack - change the volume, cut songs, add slide and transition sounds, record a voice over, and more. SmartSHOW 3D comes with over 200 royalty-free tracks, but you can also upload your own music files.

Growing Up Songs for Any Celebration

There are certain kinds of family celebrations that you can make special with your own slideshow. We’ll talk about 3 most popular and meaningful events where you can play videos about growing up: a graduation, a birthday, and a wedding. So let’s find out what kind of music works for slideshows for growing up at these occasions.

Graduation slideshow

Graduation Slideshow

Is your little girl or little boy about to graduate and begin an adult life? Everyone in your family must be feeling nostalgic right now, so why not create a cute graduation slideshow with touching yet cheerful music to celebrate it together and watch the kids growing up throughout the years in school or college.

Happy Birthday slideshow

Birthday Slideshow

Hosting a birthday party? Then it will be a great idea to make a Happy Birthday slideshow with the timeline of the person’s life. Imagine showing your grandma or auntie how their grandchildren or nephews turned into the adults they see in the room! Scan a few family photos, add a pop song, and here you go.

Wedding slideshow

Wedding Slideshow

Is your bestie getting married? It’s time to find the best pictures and videos of the bride and groom to surprise them with a romantic wedding slideshow. Download the couple’s photos from social media, accompany them with a love song, add effects and heart-shaped stickers, and one of your wedding gifts is ready.

Sounds way too challenging? Don’t worry - here’s an example of a growing up slideshow you could make even with zero experience.

Sweet 16 slideshow
 

Doesn’t it look amazing? The video was created in SmartSHOW 3D, a slideshow maker for Windows. With this software, you can easily create pro-level slideshows using 200+ templates, titles, and collages of various themes and styles, 500+ effects, and 80+ text styles. You will also find a huge collection of free sound effects and music of any genre - Classical, Hip Hop, R&B, Pop, Jazz and Blues, Folk, Raggae, and more.

Don’t miss the opportunity to see what SmartSHOW 3D is like in practice - hit the button below to install it for free.

Windows For Windows 11, 10, 8, 7

Now you’re ready to launch the handy slideshow maker and create a jaw-dropping video.

Best Songs for a Growing Up Slideshow

It’s time to work out the tracks you could play in your videos - we’ve prepared several lists of songs for growing up slideshows in the most commonly used genres. Now let’s figure out what music suits your video best!

Emotional Songs

Emotional songs are perfect for graduation slideshows - families usually feel tearful yet excited about what the future holds for their kids. When you see your children growing up and leaving home, these are the songs you might like to hear:

  • “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus
  • “Don't Forget Where You Belong” by One Direction
  • “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
  • “We are Young” by Fun

Use emotional songs in your growing up slideshow

Upbeat Songs

Arranging a birthday party for preschoolers? Then it’s not the best time for tear-jerking slideshows - use upbeat songs instead to dance and have fun. Here are a few tracks that both a baby and a nostalgic grown-up will enjoy:

  • “Wake Me Up” by Avicii
  • “Happy" by Pharrell
  • “High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco
  • “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry

Accompany your growing up slideshow with upbeat music

Slow Music

For wedding slideshows, slow music will be an excellent choice. Getting older with the love of your life sounds like the biggest dream for many, and songs about it always make people smile. We’re sure that these love songs will be perfect for your slideshow:

  • “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri
  • “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
  • “Heaven” by Bryan Adams
  • “Grow Old With Me” by Tom Odell

Christian Songs

When there are big changes in life, it’s important to stay hopeful and grateful. That’s why Christian music can fit almost any growing up slideshow. Christian music exists in many genres, and popular ones like R&B are no exception. We’ve picked a couple of calm and catchy slideshow soundtracks that you can add to a video:

  • “Your Love is Simple” by Johnny Henninger & Melody Lynn
  • “Always on My Mind” by Jonathan Ogden & Joe Bae
  • “What I Really Need” by Bryan Fowler
  • “Thank You” by Beloved

Pick a Christian song for your growing up video

Country Music

If you’re looking for songs about kids growing up for your slideshow, then country music might be a good fit since many songs in the genre are about family values. Here are a few country hits about love and children growing up too fast:

  • "Best Days of My Life" by George Strait
  • “Fifteen” by Taylor Swift
  • “Young” by Kenny Chesney
  • “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” by Darius Rucker

Final Thoughts

This is all you need to know to find the best songs for your growing up slideshows. In this article, we shared top tracks to perfectly fit your video whether you’re making a slideshow for a wedding, a graduation, or a birthday party. If you need a growing up song for a different type of slideshow, check out the tips we gave on the topic. Now it’s time to find pics and vids for the slideshow and turn them into a memorable music video.

Need growing up slideshow songs for your video?
Pick any from the huge music collection in SmartSHOW 3D!
Windows For Windows 11, 10, 8, 7