Music comes naturally to humans. From a very young age we respond positively to songs and rhythms. You can see it in the child sung to sleep with a lullaby, or the toddler rocking back and forth in time to a nursery rhyme.
As it turns out, the benefits of playing music to children are far-reaching. Here’s a few reasons why you should put on some tunes and rock out with the kids.
Music Encourages Brain Development
A rich sensory environment of taste, sound, touch, smell, and images stimulates a child’s developing brain, building neural pathways between brain cells. The number and quality of these pathways affect all areas of life, including how well a child performs academically.
Listening to music is a vital part of a rich sensory environment, but to really build brain cell connections you need to have the child actively participate. Bouncing child on your knee in time to a song, rocking, dancing, “playing” along by hitting a pan with a wooden spoon—all actively involve your child in the music.
Children’s Song’s and Teaching Opportunities
Think of a popular children’s songs: The Alphabet Song, This Old Man, The Hokey Pokey, or Old MacDonald’s Farm. Other than a catchy tune, what do they all have in common?
All these songs, and many more, teach as well as entertain. Kids learn their numbers and letters through songs. They discover the sounds animals make, improve their memories, and practice gross motor skills with dances.
You can capitalize on the educational benefits of playing music with personalized sing-a-long books and CDs. Each song is customized to include your child’s name, adding to the fun and learning.
Scheduling and Music
Music and songs also reinforce a child’s schedule, as any parent understands: soothing lullabies have been used for millennia to prepare children for sleep. Experiment with your own silly songs to alert children it’s time to do specific things, whether it’s brushing their teeth, cleaning up toys, or getting ready for meals. The songs don’t need to be complicated—just make the tune catchy and repetitive. You can add dancing, clapping, or hand motions as well.
All other benefits of playing music aside, we wouldn’t sing, dance, and play music if it wasn’t fun. So keep rocking, clapping, and singing with your little one. It doesn’t matter how good a singer you are—as far as your child’s concerned, your voice is, well, music to her ears.