Astonishing benefits of music for babies

4. Physically Interact with Music

Experiment with clapping, stomping, “flailing”, and more. Different body parts make different sounds and develops motor skills and internal rhythm; kids, even babies, will then learn to interact with music on their own (9).

I had a very fussy baby and one of the only things we could do to make her happy was to “dance her”. This would include making her dance and also dancing with her. The steady movement decreased stress for her (10).

All ages benefit from the calming effect of music; in fact, the mental state can greatly be influenced by movement because of therapeutic effects of movement to rhythmic patterns (11). Even children that are so small that they cannot stand or dance, can still physically interact with it. My six month old instantly starts beating her hands up and down when I start singing because I would pat the ground as I sang with her in previous months.

the importance of music for young kids

5. Find Music in Nature

Go outside, listen for patterns, noises, and sounds. Listen to the birds and if the communicate with one another and if they continue to make the same sounds over and over again.

Make those noises by whistling, humming, or singing what you hear. Even if your child cannot do this, you can and they will hear you mimicking. This gets you out of the house and playing outside, which is also vital.

Use sticks as mallets on different mediums to drum on such as bricks, tree trunks, and the pavement. Listen for dogs barking and with older kids, discuss the relationship of if one dog barks or howls, why the others might as well and similarly why we join in singing together.

6. Make and use simple instruments

Homemade musical instruments show a child that music is all around them and not just while sitting at a piano or holding an instrument.

The whole world then becomes a musical medium.

For many young minds, it has even been concluded that they operate at a higher level of thinking, and have a greater sense of concentration and engagement while music is playing (12) (13). Therefore, while a teacher may get upset with a child drumming with their pencils, it may actually be stimulating their cognitive function and helping their attention span.

Limiting what is and is not a musical instrument could also stifle creativity and mental processes (14).

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7.  Sing songs together and with other people

Singing has been shown to be a key development in social skills.

It requires harmonization and an agreement in working with one another to achieve the desired outcome. It is much louder and more fluid than speaking, making it a more contagious and interactive experience (15).

Learning through song in a group setting through encoded content is also crucial for development; children are able to relate to one another because they all know “ABC”, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, and “London Bridges” (16).

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7 Comments

  1. I really enjoyed reading this. Music is so important to me and thankfully, both of my sons have a strong love for music already as they have been exposed to it since before they were born. I just finished writing a series of blog posts about music activities for little ones and I think this post would be a nice summary piece to share. So off to pin and share on FB 🙂

    1. Thank you so much for your comment! I am glad that you enjoyed it and plan to share it. I absolutely love hearing when my research has positively impacted others. On my facebook site this past week, I shared about a 5 minutes video on how music should be viewed as a language and used daily with those that are much batter than ourselves. It is through TEDtalks if you are familiar. 🙂 Check it out if you are interested, and thanks again for the interest in my research and the wonderful comment!

  2. I just loved your post, and I’ve already pinned it! I just don’t think enough people realize the impact music has on a child’s brain development, as well as the positive impact it has on other academic areas. Thanks so much for linking up at Stress-Free Sunday last weekend! 🙂

  3. This is so well written, thank you for all the research links as well. I also check out your TedTalks clip as well.

    1. Thank you so much for your comment 🙂 I am glad that you liked it and that it was helpful to you!

  4. Mary Andersen says:

    This is such a great article thank you so much for using your time and talents to put it together and share it with everyone!!!

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