“Clap your hands and follow me….”
Children love music and music is good for childrens’ developing young minds. Through music children learn sounds, detect rhythms, and imagine. When you sing with your young child, you are helping their spatial-temporal reasoning skills, used by architects, engineers, mathematicians, and artists.
Music for the very young is humming, cooing, clapping, banging, listening to sounds around them, and your baby responding to your lyrical voice. Music makes your child feel safe and secure when they hear familiar songs. Children will frequently sing to themselves for comfort. Music provides an opportunity for parents and their children to bond.
As children get older, music is helpful for transitions. The music acts as a cue to what is happening next. Music helps build memory skills with the use of repeating words and makes everyday activities fun and easy. Children love to make up songs. They are thinking creatively. Music encourages a love of language for children and helps them imitate patterns of sounds. Music encourages play! Music is fun! Music benefits a child for life!
