Music is often a social activity. When children are singing, playing instruments, or dancing together, they are building connections with others. Playing instruments and singing also builds social skills like:
- self-regulation
- self-confidence
- leadership skills
- socio-emotional intelligence
These skills will help your child make their way in the world and be a more independent individual.
Look through Freegal’s Children’s music! You can download up to 5 free songs each week.
Babies
- Playing instruments together as a family does not need to be expensive. Pots and pans make great instruments for babies. You can even wash old lids from detergent or empty plastic containers to use for drums. Just make sure all of the soap or other residue is off before handing it to baby! When they are nice and clean, older siblings can join in on the fun and form a family band.
- “Rock-a-bye, Baby” or other songs that involve holding your baby and rocking them helps build connection between you and your baby. Your song does not have to be complication. Simply singing a syllable, such as “shu shu shu shu” is calming to your child.
Toddlers
- Sing a song or play instruments as a group! Working as a group helps to build skills like sharing and working towards a common goal.
- Fingerplay is great for motor skills and learning to work as a pair or with a group. Try The Itsy Bitsy Spider or Five Little Monkeys. Any others you know will work too!
Preschoolers
- To help your child build leadership skills, have them lead you in a song that you both know or that your child learned themselves.
- Play musical Red Light Green Light. Glue a red paper circle to one side of a paper and a green circle to the other side. Lead children in a song and switch the sign from green to red to signal when to stop singing. Those that keep singing are out. The children that can make it to the end of the song are the winners.
The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band
-Megan Hellwig, Children’s Team, Kirk-Bear Canyon Library
Sources
- Children’s brains develop faster with music training
- Creating Harmony: How Music Can Support Social Emotional Development
- 7 Music Games for Practicing Self-Regulation
Read, Write, Talk, Sing, Play!
Singing is incredibly engaging for children and has countless early literacy benefits, which include building vocabulary, slowing down language, developing memory skills, and so much more!
Read more about early literacy and how you can make a difference in your child's life.
