The many benefits of music for children

Whether at home or at school, using music is a powerful way to build a child's social, physical, cognitive, and language skills. Many of the skills a child will need to learn to read and write can begin to be developed as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers through music. 

What are some of the benefits of music for children?

• There are many social and emotional benefits to music, partly because music is inherently social. That's one of the reason I always open my storytimes with a singlong book. Singing with children draws them into our shared experience in a way that starting right off with a story wouldn't be able to.
• Very young children can sense the emotions in music before they may be able to fully articulate the feelings that they have. Because young children feel emotions very powerfully, music can help them work through these big feelings.
• Music strengthens cultural connections. For example, using music at school that is from children's own culture can strengthen their sense of belonging and safety at school. One of the simplest ways to introduce children to a culture other than their own is also through music.

Photo by Dylan Steinberg, used under Creative Commons License. https://www.flickr.com/photos/steinbdj/30009028

• Repetitive songs can help children anticipate and understand patterns. This helps them look for and participate in patterns in repetitive stories, such as The Gigantic Turnip.
• For older children, music's ability to develop a sense of rhythm can help students recognize rhyming patterns and alliteration in written texts or stories.
• Music can help young children develop self-soothing skills. Using the same song each day during difficult transitions (such as drop off at daycare or getting ready for bedtime) can help babies and toddlers prepare for these transitions.
• Participating in music can develop both fine motor and gross motor skills. Finger plays used during songs such as The Itsy Bitsy Spider develop the same muscles that will be needed later for drawing and writing. Dancing, jumping, and swaying to music all help children develop the large movements needed throughout all areas of life.

With so many benefits to music, shouldn't we find more ways to incorporate it into our children's days? Here are a few ideas:

• Share music as another way to express your love for your child. When my son was still in the womb, my husband and I began singing a hymn to him each night that included his name. It begins, "__Child's name__, ___child's name___, God claims you." At age 3, my son has heard this song thousands of times, and requests it when he is feeling sad or just wants to share an experience with us. I can think of few other concrete symbols of our love for him in our parent-child relationship that are as powerful to him as this one.
• Make sure your book collection includes at least a few singalong books. I am very partial to Barefoot Books' singalong books that include a CD of the song, but there are many additional good options for books that you can sing together. If you need ideas, ask the librarian in your children's department for help.
• Help infants experience cause and effect by giving them egg shakers to shake or bells to ring.
• Encourage fine motor skill development by including finger plays in some of your songs that you sing to your infant or toddler.
• Aid your preschooler in exploring feelings by giving her a few instruments and encouraging her to make mad music and/or a mad dance. Then try  happy music/a happy dance, etc.
• Incorporate music from other cultures into your music collection.. Putumayo Kids CDs are an excellent source of world music for children.

How are your incorporating music into your children's lives? What have you noticed about how they respond to music?