Babies have the potential to become musical. They like and respond to music, song and sounds. Scientists and research have shown that babies benefit from being in a musical environment. Music affects the physical, emotional and intellectual development and help to strengthen and improve cognition and sensation. At Providence Children’s Academy, we believe that music is a pivotal part to the development of your child. There are many different musical infant activities that you can do with your child, and most of them can be done at home. It’s no secret that studies and research has shown that music and musical activities helps boost infant development.
The ages between 0 and 2 years is the time when the brain has its largest developmental growth. Music activates the neural pathways responsible for many skills that are required later on in life. Below are some if the ways music can improve your child’s development:
Creativity
Music encourages children to be creative. A study that was done in Europe found that children who were exposed to music and singing lessons from a young age had higher grades in creativity than children who were not exposed to any musical training. Learning music or going for music lessons helps to develop the right side of the brain – the side that is responsible for performing tasks that have do with creativity and the arts.
Music can help children build a solid foundation for social skills. Music allows infants to tune into their emotions like sadness, happiness and anger. Conveying these emotions through music and song and combining it with interaction from parents, can help children become self-aware from a young age, and able to deal with their emotions. Additionally, when children listen to music together, it can help them form bonds with other toddlers. Good group activities for young children is having play dates, playing music together or having sing-alongs.
Motor Development
Playing with instruments and other things that make sounds encourage motor development in children. Encouraging infants to make sounds with instruments encourages both fine and gross motor skills. It is important to guide their hands over the instrument to show them how to make the desired sounds. After a while, they will catch on, and can practice refining their movements. Also, you may have noticed that your child likes to bob to certain songs that they like or enjoy. This encourages the development of gross motor skills in children.
Literacy and Numeracy
From even a young age, babies can distinguish their mother’s voice from others. This is because babies are able to separate different sounds. Exposure to music and sounds help babies develop the part of the brain that distinguishes subtle nuances in language, such as the difference between a “B” and a “P” sound. How this can be implemented, for example, is learning the “ABC’s” in song. Even now, we can still remember how to sing the ABC, because there is a strong link to memory and music.
Additionally, when kids learn song, they learn the skill of memorization and recall, allowing them to sing along and to predict what comes next. This forms the basis of both literacy, language and numeracy in children. Nursery rhymes combine both music and rhyming sounds to tell a story and stimulates young children’s brains by developing their phonemic awareness, listening skills and memory and articulation.
At Providence Children’s Academy we understand the importance of music and sound in infant activities and make sure this is part of our preschool curriculum. If you are interested in enrolling your child in a family-oriented preschool that is dedicated to laying solid foundations through education, safety, health, and development in a fun and friendly environment. then give us a call on 954-570-6914.