Did you ever hear someone say, “I have two left feet” or “I wasn’t born with the musical gene”? This is simply not true; everyone is born with an innate ability towards music. However, it is like learning a foreign language at an early age, the skill has to be honed and nurtured. Some experts believe that children who sing and participate in musical activities early on have an easier time with music.
During a workshop, a music educator, Hugh Hanley commented that as a nation, people are exposing their children to music through DVD’s, the radio or television, but what they are lacking is active participatory songs and nursery rhymes. We can only hope this is not true. By singing simple songs and nursery rhymes, children are exposed to an amazing amount of learning, but two areas of development stand out the most. These are cognitive and physical.
Cognitive development is enhanced when the child:
- Recalls words to song/chant/finger plays
- Follows simple directions
- Makes up words having similar sounds
- Experiments with rhythm.
Physical development is observed when a child:
- Hops on one or both feet
- Walks on tip-toes
- Shows balance in use of large muscles
- Skips or gallops fairly well
- Shows creativity and imagination
Even the youngest listeners can distinguish between different types of music and will respond to it. Put on the Hap Palmer’s song, Sitting in My Highchair and see what happens. The lyrics will make you want to boogie along or at least tap to it.
Some people shy away from singing or from doing musical activities with their little ones, because they feel like they just don’t know what to do or they feel intimidated. If you are one of these people, visit http://www.hughhanley.com/. Hugh has three wonderful CD’s. Each CD is accompanied with a 20 -24 page book of song lyrics and descriptions of activities and movements to accompany each song.
- Jackie & Jo-Jo
