For children, home is the predominant source of most experiences. This is especially true if your child is of preschool age. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to create the environment in your home, so it’s important that you incorporate music in a creative and meaningful way.
These simple tips are a great way to start making your house a musical home!
#1: Play Music Around the House
Whenever appropriate, have music playing in your house––disco, rock and roll, classics, oldies, jazz––it doesn’t matter! Ignore the media demanding that your child listen to Mozart or Bach to enhance their intelligence. There is no evidence to support that claim, and it limits other genres of music that your child might enjoy or find meaningful.
#2: Listen to Music With Your Child
While having music playing in the background is extremely helpful, it’s also important that you engage with your child while listening to music together. With a young child, you can do this by moving their hands or legs to the music and clapping along together. With an older child, try sparking up a conversation about what you’re listening to together. Even preschool children can be attuned to questions like, “How does this music make you want to move?” or “How does this music make you feel?” Having a conversation with your child about music and their feelings helps your child to learn that music is something that elicits a response.
#3: Sing With Your Child
It doesn’t matter how well you sing, or if you can even hold a note—you can still sing simple songs. The key to singing with your child is repetition. Singing a small number of songs on a daily basis can help your child understand melodies and rhythms. Singing with your child is an excellent way to increase your bond, as well as help your child to internalize music. Singing along with music, especially songs made for children, is a fun way for you and your child to bond.
#4: Dance With Your Child
Dancing with your child is another fun way to encourage learning about music while spending time with your child. The ability to move and groove to a beat is a fundamental skill that is essential to all future musical abilities. If your child is having a hard time keeping a beat or rhythm, don’t get discouraged! Girls often develop this skill around three years of age, whereas boys are more likely to have trouble finding a beat well into kindergarten.
#5: Make Music With Your Child
As your child grows, you can make a great impact on them by making music together. If they play an instrument, consider singing vocals. If you play an instrument, you might play along with them while they sing. Any combination in any genre of music will send a strong message to your child about the shared joy of making music together.
As a parent, you’re a role model for your child, and what you do is very important. If you express early on the joy and fun of listening to music, your child will catch on and pay attention to what they hear. If you play an instrument, regardless of how good you are, play it for your child. If you dance, shake your booty with them a little! If you just simply love listening to music, turn on some music and sit with your child.
If you convey to your child that music is important to you, your child will likely develop a love and appreciation for music that will last a lifetime. As a role model, go forth and celebrate music!
At The Music Room, we love music and love to celebrate it! For more information about our music lessons and programs, visit our website.