support their developing musicality, such as drums, maracas, bells – even good old pots and pans.
Starting With Music And Dance Music has been called “creative play
with sound” (Brandt et al., 2012). The first of the senses to be fully developed is hear- ing, so music should be a part of life from the beginning. Sing every day and play all kinds of soothing, relaxing and fun music. Older babies and toddlers will also love to play instruments with you. Studies show that making music with adults may help babies be more sensitive to music and more communicative in general (Gerry et al., 2012). Don’t forget to dance! Research indi- cates that infants “may be born with a predis- position to move rhythmically in response to music” (Zentner and Eerola, 2010). Sing and bounce babies on your knee, and when he can toddle, do the “toddler bounce” to your favorite tunes. Clap your hands, swing your arms. Watch how toddlers move and copy them – it’s tremendously empowering for them to “lead the way.” Toddlers are also excited and engaged by dancing with their favorite stuffed animals or (soft) baby dolls. Simple props such as hats and scarves can also add to the fun. Dancing is a natural, age-appropriate way to work off some of that toddler energy and express thoughts and feelings creatively.
A Couple Of Other Tips… When it comes to musical creativity, a
good rule of thumb: “If it isn’t fun, don’t do it.” Be observant. If toddlers look uninter- ested or they’re getting tired, stop and move on to something else. This may be after two minutes or twenty, depending on the day and the toddlers’ mood. Remember, it’s all about the process,
not the product. Go easy on the praise, the compliments, the “good job!”s and the “oohs” and “aahs.” The goal isn’t for tod- dlers to perform at Carnegie Hall. It’s to introduce them to the sheer joy of using their minds and bodies to sing, dance, play, imagine, pretend, and create music.
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4.5x7.indd 1 References Brandt, Anthony, Molly Gebrian, L.
Robert Slevc. Music and Early Language Acquisition. Frontiers in Psychology, 2012; 3
Gerry, David, Andrea Unrau, Laurel J. Trainor. Active music classes in infancy enhance musical, communicative and social development. Developmental Science, 2012; 15 (3): 398
OCTOBER 2013 49
Zentner, Marcel, Tuomas Eerola. Rhythmic engagement with music in infancy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010.
7/26/13 4:06 PM
Abby Connors is an early childhood mu-
sic educator, author, and presenter. Her books include “101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children” (Gryphon House, 2004), “Teaching Creativity” (Whitmore Books, 2010), and her latest book, “The Musical Toddler,” (Whitmore Books, 2013).
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