I love it when my daughter sings, makes up a story of her own, and narrates them like a musical or in her own words. I’ve been thinking about why kids sing, because some do it all the time. How they feel when they sing? What are the expressions that they let out when they sing?
Kids love it when they hear their adults sing to them. It soothes and calms the child because there is a is a deeper connection to music and child development. It has the power to build a strong bond between the parent and the child.
Music therapy is used for special children to understand the ways of the world. This is our everyday life since it directly impacts our mood.
The Power to Heal
I have noticed that most kids enjoy singing, humming songs even while they are busy with some activity. My daughter belongs in that music circle. Some love to sketch a lot, colour a lot while others love to sing and dance.
PC: Unsplash
They are out of tune sometimes, but are not intimidated by it, because they purely enjoy music like they’ve created it themselves. When they are encouraged to let it flow freely, they flourish in this skill just as any other.
I love to hum and whistle, singing doesn’t come naturally to me. However, my daughter loves to sing just about anything. Also, it’s a key parenting skill to encourage children to sing even if they’re out of tune. If they’re not getting the words that’s totally okay. We’ve all been there while we memorized some of our favourite songs.
Here I’m not telling that your child must sing to participate in a talent show. That kills the joy of singing. This is music from self-discovery and for self-expression. I must agree that I have come to enjoy singing without being self-conscious right after child birth only. That has built a strong bond between my daughter and me.
Music has a strong healing power. It breaks our own barriers and makes us see life in a different light with kindness and compassion.
The Child and Music
Music is the language of the world. There’s music in our everyday life.
From the chirping birds to blowing winds to sound of the waves, from the cars whirring to honking, children shouting to parents shooing, there’s sound everywhere. From lullabies to calm humming, that is the way we start life in this world.
PC: Unsplash
Have you listened to the sound of animals? We recently found the sound of the whale and dolphin soothes our minds. It’s all new to us, but there is depth to music that releases the knots inside and is refreshing.
If kids need to understand the importance of silence, then they must learn about sound. To bring an internal silence, they must become aware of external silence.
As much as reading a book is delightful, listening to music is soothing to our spirits in it’s own way. What reading does to our minds, music does to our souls.
Few Benefits of Music on Child Development
If your kid is murmuring, singing or humming, and dancing to the tunes, then these are some of the benefits that help in their personal development. Early childhood development is a long process with many elements involved. Music is one of the prime elements.
- Early childhood musical experience accelerates brain development and promotes language development thereby improving reading and writing skills.
- From school readiness to improving their emotional, social, intellectual, motor, analytical and language skills, music ignites the overall development in a child.
- Introducing kids to a variety of music from a very young age helps them appreciate the power of music. Dancing helps build their motor skills and they learn to express themselves better.
- Music coordinates the working of body and the mind. There’s a lot of learning happening on the inside and outside when a kid is listening to music.
- Music brings pure joy that resonates with happiness. Listening to good music helps children relate to good memories. Children learn to express themselves much better. Also, music helps strengthen memory skills in kids as well as adults.
- Do you know why every chore has a song? It’s to make it interesting and easy for kids to understand. Singing, “This is the way I brush my teeth” helps toddlers and pre-schoolers brush their teeth immediately than advising them on the benefits of brushing their teeth. It’s nice to make up songs of praise (even as small as 2 lines) or express anger or disappointment to make them understand various emotions expressed every day. Positive and negative emotions are understood pretty well when a musical is happening at home.
- Rhyming stanzas help in language development and understand humour. Silly songs are fun with toddlers and pre-schoolers since they can confidently voice out their thoughts. Making up silly songs is one of the best ways to improve comprehension skills and build memory.
- A number of music games help in the overall development of the child. One such is humming a tune to find the song. This improves listening skills, recognition and the ability to recollect the song.
- Music helps reduce their fear of things. A whistling cooker is a loud noise that many kids do not like. Cook up a song to help the child understand what’s happening and why the whistle blows. Counting and singing also helps divert their mind from the fear. Pop goes the whistle is a good try too.
- Children learn when to play and when to pause. When they learn when to pause, silence becomes liberating rather than scary.
When children are given the freedom to explore a prepared environment, it leads to a lot of self-discoveries. Their ability to think grows in a beautiful way.
If you could sing together with your child you’ll find that both of you learn to express better without being offended easily.
If you could shake your legs to some music at home with your children, that’s not just a day well spent, but a well-deserved childhood memory. Children become confident when they express themselves through music. Let music ignite their minds.
Is there someone who doesn’t love music? 🙂
How does music help you in your life? I would love to know!
Music is indeed so important for growth and learning, Jayanthy. Lots of useful information in your post.
Thank you so much for dropping by Corinne. I am glad you enjoyed this. ♥️
Oh Singing is a lifesaver for me. Recently my little one started daycare and only singing would calm him down when I leave him. The educators are wonderful. They would sing to him till he stops crying. I sing a lot to my toddler even though I am like the worst singer in the world. I agree with what you have said here.
Thank you so much Raji. Join the club, even I felt the same as you about my singing. But, still, doesn’t it feel great when our little ones see us as the greatest singer there is 🤭
Such kind educators. He is a lucky bud and who wouldn’t sing to a chub like him ♥️
Your wonderful post brings back sweet memories! I always loved singing with my children. Now, it’s a special activity I share with my granddaughter when she visits or when we talk on the phone. While there are no children living in my home now, I do have a cat and recently learned that the purring of a cat has healing properties.
Thank you so much for dropping by JoAnna. I’m familiar with dogs, I’m yet to get used to a cat purring me. 😁 My daughter does enough of that already. 🤭