#1 Misconception about music at home: the participants need to be musically inclined.
Intentional, shared music-making is about awakening and refining senses and skills to help children soar in any environment, and home is the best place to start.
That’s good news. The great news is that creating a musical home doesn’t require parents and caregivers to play instruments proficiently or even sing in key. A musical home is simply a safe environment where listening to music, appreciating and enjoying music, and actively engaging in musical activities are part of everyday life.
First, let’s take a look at the science behind WHY musical homes make all the difference in early childhood development. Then, whether you’re a parent/caregiver or teacher, we’ll dive into some tips to help get a jump on the biological benefits.
What science says about the benefits of music at home
A study from Guangzhou University found that children ages 3-6 who had some sort of musical environment at home—like singing or dancing with parents consistently—exhibited more emotional regulation and other pro-social behaviors.
So, what’s really happening when you make music together?
When two or more people are bopping along to the same beat (you could be tapping, clapping, rocking, dancing), we know that:
- Stress hormones decrease, and happy chemicals (like oxytocin) increase
- Our brainwaves synchronize, allowing safety and co-regulation to kick in
- The combination of the above gives us confidence and curiosity
The thing about making music at home is that it has the added benefit of children making music with their most trusted humans—nothing replaces that connection—so the biggest opportunity for early development is actually outside of the classroom.
Here are 5 easy musical activities to help kickstart a musical home.
5 musical activities to try at home
1. Incorporate matching movements to songs.
Not every musical moment needs coordinated movements, but pairing descriptive motions to words boosts vocabulary and comprehension, and helps elongate engagement from infants on.
“Skinnamarink” is one of our favorite examples (for older toddlers and up, pay attention to how quickly they can match your movements!). You can pair all kinds of movements with this song, but a great place to start is with sign language for pre-talkers.
- Play “Skinnamarink” below or stream it on our free app!
- During the lyrics “I love you,” use the American Sign Language sign for “I love you” and make sure you’re making eye contact with your little one while you do it.
2. Even for pre-talkers, use call-and-response techniques within songs to promote early communication and taking turns.
Babbling counts! And waiting for baby to babble back to you is the perfect pre-cursor to proper back-and-forth communication when they get older. You can do this with any song, like “Lavender’s Blue.” It’s available on the free Kindermusik app, and you can watch it in action between caregiver and toddler below.
3. Use music during tasks children don’t necessarily want to do.
Diaper changes, eating breakfast, cleaning up toys, putting on shoes…all of these demands can be harder on little ones (and their grownups!) than we think.
Music makes it easier. Check out Kindermusik’s Rituals album on the free app and grab a list of musical “family productivity” ideas here.
4. Let them freely express themselves to a song, and you copy them.
A study from UC San Francisco found that when children improvised musically (versus playing from instruction) their neural reward networks were more highly engaged. This is directly linked to repeating positive behaviors, sustaining curiosity, and building a love for learning.
So, turn on a favorite song, engage them by moving to the music, and then watch what they do.
The bonus of you copying their interpretations of what they hear gives them that extra boost of confidence to take their creativity out into the world.
5. Replace speaking with singing in little moments.
When we say little moments, that can be anything from asking them where an object is to repeating what they just told you.
For example, imagine a young toddler says “geeeeen” when pointing to the grass. When a grownup sings back “The grass is g-r-een,” that toddler absorbs the mouth movements and letter formations needed for phonemic awareness and speech support.
Most of all…make it fun!
When music-making becomes part of everyday life, it naturally increases the joy factor in your environment, a safe space for expression, and the critical family connection children need to fuel cognitive growth during the early years and beyond.
Want to learn how to bring more music into your home? Find a Kindermusik class near you or check out our teaching solutions!