Happy Inventors Month! In 1998, the United Inventors Association of the USA (UIA-USA), the Academy of Applied Science, and Inventors’ Digest magazine started Inventor’s Month as a way to celebrate the various contributions of inventors. Inventors make our lives easier from electricity to indoor plumbing to modern medicine to peanut better.
The list of top inventors probably includes Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, every child
. Wait. “Every child?” Yes! Children make great inventors. Think about it. An inventor is someone who creates some new process, appliance, machine, or thing. To a child, everything is a new process—from learning how to eat, roll over, stand, walk, talk, roll a ball, and more. Children also discover new uses for everyday objects. A laundry basket becomes a turtle shell, a stack of pillows turns into a mountain worth exploring, a baby spoon makes a great instrument, and blocks become, well, just about anything!
3 ways to encourage children as inventors
- Participate in the arts. Research indicates that STEM graduates (those majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics fields) showed an increased involvement in visual arts, acting, dance, and creative writing. Even better, 93 percent of those graduates participated in music classes as a child.
- Combine music and learning. Music is more than, well, music. The benefits of music include supporting the social-emotional, physical, and the cognitive development of children. New research found that science-themed music videos boost scientific learning. We already learn our ABCs through song, so why not learn about gravity, phases of the moon, the life cycles of frogs, and all about magnets, too?
- Play together. Children learn through play. Provide the children in your life with hands-on playtime with caring, loving adults. Playing together helps children learn about their world and their place in it. One of the greatest inventors of all time, Albert Einstein, understood the benefits of play. After all, he said, “Play is the highest form of research.”
4 musical activities to celebrate Inventor’s Month
For Babies: (From Cuddle & Bounce, “Bluebird, Bluebird”—Crinkly, Furry, Bumpy, Strange)
Touch, squeeze, feel, pat. Babies explore their worlds with their hands (and sometimes mouths). With an adult there to exercise diligent supervision, of course, there are plenty of ways to introduce new and interesting textures and sensations to a baby.
For Young Toddlers: (From Sing & Play “Family All Around Me”—Fill & Empty)
Fill it up, dump it out. Fill it up, dump it out. Sound familiar? Fill and empty is an enduring ‘play scheme’ among toddlers, and there are so many variations on the theme! Here are a few fresh ideas that will engage toddlers.
For Older Toddlers: (From Wiggle & Grow “Beach Days”—Let’s Make…A Beach in a Bottle!
You know that feeling, when you’ve spent a great day at the beach and you just wish you could bottle it and bring it home with you…?
For Preschoolers: (From Laugh & Learn “Outside My Window”—Be a Sound Inventor: Weather Sounds)
You won’t believe how easy it is to make these weather sound effects! This friendly tutorial teaches you how to imitate the sounds of light rain, heavy rain, thunder, and wind.
Do you want to bring the power of music to your child and family? Find a local Kindermusik educator today!
Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, whose oldest daughter learned about the phases of the moon through song.


music to make connections between people of all ages and all backgrounds.
Of course, music makes those big life occasions all the more memorable. What is a wedding without music to walk down the aisle or a graduation without a little “Pomp and Circumstance”? But, music also celebrates those everyday (and just as important!) moments.
Casper, Wyoming, may be known as “cowboy country” but thanks to Amy Munsell—with the support of her husband, Lukas—it’s also now Kindermusik country. We know that the sense of community she and her Kindermusik families create is making a profound difference in the lives of children in Casper.

young children from Kindermusik@Home, using their hands as shapes, tools, and mementos.
That’s why we found it fascinating that
Young children love to search for hidden or missing items. Following the English language directions in the video, and then finding (and saying hello to!) the frogs, fish, and ducks, provides young ELL students much-needed feelings of mastery and success in English.
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From “Home Sweet Home
Parents of young children need special superpowers. Forget about leaping tall buildings in a single bound or even flying, parents really need the ability to turn invisible in order to check on a sleeping baby, the power to fully function on only 3 hours of interrupted sleep, and the capacity to do the laundry faster than a speeding bullet! Who knew someone so little could go through so many clothes!?

This is the time of year when many Kindermusik educators are bidding a fond farewell to their Kindermusik graduates – a bittersweet time for sure! But they are sent way with so much pride, not just because of their accomplishments, but because of how Kindermusik has prepared them to succeed.
Poised for success in music, in school, and in life.