Several years ago at the Kindermusik Educator Convention in San Antonio, TX, Dr. Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., talked about the absence of touch in many early childhood care environments. Young children today will often be reprimanded for touching, holding hands, hugging, and being given the freedom to wrestle and topple over each other. Dr. Hannaford asserted that all of these actions are actually essential for spatial awareness and strengthening neural wires in the brain.
In the spirit of Dr. Hannaford’s ideas, we wanted to share two musical activities that involve touch and physical contact. These activities were pulled from the Huggies Happy Baby site under an article called Toddlers Express Themselves through Dance.
Activity 1: Musical Hugs
To play, put on some music and dance around with your little one(s). Dance any way you want. At a random moment, pause the music and hug! Then start the music back up and get dancing again.
If you have lots of family members or kids playing, everyone hugs whoever is closest to them. If you’re having a birthday party with lots of kids attending, consider playing this game instead of Musical Chairs. Musical hugs allows everyone to play and doesn’t result in any “losers” like Musical Chairs does. This game also promotes listening skills and practice with starting and stopping. The added bonus is the positive physical contact, which strengthens the bond between you and your toddler.
Activity 2: Musical Partners
A variation on the above game, this requires players to find each other, hold hands and sit down until the music starts again! If you have several players, the game also can be played in two circles, one inside the other (one partner in the inside circle and one in the outside). When the music starts, the circles move in opposite directions. When it stops, the children run to their partners, hold hands and sit down.
Try one of these activities today, or make up your own game. Either way, don’t be afraid of squeezing those little ones tight!
Want more musical activity ideas? Try a free Kindermusik class near you.