Two Simple Ideas for Supporting Children’s Vocabulary Development

Up, down, in, out, under… Those relational prepositions mean something very specific to us as adults. But when toddlers hear a phrase like, “Put the block under the cup,” they’ll probably put the block in the cup, because it’s the obvious thing to do. Toddlers understand that they are supposed to do something with the block and the cup, but just what all those relationships are, and what they’re called, can take years to master. Typically, toddlers tune in to the words they know, like “block” and “cup”—and then make a good guess about what you’ve got in mind with the rest.

Language development, like all other developmental domains, is a process which can be nurtured in surprisingly simple, everyday interactions and activities. Here are two ideas that will help support children’s vocabulary development:

#1 – Label and move.

There is a powerful connection between movement and learning that has an impact on language development too. That’s because a child’s developing brain makes a connection based on what they experience. The more you label the movements, the more your child will understand and be able to make the connection between the word and the movement or object. Here’s a great example of moving and labeling:

#2 – Practice and play.

Learning should be fun! And here at Kindermusik, we like to make it hands-on, interactive, and engaging, particularly with our @Home Materials. Here’s a playful way to help your child with their vocabulary development:

Looking for more parenting ideas on how to support your child’s development? Visit a Kindermusik class. Your first one is on us.

Why We Love Carl Orff

We love Carl Orff around here and we think you might too. Even if you don’t know him by name, you and your child benefit from his legacy in every Kindermusik class. Today we wanted to pause and celebrate him. Carl Orff would have turned 120 this month, and his incredible impact on music and music education remains alive and well.

In the 1900s, Carl Orff helped to create an approach to teaching early childhood music that emphasizes the inclusion of singing, movement, instrument playing, and improvisation with a goal of developing lifelong musicianship. The Orff approach is “child-centered” with the fundamental philosophy that just as children can learn language without formal instruction so can they learn music by experiencing and participating in various musical lessons and activities. This was revolutionary!

Here at Kindermusik, we believe as Orff did that prior to understanding music, children must initially “feel” it through music and movement, improvisation, instrument play, and basic rhythmic speech or chant.

Carl Orff explained it this way: “Music begins inside human beings and so must any instruction, not at the instrument, not with the first finger, nor with the first position, not with this or that chord. The starting point is one’s own stillness. Listening to oneself. The ‘being ready for music.’ Listening to one’s own heartbeat and breathing.”

So, happy birthday, Mr. Orff! Thank you for being an important part of what Kindermusik is today and what Kindermusik means to hundreds of thousands of children around the world. As we honor your life and your legacy, we think you would have been especially proud of how these Kindermusik kids engage in instrument exploration as the music inside them bursts forth!

Find a local Kindermusik class and experience how we integrate Orff’s philosophy into our classes.

Popular Pinterest Pins for Summertime Fun

Looking for a few new ideas for summertime fun to add to your family’s list? Here are a few of the most popular Pinterest Pins from our Kindermusik boards.

Favorite Kindermusik Pinterest Pins for Summertime Fun

1. Create a Ball Maze. A great activity for shape identification, predictions, cause and effect, and fun!

2. Hula Hoop sized bubbles. What is this beautiful concoction? Hula Hoops AND bubbles?! Yes, please!

3. Books for young children to get them moving AND reading.

4. Five favorite Kindermusik ways to get up and move.

5. Classic Hand-Clapping Games for Kids. No worries. Adults can play, too!

6. Teach Your Child the Letter P. Turn down the summer heat and learn about penguins and the letter P.

No matter how your family chooses to celebrate summer, fall, winter, or spring, we know that you will be creating memories together!

Looking for more ideas for your family’s summer (or winter, fall, and spring) list? Be sure to follow us on Pinterest!

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer (and Pinterest pinner!) from the Atlanta, Georgia, area.

4 Musical Ways to Entertain Young Children While Lying Down

You need a break. I don’t even know you, but if you are a parent like me, well, you need a break. Of course, no law states that parents are entitled to one 15-minute break for every four hours on duty much less an hour-long lunch break.

A break from parenting is best taken in small increments throughout the day. It’s the real reason why parents of young children claim they need to go to the bathroom so often. It’s one of the few places where we can create the illusion of solitude (if you block out the sound of the child banging on the bathroom door asking for a snack or the little fingers reaching under the door, of course).

If you find yourself needing a break—outside of the potty—try one of these musical ways to entertain your kids while sitting (or lying down):

4 Musical Ways to Entertain Young Children While Lying Down

Put on some music and invite your child(ren) to create a musical variety show. While they dance, play instruments, or participate in a parade, you head to the couch for the best seat in the house! Your kids will burn off some energy without YOU chasing them all around the house (or playground, cul-de-sac, or grocery store)! For older children, you can buy some extra “down time,” by suggesting they rehearse beforehand so you will be surprised! Here’s a Kindermusik child playing her dulcimer for her mom!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M25eG7ZXqxs[/youtube]
Engage in a Call-and-Response singing game. You hum a tune or clap a rhythm. Your child repeats it back. Increase the complexity of the patterns. Take turns being the leader. You can even invite your child to lightly tap out the beat on your back.
Play freeze dance. Put on some music. While the music plays, your child dances. When the music stops, your child stops dancing. Young children love creating silly poses when the music stops. Plus, you can control the music from any relaxing position! As an extra bonus, children gain practice with inhibitory control or the ability to stop oneself and wait.
Guess the song. Take turns humming a familiar tune while the other person tries to guess the song.

Looking for more ideas on how to use music to make parenting easier? Be sure to follow us on Pinterest!

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell a writer from the Atlanta area. She often ~~used~~ uses these musical tips with her own children!

Turn Bath Time Battles into Happy Tub Tunes

As if we parents needed any more guilt trips about experiences we’re not giving our kids… thanks for raising the bar on bath time, Pinterest! Despite how you may feel after perusing Pinterest, you really don’t need frozen ice cubes in different colors, glow-in-the-dark sticks, colorful bath paints, or epic construction or princess themed bath times. All you need is your voice and an “instrument” or two!

Here are a few musical tips for turning bath time into fun time – all minus the tears and tantrums.

Who says you only sing in the shower? Singing in the tub can be even better.

Sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” “Looby Loo,” or “The Hokey Pokey” as you bathe your child. For older children, mix up the words for extra giggles. So, while you sing about putting “your left leg in” wash the “right arm instead.”

Establish your own BTSO – Bath Time Symphony Orchestra!

Create a water symphony with all of the bath sounds (splashing water, water pouring out of and into cups, rubber duck squeaks, etc.). Help your little one practice active listening by talking about what the different sounds are and asking your little one to identify the sounds, too.

Try a little back-and-forth play, vocal play, that is!

You make a sound, and wait for baby to imitate. Say a short little rhythm, like “ta – ta – ti-ti – ta,” and have your toddler echo back. Or sing a phrase of a song, and see if your preschooler will sing the next phrase.

Bubbles make everything about bath time even better.

Sing the “Bubbles” song from Kindermusik as you bathe your child. Notice how this Kindermusik educator pauses the bubbles and encourages young children to communicate that they “want more, please.” Consider making a bubble bath or blowing bubbles, too.

Create a sweet little bath time lullaby routine.

Listen to lullaby music in the bathroom to signal to your child that bedtime is near, and soon it will be time to start settling down for the day – once your little one has had her after-bath massage. (This is a great time to rub in that baby lotion and connect in a special way with your child by singing softly and making lots of intentional eye contact.)

Looking for more practical parenting tips? Visit a local Kindermusik class and discover even more ways to make great parenting just a little bit easier with music.

Contributed by Theresa Case whose award-winning Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios is located in beautiful upstate South Carolina.

5 Musical Ways to Manage Holiday Meltdowns

A mom uses gentle rocking to comfort her toddler during a meltdown.

Ah, the holidays—a time of rest, joyous family gatherings, and the harmonious sound of…meltdowns.

The reality is that this season often adds stress to families, especially for its youngest members.

Different schedules, new places, travel times, rich foods, family photos, and general overstimulation affect everything from mealtime to bedtime, which can contribute to not-so-merry meltdowns.

While grownups have the ability to command self-control faster, the brain’s pre-frontal cortex (where this function is typically associated) is not fully developed until adulthood. Additionally, relaxation is a learned behavior, which is why trying to reason with a toddler during a tantrum doesn’t usually work.

So, in the midst of holiday chaos, it’s important to gently teach children how to relax. Music and movement are some of the best tools out there to help little ones reset, recoup, and get ready for the next event.

Continue reading “5 Musical Ways to Manage Holiday Meltdowns”

Answer that Baby Babble to Speed Up Language Development

Hang around babies long enough and you start hearing things. From soft sweet coos to long monologues of “dadadadadada,” babies talk a lot—even though we have no idea what they are really saying! That’s okay. We don’t need to understand all the words (or non-words!) to join in the conversation.

How Parents Respond to All that Baby Babble Matters

New early childhood research from the University of Iowa and Indiana University found that how parents respond to all that baby talk can speed up a baby’s vocalizing and language development. That’s great news for those of us no longer fluent in Baby talk.
“It’s not that we found responsiveness matters,” explained co-author Julie Gros-Louis in a press release, “It’s how a mother responds that matters.”
In this six-month-long study, the research team watched the interactions between a dozen mothers and their 8-month-old babies two times a month for 30 minutes. During this free playtime, the researchers monitored how mothers responded to their babies’ positive vocalizations when directed toward them.
Researchers learned that how the mothers respond makes a big difference in the language development of their babies:

Babies with mothers who responded to what they thought their babies were saying showed an increase in developmentally advanced, consonant-vowel vocalizations.
The babbling of these babies became sophisticated enough to sound more like words.
Over time these babies also began directing more of their babbling toward their mothers.
Babies whose mothers did not try as much to understand them and instead directed their infants’ attention to something else did not show the same rate of growth in their language and communication skills.

Bottom line: Respond to all that baby babble!

How to Answer that Baby Babble with Music

Babies love the sound of their parents’ voices. Parents can feed that love and grow their babies’ use of language at the same time by singing, listening, moving, and dancing to music. After all, music is a language parents and babies both understand. Musical activities, such as those included in every Kindermusik class, help parents engage with their children and be responsive to them. Here are ways for parent-baby pairs and other caregivers and teachers to use music to support the early language development of babies.
1. Engage in vocal play—one of the earliest stages of language development. Vocal play is how babies’ learn to use the tongue, gums, and jaw muscles needed to produce vowels and consonants. When caregivers participate, too, they expose babies to the sounds that make up our language and encourage them to practice taking turns communicating. Vocal play works best when a parent and baby can see each other’s faces, making it easier for a child to mimic mouth movements. Plus, this eye contact also helps parents and babies bond.
Parenting Tip: Sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” with your little one. Pause after key parts of the song, such as “E-I-E-I-O” and wait for your baby to respond. You can also explore the different sounds the animals on the farm make like these families did in Kindermusik class:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsLil1s_wbE[/youtube]
2. Let babies experience steady beat by bouncing to music. The brain processes music in a similar way to how it processes language. Research even shows that children who can repeat and create a steady beat show increased neural responses to speech sounds when compared to other children. Steady beat competency relates to a child’s ability to speak and read fluidly during the school year.
Parenting Tip: Put on some music and bounce to the beat with your baby on your lap or on your hip. This lets babies experience steady beat with their whole bodies. Try one of our favorite lap bounces: Pizza, Pickle, Pumpernickel.
3. Rocking the way to language development. Gently rocking babies throughout those quiet moments of each day gives parents the opportunity to combine vocal play and steady beat—and receive 2x the benefits!
Parenting tip: At the end of the day or after a feeding, hum “Hush Little Baby” (or another favorite lullaby) while you gently rock or sway your little one to the beat. As with “Old MacDonald,” pause during key phrases and wait for your baby to respond. Before too long, your baby will grow into your toddler and be able to “rock” in a new way, like this Kindermusik toddler does at home while listening to music from class!
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFP_DVDKezA[/youtube]
Throughout the Kindermusik experience, we use music to help parents engage with their children, be responsive to them, and gain developmental insights and practical tips along the way. After all, a parent is a child’s first and best teacher.

Learn more about using music to support early language development at www.kindermusik.com.

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, a freelance writer living in the Atlanta area.

Hokey-Pokey Your Way through Everyday Parenting

Everyone speaks music – young, old, all nationalities – through lyrics and through movement. Music truly is the universal language. As such, music is the one thing that parents all around the world can use to help them get through their day.

5 Ways You Can Hokey-Pokey Your Way through Everyday Parenting

In the car
It’s easy to stream music on your phone, pop in a CD, or turn on the radio. In fact, there’s really no better place than the family car to develop listening skills, expose your child to a variety of musical styles, and best of all, create memories.
Need a good starting point for turning your family taxi into a happening, happy music experience? Click here for your free “family taxi” playlist!
At naptime and bedtime
Gentle, quiet music can calm and soothe a child to sleep, even when he thinks he’s not tire. Plus it helps block out the noise when your neighbor decides to mow the lawn in the middle of nap time. Sleep time can also be a great time to expose your child to a little Bach or Mozart as well as those beloved lullabies.
On a rainy day
Music is like indoor sunshine on a rainy, dreary day. Depending on what kind of music you choose, music can be a quiet accompaniment for play time, inspiration for a parade around the house, or a giggly, happy way to dance the rainy day blues away. (Dance long enough, and they’ll be more than ready for a nice long nap too!)
You can also take a video field trip without leaving the house. You’ll love this “Big Back Yard” field trip that takes you and your child to see some beautiful butterflies, up close and personal!
Before dinner
It can be really tough to juggle making dinner and keeping a little one happy, especially towards the end of the day. Turn on some bright, happy music, get out some wooden spoons and plastic bowls, and let the concert begin! And while you’re waiting for that pasta to boil, why not take a spin around the kitchen with your child as your dance partner?
For family together time
Whether you have some child-friendly instruments or you improvise, there’s nothing that bonds a family more than making music together in a family jam session. Or maybe you decide to establish a little ritual to welcome Dad home each day by doing a little dance together – like the Jungle Hokey-Pokey! No matter how you choose to speak the language, music is the delightful common thread that binds hearts together, making memories that truly will last forever.

Why Kindermusik? With an expansive music library, Home Materials, and rich resources for parents (Did you grab your family taxi playlist or try the Jungle Hokey-Pokey yet?), Kindermusik classes provide plenty of musical inspiration for singing, dancing, and playing your way through the daily childhood routines that can be made happier and a whole lot easier with music!
Find out more about Kindermusik at www.Kindermusik.com!

This post was adapted from an article originally written by Theresa Case for Macaroni Kid Greenville. Theresa has an award-winning Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in the beautiful upstate of South Carolina.

Give It a Rest. Kids Will Love these 2 Musical Math Games.

Patterns surround us and recognizing and understanding patterns is a foundational math skill. Music gives children the opportunity to experience patterns through movement, listening, and playing instruments. When children step, step, step, stop responding to the music or ta, ta, ta, rest with rhythm sticks, children are learning rhythm patterns (quarter note, quarter note, quarter note, rest), a basic musical concept. Rhythm patterns are combinations of long and short sounds and silences.
Try these two math games for kids from Kindermusik@Home that combine music and math!

Homemade Ti-Ti Ta

This activity for kids introduces the concept of visual and auditory patterns created simultaneously (e.g. the sounds of with the visual representation of).
Patterns are incredibly important, both to music and math. Children first notice and recognize patterns, then develop the ability to complete partial patterns, duplicate patterns, and eventually to extend and create patterns. The patterns also go from simple (ABAB) to more complex (AAB, ABB, AABB, AAABB, AABC, and so on).
The Ti-Ti Ta pattern includes another layer of complexity: duration. Rather than a simple red-red-green pattern in which all components are equal, a Ti-Ti Ta pattern contains the concept of short-short-long within it. When the pieces are rearranged, the “notes” are rearranged as well. Ta, ta, ti-ti, ta is more complex than green, green, red, red, green because the concept of a pair of eighth notes (each of which is half as long as a “ta,” or quarter note) is embedded in the ti-ti.

Quarter Notes and Quarter Rests

This game for kids introduces them to the sound of the quarter note and the “no-sound” of a quarter rest. Children test their ears on how well they recognize them when they’re assembled in patterns.

Find out more about the connections between music and math in Kindermusik at www.kindermusik.com.

How Music + Movement Fuels Early Math Skills

$An older toddler enhances early math skills in Kindermusik class by playing with rhythm sticks.$

Researchers, scientists, and teachers have long recognized the link between music and early math skills, but did you know the benefits are longterm, and extend to heightened performance on standardized tests and problem-solving abilities later in school?

Continue reading “How Music + Movement Fuels Early Math Skills”