Music & Movement Benefits: Language Development

Lifting. Squatting. Twirling. Bending. Whew! Sometimes Kindermusik class feels more like a workout than, well, a workout. Okay, maybe not P90x, but still! While a parent works out muscles each week, young children build early language skills through music and movement activities.

2 benefits of music and movement on language development

Pairing the word with the movement helps babies and young children understand the concept. Pre-readers rely almost exclusively on what they hear in order to acquire language. Children’s brains make a connection based on what they experience (being lifted high or twirling around) and hear (“up” or “twirl”). So, when a parent of caregiver lifts a child high “up, up in the sky” or “twirls around like a leaf” while singing the songs in Kindermusik class, young children learn the word and understand the concept. Later, children will discover those words correspond to marks on a page which eventually leads to letter recognition and reading.
Signing with hearing children boosts their communication skills. We use sign language throughout our music classes for babies. Using signs for words such as HELLO, GOODBYE, MORE, and STOP throughout class—and then later at home—supports communication and language development and even improves confidence and self-esteem. Plus, new research shows encouraging babies and toddlers to use gestures, such as sign language, helps in speech and cognitive development.

Parenting Tip: Play that fun-key music! Listen and move to music that combines key vocabulary with a movement or activity. Try favorite Kindermusik songs from class. Also use sign language for key words throughout the day. For example, sign MORE to ask if your child wants MORE fruit or HELLO when your little one wakes up from a nap.

Come experience for yourself the benefits of music! Contact a local Kindermusik educator and visit a class.

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

3,600+ ways to build a healthy parent-child bond in a baby's first year

3,600. That’s the approximate number of times a baby needs a diaper change in the first year alone. (Yowser! That’s a lot of diapers.) Of course, every diaper change satisfies the physical needs of a baby, but it also meets a baby’s developing social and emotional needs. Every time a baby cries and a parent responds to the need, it strengthens the vital parent-child connection. Building an attachment and a sense of trust not only lays a solid foundation of social and emotional development but also primes a baby’s brain for learning.

Strong healthy parent-child bonds as infants help children make friends

Researchers from the University of Illinois recently published a study in the journal of Developmental Psychology that showed young children with strong parent-child bonds tend to be more responsive and adaptable when meeting—and playing with—other children. They also tend to be more sympathetic to the needs and moods of other children.
In the study, the team measured the security of child-mother bonds for 114 children who were 33 months old. As part of the study, the parents reported on their child’s temperament, such as propensity towards anger or social fearfulness. Then when the children reached 39 months old, the researchers paired same-gender children and observed them playing together over three laboratory visits in the course of a month.
“Securely attached kids were more responsive to a new peer partner the first time they met,” explained Dr. Nancy McElwain in a press release. “A more securely attached child was also likely to use suggestions and requests rather than commands and intrusive behavior (such as grabbing toys away) during play with an anger-prone peer during the first two visits.”
The researchers believe that toddlers and preschoolers who develop strong bonds with their parents learn early on that their needs matter and confidently express themselves.

Kindermusik supports strong parent-child bonds from birth

Building healthy parent-child bonds starts in infancy. In our music classes for babies (for all ages actually!), we create many moments to strengthen and celebrate this vital parent-child connection. Every time a parent sings lovingly to a wee one, the bond grows stronger. With each intentional and gentle touch, rock, or lap bounce, the bond grows stronger. And every time a caregiver gazes into a child’s eyes and smiles during tummy time, the bond grows stronger. As babies grow, this sense of security—and trust—gives little ones the confidence to explore new environments, try new things, and make new friends.

Enjoy this free activity from Kindermusik@Home that supports parent-child bonds.

Contact your local Kindermusik educator to experience for yourself how music creates healthy parent-child bonds.

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

Kindermusik in the News! Announcing Cuddle & Bounce and Sing & Play

This week, Kindermusik International announced our newest curricula for babies and young toddlers through a press release, which continues to be shared through parenting and education websites, newsletters, and social media channels.

Consider sharing with your local community and press!

New Music and Movement Classes from Kindermusik Engage Babies and Toddlers

Cuddle & Bounce and Sing & Play offer opportunities for young children to bond with parents while learning musical concepts and furthering brain development

GREENSBORO, NC – December 3, 2013 – Music and movement classes can spark learning in young children, and when done in conjunction with a parent, can help build bonds between parent and child. Parents seeking early development opportunities for children as young as newborns should check out two new classes offered by Kindermusik International. The classes Cuddle & Bounce, for children from birth to one year of age, and Sing & Play, for children from one to two years of age, use music and movement to nurture and guide learning. Parents can sign-up to try a free class by visiting Kindermusik.com.

During weekly classes, parents and children engage in a mix of activities such as instrument exploration, dancing, singing, the learning of musical concepts like steady beat, tempo, and more. A licensed Kindermusik educator shares the developmental benefits behind the activities, and provides access to Kindermusik@Home online parenting resources including music and stories from class, tips for parents on how to communicate with their babies, and specific ideas on how to incorporate music and movement activities into the families’ daily routines and rituals. These classes for babies and toddlers are just the beginning of the Kindermusik journey, as their program extends through age seven.

Cuddle & Bounce celebrates the thrilling journey of a baby’s first year of life, focusing on:

Language and Vocal Development – Babies’ early language skills are nurtured as they imitate sounds, engage in lots of give-and-take conversations, and add to communicative abilities through sign language.

Brain Development – Through every movement, a baby’s brain synapses and the connections between neurons are created and strengthened.

Large and Small Motor Skills – Movement through music activities support stretching, kicking, rolling, crawling, sitting and standing independently will enhance large motor skills; playful activities such as reaching for or grasping objects will aid small motor skills.

Social-Emotional Development – Through lots of cuddling, playing, humming, and dancing, Kindermusik activities help build and strengthen parents’ relationship with children. Side-by-side play and group dance activities with other parents and children provide the important benefits of safe and early interactions with the wider social world.

Musical Development – Together, parents and babies will explore simple, baby-safe percussion instruments. Throughout hundreds of different Kindermusik music and movement activities, babies receive an early introduction to the songs, sounds, rhythms, and tempos of music from around the world.

The Sing & Play curriculum includes:

Movement & Physical Development – Walking, jumping, marching, dancing, bouncing, and wiggling is fun, and strengthens young muscles and bones, improves balance, and helps new walkers be aware of what their bodies can do.

Exploration Time – A child’s natural curiosity is stimulated in an inviting environment full of specially designed instruments, textures, sounds, movements, interesting objects, and baby-safe props.

Language Development – By exploring new words and imitating sounds, young toddlers gain vocabulary and communication skills.

Instrument play and Musical concepts – Age-appropriate experiences with child-safe instruments enhance a sense of rhythm and steady beat, develop a keen awareness of the distinguishing qualities of sound, and encourage spontaneity and creativity. Even the littlest musicians and their parents benefit from early exposure to basic music fundamentals like loud and quiet, musical form, tempo, timbre, steady beat, and more.

"Cuddle & Bounce and Sing & Play classes give parents new opportunities to engage in safe, fun, and developmentally appropriate music-and-movement experiences with their very young babies and toddlers," said Debby Pool, vice president of product development for Kindermusik International. “We are excited to add these two new curricula to our offerings, and we are confident that these classes will give babies and new walkers a great early start in many critical domains of development and learning.”

To take advantage of these early childhood music programs, which later feed into Kindermusik International’s curricula for children through age seven, visit Kindermusik.com to find a class near you and try a class for free.

About Kindermusik International

Kindermusik International is the world’s leading provider of music, movement and literacy programs for young children, enjoyed by 2 million plus families in more than 70 countries. For more than 30 years, Kindermusik has helped children and their families discover how music can enrich their lives and lay the foundation for a lifetime love of learning. Kindermusik offers developmentally-specific educational programs for children ages newborn to seven. Kindermusik curriculum is taught by the best educators in the best schools and studios world-wide. Visit Kindermusik.com to find out more about Kindermusik’s music classes for kids and early childhood curriculum.

Connect with Kindermusik:

Facebook: Facebook.com/Kindermusik

Google+: Plus.Google.com/+Kindermusik

Pinterest: Pinterest.com/Kindermusik

Twitter: @Kindermusik

YouTube: Youtube.com/KindermusikRocks

Contacts:

Shellie Foriska

Kindermusik International

720-206-6293

sforiska@kindermusik.com

Lauren Burke

KEH Communications

410-975-9638

Lauren@kehcomm.com

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The Power of the Lullaby

Once again, research proves what we parents have known instinctively for a long time… that playing music and singing lullabies has the power to soothe, lower stress, strengthen bonds, and improve sleeping patterns.
Kindermusik has long recognized the power of music especially when it comes to child brain development, but we specifically use lullabies because of the emotional and health benefits. In fact, we include a lullaby or rocking song in every one of our baby music classes and toddlers classes. And just in case you’re wondering, some of our favorite Kindermusik lullabies include:

You Are My Sunshine
Golden Slumbers
May There Always Be Sunshine
Hush, Little Baby
Tell Me Why
That’s An Irish Lullaby

By the way, what researchers found most impacting was for these little ones to hear the voices of their loved ones singing – a special reminder that the most important people in a child’s life are his/her parents and close family members and that nothing is sweeter than the sound of your voice in your child’s ears.

Find more Kindermusik lullabies and download them from play.kindermusik.com. Simply search on “lullaby.”

Learn more Kindermusik lullabies and songs when you enroll in a Kindermusik class. Try a FREE class on us today!

Shared by Theresa Case, who has an award-winning Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in beautiful Upstate South Carolina

Tag: activities for babies