Using Music with Infants and Toddlers - Essay Example

Music can help children to understand the emotions of others and help them to build relationships with other children, family, and teachers. If you introduce music from other cultures into your classroom, you can even increase the cultural awareness of your little ones!

            Music has a great impact on social-emotional skills, but it also strengthens physical skills. Dancing is a common music-related gross motor activity that young children love to do. If you play dancing games like "the Twist" and "Freeze", children can also practice their balance. There are also many ways to incorporate fine motor activities with music, like finger plays and interactive motion songs, like "Wheels on the Bus". Songs like "Hokey Pokey" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", when done regularly, can also increase a child's body awareness and help them to learn the names of body parts.  "Hokey Pokey" can also increase a child's bilateral coordination, or the ability to use both sides of his body together.

            Cognitive skills are another group of skills that are enhanced by music. Songs such as "One, Two, Buckle my Shoe" and "Five Little Monkeys" build counting skills and repetitive songs build pattern skills. Music activities can also foster pretend play, which begins to develop in toddlers at around 18 months of age. Literacy skills can also be developed through music. Modifying the words in familiar songs can encourage children to practice critical thinking skills. Music also enhances a child's receptive language skills and helps them to increase the number of words that they understand.  Phonemic awareness can also be developed through song and having a higher developed phonemic awareness will help a child to gain stronger literacy skills over time.  Music is an excellent way to promote growth in the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive domains.