Music Activities for
different ages
Newborns: Make
music the norm
• Play gentle music and combine this with massage.Touch and hearing
are the strongest sense for a newborn.
• Rock baby in time to the music.
• Lie your child on your tummy and gently move arms and legs. Stroke
palms and soles to encourage reflex movement. Reflex is the first involuntary
movement the infant brain learns to control. Gentle and slow is important in
the first three months, for baby to process these new sensations.
Babies: 3-12
months. Repetition is the key
• Move with music: Rocking,
swaying, lifting high and low, upside down time and tummy time.
• Singing along with music. Sing all the time.
• Playing with instruments. Shakers and bells that instantly make a
sound are great. Remember everything will go in their mouths so make sure they
have rounded shapes.
Toddlers:
• Move with music.Move in time to the beat clapping, hopping,
jumping, swaying. Use props such as scarves, puppets.
• Sing Nursery rhymes. Sing about an activity you are doing – make
up a song. E.g. this is the way we wash our face. Sing a song and get your
child to echo, “It’s a lovely day (it’s a lovely day)”. Sing when it’s time to
tidy up the house.
• Play with music. Use instruments that are easy for little hands to
grip, small shakers, bells, drums or tapping sticks.
Preschoolers:
• Develop a good sense of beat by playing and moving in time to the
music. It is important to have movements that can cross the midline with your
actions (so left hand goes to right knee). Experiment with different ways of
moving and stopping. Stop with your arms out, with one leg up, crouched down in
a ball etc. Moving backwards, sideways to music.
• Keep singing, it’s a great way to develop language skills,
vocabulary, listening skills, syntax as well as a sense of pitch.
•
Play with music. Use instruments with different sounds. Guiros,
triangles, assorted shakers, drums or tapping sticks. Play along to music
developing musical and physical skills.
With thanks to Judi Cranston Kindyrock