ARTS (MUSIC)
Exploring Musical Elements with Young Children
Children naturally enjoy reacting to music at an early age. It doesn’t take a parent to be musically trained to participate in musical activities with your child. Musicality at this age, does not rely on talent, but mostly on instincts; the steady beat is as natural as a heartbeat.
There is a reason why music is always accompanied with movement when it comes to the early years. Children are still exploring with the abilities of their bodies, and also able to best represent ideas and expression using their bodies. You don’t need a music instrument to provide musical activities, you only need your whole self.
Here are some ways you can use your bodies to explore some musical concepts:
STOP AND GO
There are many free songs and videos out there that provides stop and go movements (think of it as freeze). Apart from being a fun game, it gets children to practice a little bit of control to remain frozen before they go again when the music starts or changes!
- The Goldfish by Laurie Berkner
- Move and Freeze by The Learning Station
- Jump! by Patty Shukla
SLOW AND FAST
Tempo is a musical element that children can explore. It is extremely fun to go fast, but imagine how much work it will take for them to regulate to moving together with the music when it starts to slow down. What makes it even more fun is that after they are exposed to the same song repeatedly, you are also allowing them to anticipate the time they can go fast again! Use your bodies to run, walk, skip, jump around the room. There are many different ways you can move fast and slow with your bodies. Showing them the many ways to do so will encourage them to think, “How else can I move my body to show this?” This helps to build onto their creativity.
- The Elephant by Hap Palmer
- Michael Finnegan by The Wiggles
- Snail and Squirrel by Wigglepods
MOVEMENT SONGS
There is a reason why Baby Shark is a jingle that refuses to go away. The tune, lyrics and accompanying actions are simple to follow and easy to remember. Action songs help children to exercise and strengthen their memory and recall. It also supports their listening and necessitates following directions as children attempt to follow what the lyrics suggests them to do.
1) A Rooty Chy Cha by The Learning Station
2) Rock-a-bye Your Bear by The Wiggles
3) The Animal Boogie by Barefoot Books
It is important to note that any of the above suggested activities still work best when you are as involved in the activities as your child. Children enjoy bonding together with you and the best way to do that is to be fully engaged together. Music strengthens a child’s emotional development and bonding with the loving adults in his life. Exploring the elements of music together is an opportunity to connect together with your child. So take the precious time that you have with your child to foster that close connection by having fun together!