INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Y
EARLY EDUCATION
SPONSORED CONTENT
The Benefits of a
Musical ENVIRONMENT
ou can make music with just about anything found in your
household. Adding a musically inclined environment to your
child’s life offers extensive benefits for his/her emotional,
intellectual and social development.
For young children, music helps identify teamwork. It shows that
you can create something greater with the help of more people. For
example, the use of drums, guitars and vocals can produce a better
song than a song only containing the use of drums.
Music allows children to express themselves through creativity and
openness with others. Enjoying music gives preschoolers a common
interest and can create lasting friendships. Here are some ideas to
incorporate some tunes into your child’s daily activities:
n Allow your child to sit at the kitchen table with pots and pans to
use as drums while you make dinner. This engages your child
with you in the kitchen but keeps him/her away from the
possible dangers of the kitchen while you are cooking. Provide
different types of pans and utensils (for example, plastic utensils
and metal pans) so that the child can learn to create various
sounds. (It is best not to use glass in this activity.)
n Sing along with your child in the car. Preschoolers are not yet at
the age where they become self-conscious of their behavior.
In fact, most little ones love letting out their strong vocal chords
for everyone around them to hear. Encourage your child to do
this more often, even if it is a little loud on the eardrums! Playing
basic songs and repeating them regularly will help your child
retain simple melodies and rhythms.
n Plan a dance party for a family fun night. Encourage your child
to get up and show you his/her moves by playing freeze dance.
This is done by a family member controlling the music and
stopping it at random times. When the music is stopped,
everyone freezes until the song restarts. Freeze dance always
results in tons of giggles by all the family members.
This Industry Insight was written by Dina Speranza
& Carol Maier. They are the owners of The Goddard
School ® , located at 800 Commerce Avenue in Moon
Township. Goddard offers both full- and part-time
Infant/Preschool/Kindergarten programs. For more
information, visit goddardschool.com/Pittsburgh or
call 412.262.1821.
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