Parents instinctively use music to calm and soothe children, to express love and joy, and to engage and interact. Parents can build on these natural instincts by learning how music can impact child development, improve social skills, and benefit children of all ages. MUSIC AND THE BRAIN: THE BENEFITS OF MUSIC A 2016 study at the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute found that musical experiences in childhood can actually accelerate brain development, particularly in the areas of language acquisition and reading skills. According to the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM Foundation), learning to play an instrument can improve mathematical learning and even increase SAT scores. But academic achievement isn’t the only benefit of music education and exposure. Music ignites all areas of child development and skills for school readiness , including intellectual, social-emotional , motor, language, and overall literacy. It helps the body and the mind work together. Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words. Dancing to music helps children build motor skills while allowing them to practice self-expression. For children and adults, music helps strengthen memory skills. In addition to the developmental benefits, music brings us joy. Just think about listening to a good song in the car with the window down on a beautiful day. MUSIC GAMES FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES Try these activities and games with your children to experience the pleasure and learning that music brings. Infants and Music: Infants recognize the melody of a song long before they understand the words. Quiet background music can be soothing for infants, especially during sleep time. Sing simple, short songs to infants. Try making up one or two lines about bathing, dressing, or eating to sing to them while you do these activities. Toddlers and Music: Toddlers love to dance and move to music. The key to toddler music is repetition, which encourages language and memorization. Silly songs make toddlers laugh. Try singing a familiar song and inserting a silly word in place of the correct word, like “Mary had a little spider” instead of lamb. Let children reproduce rhythms by clapping or tapping objects. Preschoolers and Music: Preschoolers enjoy singing just to be singing. They aren’t self-conscious about their ability, and most are eager to let their voices roar. They like songs that repeat words and melodies, use rhythms with a definite beat, and ask them to do things and follow directions. Preschool children enjoy nursery rhymes and songs about familiar things like toys, animals, play activities, and people. They also like fingerplays and nonsense rhymes with or without musical accompaniment. School-Age Children and Music: School-age children begin expressing their likes and dislikes of different types of music. They may express an interest in music education, such as music lessons for kids. There is no downside to bringing children and music together through fun activities. We are able to enjoy the benefits of music from the moment we’re born. From the pure pleasure of listening to soothing sounds and rhythmic harmonies, to gaining new language and social skills, music can enliven and enrich the lives of children and the people who care for them. MORE ON CHILDREN AND MUSIC Music is woven into the fabric of our lives. View these fun games that help foster children’s understanding and love of music. Our early education experts recommend their favorite books for children that introduce the world of math and music. Learn more . Music is great for your baby’s brain development. Here are 6 tips to introduce your baby to music.

“Although humans are not usually born in litters, we seem to insist they be educated in them.” – Dr. Lilian Katz If you’re like many of us, you probably grew up learning in classrooms separated by age: First-graders in one room, second-graders in another, and so on. This is a common way to educate children, but it’s not the only way. The resulting “family model” of early childhood education means that all members of a family can learn—and play!—together. Recent research on mixed-age classes highlights additional surprising benefits. Benefit #1: True Empathy . Babies are born with the raw material to develop empathy, which often shows up as a reflex to mirror emotion, like when one baby cries and others cry, too. But in order for this potential to become what researchers call “true empathy,” children have to receive and give caring. This is rare in same-age schooling, but opportunities for nurturing exchanges abound in mixed-age classes.  Benefit #2: Meeting children’s unique needs . As a new parent, you may have joined a Baby Play Group to find support in parenting an infant for the first time. Finding community, comparing experiences, and sharing challenges all help new parents feel supported. (What a lifesaver these groups can be for parent and baby!) If, however, that baby never gets the opportunity to socialize, explore, and learn outside of this same-age group, key developmental needs will go unmet. As children grow, mixed-age settings provide the opportunity to be nurtured and mentored by older children, and to offer caring and leadership to younger children.

What is Music Therapy? Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program. It is a well established allied health profession that uses music therapeutically to address behavioral, social, psychological, communicative, physical, sensory motor, and/or cognitive functioning. Because music therapy is a powerful and non-threatening medium, unique outcomes are possible. Music therapy may include the use of behavioral, biomedical, developmental, educational, humanistic, adaptive music instruction, and/or other models. Music therapy enhances one’s quality of life, involving relationships between a qualified music therapist and individual; between one individual and another; between the individual and his/her family; and between the music and the participants. These relationships are structured and adapted through the elements of music to create a positive environment and set the occasion for successful growth. How Does Music Therapy Make a Difference for Individuals with Diagnoses on the Autism Spectrum? Music therapy provides a unique variety of music experiences in an intentional and developmentally appropriate manner to effect changes in behavior and facilitate development of skills. The literature reports that most individuals with ASD respond positively to music. People with ASD often show a heightened interest and response to music, making it an excellent therapeutic tool for working with them. Music is a very basic human response, spanning all degrees of ability/disability. Music therapists are able to meet clients at their own levels and allow them to grow from there. The malleability of music makes it a medium that can be adapted to meet the needs of each individual. Music is motivating and enjoyable. Music can promote relatedness, relaxation, learning, and self-expression. Music therapy addresses multiple developmental issues simultaneously. Music therapy can provide success- oriented opportunities for achievement and mastery. The structure and sensory input inherent in music help to establish response and role expectations, positive interactions, and organization. Is there research to support Music Therapy services for ASD? Through peer-reviewed journals inside the profession such as the Journal of Music Therapy and Music Therapy Perspectives, and extensive articles in journals outside the profession, AMTA has promoted much research exploring the benefits of music therapy with individuals with diagnoses on the autism spectrum. Clinical outcomes studied have focused mainly on the use of music to address: Communication Cognition Behaviors (Problem/Repetitive/Stereotypic) Social Skills and Interaction Emotional Regulation

Parents are sometimes surprised to hear that they can start music classes with their babies as soon after birth as they’d like. That’s because all children are born music-makers. Yes, your baby’s cries, coos, and squeals are also their first attempts at singing! How do babies go from “aahh!” to “do, re, mi”? Like all early learning, it starts with parent and caregiver support. Think about how children learn language. Babies are not born with the ability to speak their language; rather, they are born with the potential to learn to speak their language. It’s only through prolonged exposure to language and practice making sounds (babbling) that children acquire language competency. The same is true for music-learning. We’re all born with the potential to learn music—and with lots of exposure to music and chances to practice musical sounds, we can each learn to sing in tune and move with accurate rhythm. The good news? You can support your child’s music development the same way you do their language development: through reinforcement and play. When a baby first says “da-da,” we typically react with lots of positive feedback and echo back “da-da!” This instinctive response reinforces the baby’s first attempts at speaking, which leads to more babbling with their grownups, and eventually, language fluency. When you reinforce their early singing, too, your baby will also become fluent in music-making! According to research, Babies can’t say words, so often people think they can’t sing, but they can. They just need to learn to control the respiratory/laryngeal apparatus differently to sing versus to speak. Most parents know that babies learn by imitating the grownups in their lives. If the baby sees YOU singing, they will eventually sing, too. We talk to them so much, and frequently don’t sing, so children may grow up without knowing how to differentiate between their speaking and singing voices.

The simple and enjoyable act of making music with your child naturally fosters important social and emotional skills, such as self-regulation, self-confidence, leadership skills, social skills, and socio-emotional intelligence. Making music with your child can be so much fun for both of you, whether you’re singing along to the radio in the car, jamming on plastic bowl “drums,” or dancing to songs on your iPod. Plus, music-making helps your child’s development in many important ways. The best part? You don’t have to have a great singing voice or play a musical instrument to have an impact. The simple and enjoyable act of making music with your child naturally fosters important social and emotional skills, such as self-regulation, self-confidence, leadership skills, social skills, and socio-emotional intelligence. In fact, recent research has found that preschoolers who engaged in participatory group music and movement activities showed greater group cohesion, cooperation, and prosocial behavior when compared to children who did not engage in the same music activities. Singing and dancing together led to increased empathy (the ability to understand and even share in the feelings of others) for the children with whom they were making music. Even in infancy , adult-child music and movement interactions can lead to better communication and increased emotional and social coordination and connection, both rhythmically and emotionally, between the adult and the child. Researchers propose this might support infants’ earliest abilities to engage in positive social interactions with others. So, you can have fun making music with your whole family and know that you are also supporting your child’s social and emotional growth. Here are some ideas for music activities you can try at home to specifically support several areas of socio-emotional learning.

Looking for funny songs to sing with kids? There’s a whole slew of fun music for kids that can be sung in the classroom or at home. These songs can teach new concepts, or just be sung for the sake of silliness. Whether they’re instructional or not, it will be hard to get these silly songs for kids out of your head once you and your kids start singing along! Singing along with your kids offers an array of benefits, including stronger friendships, increased confidence, and potentially even better test scores. Let’s take a look at 10 of the best interactive songs to sing with kids, and then learn more about the benefits of music for toddlers. Remember, you can’t take yourself too seriously when it comes to these tunes! 10 Funny Kid Songs to Sing 1. Beethoven’s Wig A song about – you guessed it – Beethoven’s Wig! (It’s very big.) Sung to the tune of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, kids will be having too much fun to realize they’re getting exposed to the world of classical music. Good luck listening to this symphony ever again without thinking of Beethoven’s hairpiece! 2. The Name Game You probably drove your parents nuts with this when you were a kid, now it’s time to pass the torch. The Name Game is a great song for boosting language skills in preschool and kindergarten students! 3. Please Don’t Play Your Violin at Night Want to incorporate some Mozart into your child’s repertoire? Try this playful rendition of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik when you sing Please Don’t Play Your Violin at Night . 4. Purple People Eater “It’s a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater.” Of all the fun songs for kids to sing, Purple People Eater is sure to make your kids laugh. But watch out: It’s a bit of a tongue twister!

Want to increase your little one's learning power? It really is as simple as turning on the radio or tapping your toes. When a young child listens to music, plays a musical instrument, or dances, the brain starts to form connections that pave the way for learning opportunities. Not only are there great developmental benefits to music activities for kids, but also they offer a fun way to engage with your youngster. Try the 10 games in the list below for children to encourage play through music, songs, dance, and sounds. What Music Activities Teach Kids There are many learning benefits of music games for young children. Benefits may include increased language skills and math comprehension. A 2011 study found a significant connection between a child's participation in music programs and preparedness for reading and writing skills. It noted that phonological awareness, which is an awareness of speech sounds (vital to language), can be enhanced through musical interaction. It even states, It seems highly likely that language and music share processing mechanisms. Music and math are also very intertwined, so it would only make sense for one area to build on another. Music can teach children about rhythm, which relates to the mathematical concept of patterns. Practicing a repetitive nursery rhyme, where the chorus is the duplicating pattern, can easily introduce this idea. Think along the lines of "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and how many times certain lines are recited.

Since nearly the beginning of human history, music has been used as a force for healing. Aristotle taught that “When we hear (music and poetry) our very soul is altered.” From Hippocrates to Native American medicine men, people have long used singing and playing instruments to cure. In modern times, scholars and doctors have researched the mysterious power of music. Some of this research has yielded truly incredible insights. Doctors have found that babies express preference for the same kind of music they heard while in the womb. Many studies have shown that exposing infants and babies in the womb to music helps build neural bridges used to process thought and information. Music can stimulate the brain’s alpha waves, which creates a sense of calmness in the listener. Other studies indicate that early music exposure and instruction have benefits on the development of perceptual skills, which affects language and literary abilities; spatial reasoning, which is related to skills used to do math; and fine motor coordination. Unlike language, music activates every subsystem of the brain, including the structures involved in motivation and emotion. This makes it especially effective in creating bonds between individuals and in a group and can contribute to well-being throughout one’s lifespan. Making music with others gives children a wonderful feeling of belonging to the group. Children who might have difficulty joining activities with others because they are shy, have limited English ability or special needs, can freely participate when it comes to music activity. Modern music therapy developed in the aftermath of World Wars I and II, with musicians traveling to hospitals to play music for soldiers suffering from emotional and physical trauma. Today, it involves the clinical use of music interventions such as singing, playing, listening, and moving to music to address individual areas of need. It has been proven beneficial in areas of child development; mood disorders; stroke recovery; heart disease; and treatment of neurological disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, amnesia and depression.

While anytime is a good time to learn an instrument, there are many advantages to learning when you’re younger. Research shows that learning an instrument helps students with reading and math skills and helps them develop self-esteem and confidence. Plus, learning how to play an instrument such as the guitar can provide a lifetime of fun and enjoyment! WHAT IS THE BEST AGE TO PLAY GUITAR?  For most students, the best age to learn guitar is around age 7. But it’s important to note that all students are different, so there really isn’t a best age to start guitar lessons. Realistically, students can start guitar lessons as soon as they can comfortably hold a small-scale guitar and press down the strings. As a parent, you’ll have to consider other factors as well when determining if your child is ready to start guitar, like the maturity of your kid and their interest level in learning to play an instrument.