RAISING VILLA KIDS: Music and Child Development

by Jacqueline Birnbaum - Early Childhood Educator & Music Therapist

What if I were to tell you that there was a simple, common set of related activities that was observed to have the following positive results in young children?

• Facilitates learning

• Enhances cognitive development

• Promotes language development

• Facilitates reading readiness

• Stimulates creativity (conceptual thinking, improvisational play, originality)

• Improves motor development (fine and gross motor, coordination)

• Enhances spatial-temporal reasoning, which may in turn enhance the learning of such subjects as science and mathematics

• Encourages social interaction and the development of social skills

What if such activity had these additional neurological benefits?

• “Exercises” the whole brain and mind

• Strengthens synapses in all brain systems

• Increases the brain’s capacity and resources by increasing the strength of connection among its neurons

What if these are not strange, alien, or newly developed activities that require extensive

training or extraordinary talent and ability? 

What if both you and the children in your

care are “specialized” for just such activity in these ways?

• Your brain is specialized to engage in this activity and process its results.

• Your physiological abilities in this area are subtle and complex.

• Both you and your children have been sensitive to elements of this activity since birth.

• Both you and your children have engaged in this activity since infancy, and probably continue to do so.

As you probably surmised from the title of this article, the activities I am referring to are

musical: the singing, playing, listening and moving that are a natural part of music making. Many people would be surprised that active involvement in music has such a wide range of potential benefits. In fact, there is a growing body of research indicating that we are all innately musical. 

Music is not only a joyous and joyful cultural activity, but a “biological imperative” with a strong basis in brain physiology. In brain, mind and body, we were made to make music. Music inherently facilitates educational and social development, particularly with young children.

How does music “work”? Music touches all areas of development: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, as well as creativity and fun/happiness. Each of these areas is vital for healthy development.

We all know that children learn through doing, that is, through acting on their environment and discovering the consequences. Put on a piece of lively music and most children will be up dancing and singing in no time! Make instruments available and they will spontaneously gravitate to exploring sounds. The “music child,” the aspect of every child that innately responds to music, and finds it meaningful and engaging, is awakened.

Fine and gross motor skills are refined through movement to music and through instrumental playing. Emotional development is encouraged through role-playing in musical dramas, and through self-expression in singing or playing instruments. 

A vast range of emotional experience is possible through music; different kinds of music elicit different moods and degrees of intensity. Having successful experiences in music boosts self-esteem, and repetition leads to mastery and increased self-confidence. 

In the cognitive arena, songs can reinforce concepts such starting and stopping,

mathematical concepts such as one-to-one correspondence, sound discrimination, and

vocabulary. Through music, children experience form and order, from the simple to the complex. It is no coincidence that the basic elements of music—rhythm, tempo or pulse, pitch and melody, dynamics, and form—are intimately connected with the production of speech.

Singing, a natural activity for preschool children, helps improve auditory perception, processing, and memory; vocal quality; production of speech sounds; and the learning and retention of language. Songs that contain ideas that have personal significance to a child are especially effective in stimulating language development. Children’s perceptions are sharpened as they learn to distinguish between high and low pitches, fast and slow tempos, loud and soft dynamics, etc.

Music doesn’t just entertain — it shapes the growing mind. Through music experiences and social interactions, children build a sense of self. Stay tuned for the next issue to learn more about how you can bring the benefits of music to your children!