Beyond Twinkle, Twinkle

Rebecca Parlakian with Claire Lerner Beyond Twinkle,✪ Twinkle✪ Using Music with Infants and Toddlers It is nap time, and 2½-year-old Benjamin wriggles on his For very young children, music has power and mean- cot, trying to get comfortable. “Sing my song,” he says. His ing that go beyond words. First, and most important, shar- teacher slowly starts to sing a song she made up several ing music with young children is simply one more way to months ago, just for Benjamin. give love and receive love. Music and music experiences “Who loves Benjamin? It’s his mommy and daddy. also support the formation of important brain connections Who loves Benjamin? It’s big sister Madison. Who loves that are being established over the first three years of life Benjamin? It’s Ms. Sharlene. Who loves Benjamin? It’s Miss (Carlton 2000). Callie.” His teacher sings the names of many of the people In this article, we explore the many ways that music in Benjamin’s life who love him. She watches Benjamin curl promotes growth in the various developmental domains under his blanket, his eyes heavy with sleep. and how infant/toddler professionals can use music experiences to support children’s early learning. Rebecca Parlakian has developed written and Web-based resources and curricula for both parents and professionals over the last nine years at ZERO TO THREE, in Music and early development Washington, D.C. Most recently, she co- developed a set of online resources for child Like all the best learning experiences in early childhood, care providers that explore five challeng- music activities simultaneously promote development in ing behaviors common to the infant/toddler multiple domains. Singing a lullaby while rocking a baby years. [email protected] stimulates early language development, promotes attach- Claire Lerner, LCSW-C, is a licensed clini- ment, and supports an infant’s growing spatial awareness cal social worker, child development specialist, and director of parenting resources at ZERO TO as the child experiences her body moving in space. Being THREE. She oversees parenting content develop- intentional about integrating music into your program’s ment for its publications and Web site, provides daily routines—thinking through, “What do I want the parent education to families with young children, and children to learn from this music experience?”—helps you trains professionals in early childhood development design and choose activities to support specific develop- and working effectively with parents. mental goals. Illustrations © Diane Greenseid. This article is available in an online archive at www.naeyc.org/yc/pastissues. Social-emotional skills ® 1, 2, 3 Music, because it is so often shared with others in singing, dancing, and playing instruments together, is by its very nature a social experience. Music activities with infants and toddlers offer them many opportunities to . Learn and practice self-regulation. Think about the power of lullabies to soothe very young children. When adults help babies calm down, they are supporting the development of self-regulation (the ability to manage one’s emotional state and physical needs). The experience of being soothed also helps babies learn to soothe themselves. 14 Reprinted from Young Children • March 2010 Music, Dance, and Theater in the Early Years The Performing Arts: Music, Dance, and Theater in the Early Years Experience self-esteem, self-confidence, and self- efficacy. Babies and young toddlers develop a sense that they are smart and competent when they can make an impact on their world. Think of a baby’s huge toothless grin when she makes a rattle go chicka chicka or a toddler’s care- ful attention as he taps on a xylophone to hear it chime. Share and take turns. Music very naturally encourages turn taking. Picture babies passing instruments back and forth to a teacher or toddlers taking turns with the classroom’s toy drums. Caregivers may repeat the sounds a baby makes with his voice or rattle; toddlers and their teachers can take turns playing musical solos while the others listen. Incorporating call-and-response songs (“Who Ate the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?”, “Boom Chicka Boom”) into your daily activities with toddlers also encourages turn taking. Develop cultural awareness. Playing songs and using musical styles from children’s home cultures create continuity between home and the caregiving setting. This nur- tures children’s feelings of safety and security and validates the importance of their culture and language. Physical (motor) skills Be it the muscles in the lips used to form words in a melody, the small muscles of the hands used to hold a drumstick or whistle, or the large muscles in the legs and © Ellen B. Senisi arms as children dance, music is a physical activity. It supports . Understand emotions. Singing about feelings helps Gross motor development. When people think about babies and toddlers learn the words to describe their emo- music, dancing is one of the first activities that come to tional experiences (“If you’re happy and you know it . .”). mind. Dancing (to both fast and slow music), being held and The fact is that music evokes feelings—even when there rocked to music (both fast and slow), and making musical are no words. One recent study found that babies as young sounds by snapping colorful scarves in the air or jumping as 5 months old are able, under some conditions, to dis- on bubble wrap are all melodic ways that very young chil- criminate between happy and sad musical excerpts (Flom, dren can build the muscles in their arms, legs, and trunk. Gentile, & Pick 2008). Fine motor development. Finger plays like Where Is Cooperate and build relationships. Music is often a Thumbkin? or Open, Shut Them and interactive songs like team effort, with each participant adding his sound or “The Wheels on the Bus” (among many others) are perfect voice to the mix. Imagine a parade of toddlers banging examples of ways music can support the development of instruments as they march through the child care center. small muscles in children’s hands and fingers—the same Music experiences, in which children use their own voices muscles they will use for writing and drawing when they or play instruments, are especially good choices for very are older. young children. Because music activities typically do not require sharing—a skill most toddlers are still work- Playing songs and using musical styles from children’s ing on—they encourage posi- home cultures create continuity between home and the tive peer interactions and can form the basis of toddlers’ caregiving setting. first friendships. Reprinted from Young Children • March 2010 15 © NAEYC/Susan Woog Wagner © NAEYC/Susan Woog Balance. In moving one’s body to music, children can Crossing the midline—when a child uses one part of the stand while swaying or shifting their weight from one foot body in the space of the other part—is an activity that (or side of the body) to the other—which means they can requires good bilateral communication. Picture a child balance. Imagine that “Let’s Do the Twist” fills the room. playing a drum with both hands, passing a maraca from Young toddlers try to copy their family child care pro- one hand to the other, dancing the Hokey Pokey (putting vider’s movements, twisting and shaking to the beat, while one leg in and one leg out). Teachers can also hold an egg attempting to stay balanced and not fall over! (Of course, shaker in a way that requires babies to reach across their falling over is often the fun part.) bodies to grab it. Body awareness. Moving different parts of a baby’s body and encouraging toddlers to move their own bodies Thinking (cognitive) skills as you sing a song—for example, “Head, Shoulders, Knees Music quite naturally provides opportunities to practice and Toes”—helps them learn that these body parts do, patterns, math concepts, and symbolic thinking skills, all indeed, belong to them. in the context of a joyful noise—which makes it an attrac- tive, engaging activity for very young children. There are Bilateral coordination or crossing the midline. many ways to participate in music experiences. Thus, they Bilateral coordination is the ability to use both sides of the are easily adapted for a range of developmental levels and body together, like when climbing stairs or playing a piano. abilities, making it perfect for mixed-age settings as well as This skill requires both sides of the brain to communicate family child care programs. to coordinate the body’s movements. Counting. Many songs introduce numbers and counting: “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe,” “Five Little Monkeys,” “This Music quite naturally provides oppor- Old Man,” and “The Animals Came in Two by Two” are just tunities to practice patterns, math con- a few examples. The rhythm and repetition of songs may make it easier for very young children to remember the cepts, and symbolic thinking skills. name and sequence of number patterns (see the next para- graph for more about this concept). 16 Reprinted from Young Children • March 2010 Music, Dance, and Theater in the Early Years The Performing Arts: Music, Dance, and Theater in the Early Years Patterns and sequencing. Almost every piece of music Spoken language. Music gives children an easy-to-enter has a pattern or sequence built into its melody or lyrics. window into practicing language and deciphering meaning. Learning to anticipate patterns and place objects or events Modifying the words in well-known songs (such as singing in sequence builds critical early math and early reading “Happy lunchtime to you!”) or asking older toddlers to fill skills.

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