If you have a kid who loves music, this might be the right time to help fuel that passion and make music one of the best things that will ever happen to them. Early exposure to music in children is associated with many benefits, including improved brain power, patience, creativity, discipline, social skills, confidence, and better self-expression.
It is easy to ignore your kid’s interest in music and to dismiss it as a random hobby but being deliberate about it would expose them to rich learning. It could also help them later in life should they consider treading the music career path. Music lessons could be incorporated into their daily or weekly activities, to help them learn better in a standard and professional manner.
There are many ways to raise kids who love music and highlighted below are some of them:
- Sing songs to and with your child
Make it a habit to always sing to and with your child often, regardless of the age. Help them associate with music and notice how it influences their mood. Pay a lesser focus on singing the perfect song or hitting the right note. You don’t necessarily have to be a great singer, as long as you can interact with your child via music and their ears are trained to sounds. Whenever you hear them sing or try to sing, encourage them by singing along, and you would notice how much they enjoy doing that and would not like to stop.
- Help him/her to understand the emotion of music
Music has a huge effect on our emotions and babies are not exempted, as they tend to relate well with Music. This explains why they sometimes stop crying, or they sleep after a lullaby or have their face lighten up at the sound of music. You can maximize this opportunity by regularly playing songs to your baby, preferably repeating those songs, to get them accustomed with how it affects their emotions.
FAMILY ACTIVITIES FOR THE WEEKEND
- Help your baby to execute noise
Noise can sometimes be annoying, but if you want to raise a child who loves music, then you must be ready to permit noise once in a while. Allow them to make noise with their toys. Buy toys that make sounds, so that they can play with them and also be familiar with the sounds. You could also get tools around the house that can be used to create sounds, like a stick and a pan or a metal spoon and a plastic. Also, encourage them to sing more often to help them embrace music early enough.
- Play musical games
Incorporate musical games into their playtime. Examples of music games for kids include Shake and Move, Balloon Bounce, Sound Jars, Train Tapping, STEAM Sounds, Paint to Music and Musical Math. this will not only help them have fun but also help them learn as they plan and embrace music the more.
- Introduce them to different types of music
While you want to see your kid grow up loving music, you should also try not to consistently use the same flow or kind of songs or focus on an instrument. Try combining a variety to get them exposed to as many as possible, as it helps them get familiar with the styles and musical instruments available. Rather than focusing on just learning the Violin, you could get them to take the Piano and Guitar lessons too. From there, you would know which they would eventually prefer.
- Get your kids involved in music classes
Music classes will help take your child’s love for music to a greater level. Once they are at an appropriate age, let them join musical groups to learn, or you hire a private teacher to take lessons at home. Remember to let them have a say in the area of music they would prefer and not impose what you want on them.
- Dance to the music
One of the ways to encourage kids who love music is to dance while they sing or play any musical instrument. They would love to sing more if their favorite persons move their bodies to the song and show great interest in what they do.
Conclusion
Raising kids who love music have to be deliberate, and these factors highlighted above are a great way to do that. Eventually, they will appreciate what you did, due to the many benefits involved.
Author bio:
Curtis Dean writes on behalf of Sage Music School where they base lessons on the science and research of the psychology of learning. Their effective teaching methods create confident and capable students who enjoy the happiness of making music.