Babies - Learning Through Movement

Parenting Tip: Dance with baby, and label your movements

 

Why?

Focusing on both a movement (like hopping) and a verbal description (like 'hop, hop') can stimulate brain development.  When we label movement - either when moving with a child in our arms, or the movement we see an older baby doing on her own – this helps to develop the language of movement in addition to engaging the vestibular system.  Moving in a variety of ways gives baby a chance to 'see the world' from many perspectives, thus strengthening neural pathways.  This variety of views also allows for development of the eyes, understanding space and accommodation of muscles in the body to movement and balance.

 

How?

Play a favorite track from Kindermusik's Big Back Yard CD, and dance with baby!  Be sure to label your movement (walk, walk, or twirl, twirl, etc).  Once you've moved in different ways, add some musical articulations by labeling & moving in bumpy or smooth ways – or maybe using small movements during quiet parts (label 'quiet'), and big movements during loud parts (label 'loud')

Take a video field trip to see butterflies, and move the way the butterfly moves!

For more movement ideas, look at these classic backyard games – toddler-style!

 

Want to Learn More?

On our blog:  Read Why We Rock, Bounce, Jump & Dance! 

 

Kindermusik 7-year Continuum:

Now, baby counts on YOU to move her in ways that she is not yet able to.  In toddler Kindermusik classes, he will begin to move to the music on his own, with you as a model, as we add general terminology to the movements (like 'smooth' and 'bumpy').  As a Kindermusik preschooler, your child will decide which movements to use, based on an imaginary story or a musical articulation – and he will begin to learn specific MUSICAL terminology (like 'piano' and 'forte').  Kindermusik big kids in Young Child classes use their movement experiences to internalize the beat, and to build musical expression as they play instruments and sing together.

 

Locomotor Movement for Toddlers

Parenting Tip: Travel through space to music with your toddler

 

Why?

Along with developing physical fitness, sensory components of balance, coordination, spatial awareness, directionality, and visual literacy are also developed [when your child moves to music].  These components are developed as children roll, creep, crawl, spin, twirl, bounce, balance, walk, jump, juggle, and support their weight in space.  Self-awareness, self-esteem, and social skills are also enhanced through movement (Lengel & Kuczala 2010).  Traveling through space to music, also gives your toddler early experience at internalizing musical concepts like loud & quiet, smooth & bumpy, and the steady beat.

 

How?

Travel through space in different ways as you go on a Listening Walk!  Enjoy the e-book, then go on a walk of your own!  How many different ways can you travel?

Play the BINGO song (from Kindermusik's Down on the Ground CD), and make up a circle dance!  Maybe you will travel around the circle?  Maybe you will travel 'in' to the center, or 'out' to make a bigger circle?

Move through space like the animals do, as you play the Bears & Bunnies game!

 

Want to Learn More?

On our blog:  Find new ideas for locomotor and non-locomotor movement games!

 

Kindermusik 7-year Continuum:

As an infant, your child depended on YOU to move her in ways that she was not yet able to.  Now, as a toddler, he can move to the music on his own, with you as a model, as we add general terminology to the movements (like 'smooth' and 'bumpy').  As a Kindermusik preschooler, your child will decide which movements to use, based on an imaginary story or a musical articulation – and he will begin to learn specific MUSICAL terminology (like 'piano' and 'forte').  Kindermusik big kids in Young Child classes use their movement experiences to internalize the beat, and to build musical expression as they play instruments and sing together.

 

Preschoolers and the Dynamics of Forte & Piano!

Parenting Tip: Sing favorite songs in piano (quiet) and forte (loud) ways!

 

Why?

In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note.  The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics.  Dynamics are important to the expressive power of music.  You do not need to be a musician to recognize that quiet lullabies evoke different emotions than a rousing march.

 The preschool child can experience dynamics through exposure to the opposing dynamics of loud ('forte') and quiet ('piano').  Listening to live and recorded quiet and loud sounds and music, moving in loud and quiet ways, and speaking and singing in loud and quiet voices will capture your child's attention and build a foundation for future musical understanding and expression using dynamics. 

 

How?

Ask your preschooler 'what is your favorite song to sing?'  Once they've answered, sing the song in both piano and forte ways.  Which does your child prefer?

Play a garden listening game!  After each sound, discuss whether that sound was 'forte' or 'piano.'  Once you've made a decision about that, sing the Kindermusik Hello song to that animal with a matching dynamic (quietly if 'piano,' and loudly if 'forte').

Play the Hickety Pickety Buttercup game (from Kindermusik's 'In My Garden' CD)!  Using a household noisemaker, or a musical instrument, play the game together.  (use dice or number cards to decide how many times to play the instrument, and use 'forte' and 'piano' cards to decide whether the player will use a piano or a forte dynamic to play the instrument).

Note: Consider only using the word "quiet" to describe a dynamic that would be considered "piano".  By avoiding the use of the word "soft" to describe what we also know to be "quiet", we are helping children differentiate concepts.  The word "soft" is often better reserved for texture, rather than sound.

 

Want to Learn More?

On our blog:  Read tips for Using Music to Engage Children in Mathematics (with advice on why dynamics can be an important part of that!)

 

Kindermusik 7-year Continuum:

As a baby, your child relied on you to play the instrument in loud and quiet ways, and to make loud and quiet vocal sounds to match musical cues.  In toddler classes, she began to find her own ways to be loud and quiet with her voice, her body, and classroom instruments.  Now, in preschool Kindermusik class, he is listening to musical cues to find out when to play loud or quiet, and she is making judgements about whether animals in our Kindermusik garden make loud or quiet sounds.  Also, they are learning the specific musical terms for quiet ('piano') and loud ('forte').  In Young Child classes, big kids use their knowledge of piano and forte to play their instruments with correct dynamics.  They also expand on that knowledge when they discover the terms 'crescendo' (getting louder) and 'decrescendo' (getting quieter).

 

Vocal Play for Babies

Parenting Tip: Sing Sol-Mi songs to baby (like the Seesaw song!)

 

Why?

Did you know that, in the Western world, children usually learn to sing the notes 'sol' & 'mi' first?  Think of  'Rain, Rain, Go Away,'  'A Tisket, A Tasket,' and our Kindermusik song, 'Seesaw...'  All are built around that 'sol-mi' interval! 

You can foster your child's singing success by including 'sol-mi' songs in your repertoire - inviting him to join in singing, by starting with notes that may come more naturally to him. 

Singing benefits us physically, emotionally, personally, and socially.  It exercises major muscle groups in the upper body. 

It is an aerobic activity that improves the efficiency of your cardiovascular system, and encourages us to take in more oxygen (increasing our alertness). 

Singing also releases endorphins into the body, helping to lower stress levels, and rid the body of tension.

 

How?

Listen & sing to the 'Seesaw' song on Kindermusik's Big Back Yard CD.  Find fun ways to move baby up & down, during the song.  Can she sing along with this 'sol-mi' song?  What if you add vocal sound effects when you move up & down? 

Then, 'Chalk it Up!' Make homemade chalk, and create some fun new ways to play!  Can your voice follow the car as it drives on the chalky road?  Does it drive up & down hills?  Can you make up a new 'sol-mi' song as it goes? (Car, car, up & down, Car goes up.... Car goes down?)

Read 'In My Sandbox' with your child!  For fun, you could sing to the tune of 'I Like to Walk in my Backyard,' as you turn each page ('I like to sit in my sandbox to see what I can see,' or 'I like to sit in my sandbox to see what I can see,' etc).  Can you sing a Sol-Mi 'Hello' to each new thing you see?

 

Want to Learn More?

On our blog  - read how music therapy (including singing) benefits babies!

 

Kindermusik 7-Year Continuum:

Now, you sing Sol-Mi to baby to reinforce those notes that will become the most natural to her, when she sings.  As a toddler, your child will begin to match those notes with his own singing voice!  In Kindermusik preschool classes, your child will build on that 2-note foundation to begin singing more complex melodies and songs with classmates (and alone).  As a big kid in Young Child classes, your child will learn how to write Sol-Mi melodies on the staff, in the form of treble-clef letter names!

Scat Singing with your Toddler

Parenting Tip: Sing nonsense words with your toddler!

 

Why?

Louis Armstrong is credited with creating 'scat singing' (where the voice emulates an instrument by singing nonsense syllables instead of words).  The story goes that Armstrong showed up to a gig having forgotten his horn.  His solution?  Sing all of the parts, instead! 

When we focus on specific sounds, or phonemes, in Kindermusik (like when we sing 'moo moo moo' together, during our Hello song), we are making scat-like sounds, too!  Not only that, but we are fostering your child's singing voice, and his reading development. 

Nonsense words can help your child focus on a specific sound (like the 'ee'  sound in 'eensy weensy')  Your child gets many opportunities to hear & practice that sound, as you sing the song & do the motions together.  Over time, your child' ears will begin to recognize and remember this sound so that she can also pick it out of other words and use it more fluently. 

This awareness of tiny sounds, which are the word-building blocks called phonemes, is a crucial pre-reading skill.

 

How?

Be Bears & Bunnies! What silly words can you use to announce the arrival of the bears (b-b-b-bear!  G-g-g-grrr!) and of the bunnies (hippety hop! Bity bity bity bunny!)?

Next, cue up the Hello song, from Kindermusik's Down on the Ground CD.  What silly sounds can you think of, to sing together?  Use our ideas from class to get started (la-la-la; moo-moo-moo; doo-bee-doo), then see what other ideas your child might have. 

Then, play the Which Dog? game!  Can you make different dog sounds for each one?

 

Want to Learn More?

On our blog: sing with the scat cat, and Scooby-Dooby-Doo-Wap, together!

 

Kindermusik 7-Year Continuum:

As a baby, your child made many nonsense sounds as she tried out new ways to use her mouth muscles and her voice.  Now, as a toddler, you are modeling ways to use nonsense sounds with singing (all the while helping him perfect those same mouth muscle movements & vocal control).  As a preschooler, your child will use those vocal and speech skills to help tell musical stories – and maybe add their own musical improvisation to songs ('What do you hear in our Kindermusik backyard?  A bird!  Everyone sing with a bird voice!').  As a big kid in Young Child class, your child will learn to sing in a group, using her vocal & mouth coordination to enunciate the words of the song, so that all can understand the lyrics.

Preschoolers - Musical Expression through Articulation

Parenting Tip: Sing favorite songs in staccato & legato ways!

 

Why?

Making music is natural and spontaneous for young children!  It begins within, and then emerges in the form of self-expression.  'The joy of creating something is exhilarating.  Children, especially, enjoy the creative process, loving every minute of the making.  Creative thinking and personal emotion combine into an individual's artistic expression - a kind of expression where there is no right of wrong... Making art fulfills... a need for self-expression... Children crave the creative outlet that making things provides.' - Kids Create!: Art & Craft Experiences for 3-9 year olds, by Laurie Carlson, p. 6
When we offer your child choices, in Kindermusik class, such as 'fast, or slow?' and 'legato, or staccato?,' we are offering her choices which help her to create the song in a way that expresses her own unique view of the song on that day.

 

How?

Sing the Hello song (from Kindermusik's In My Garden CD), in a legato way, while swishing your hands together.  Then, sing it staccato, while clapping!

Next, play I Can Do That! Help your child notice which movement is legato & which is staccato – then copy that movement!

Then, cue up 'Come Fly With Me,' (also from In My Garden).  Take turns flying in a legato, smooth, connected way, and then hopping/looking for worms in a staccato, bouncy, disconnected way. 

What is your child's favorite song to sing?  Try it legato first, then stac – ca – to!

 

Want to Learn More?

On our blog - read 4 Benefits of Music for Preschoolers (including self-expression!)

 

Kindermusik 7-Year Continuum: As a baby, your child relied on you to emphasize the legato & staccato in songs by moving her body in legato & staccato ways to the music.  In Kindermusik toddler classes, you modeled those 'smooth' and 'bumpy' motions for him to copy, as the music went from legato to staccato.  Now, in preschool, your child is learning the musical terms 'legato (long/smooth)' and 'staccato (short/bumpy)' and sings in staccato & legato ways, with the class.  As a big kid in Young Child classes, your child will expand their knowledge of legato & staccato, by identifying those articulations within the songs they are learning to play ("'Hop Old Squirrel' is sung staccato, while 'Go to Sleep' is sung legato!  That's right!")

Gross Motor Movement for Babies

Parenting Tip: Help baby make BIG movements!

 

Why?

Playing on the seesaw, driving our 'lawnmowers,' standing tall as a tree - all of these activities help your child exercise her large muscle groups.  Older babies & toddlers are definitely in 'movement mode!'  Crawling, pulling themselves up, walking, running, climbing stairs, using push toys, kicking balls... developing their gross-motor skills!  Gross-motor skills are the actions and movements of the large muscles in the body (arms, legs, torso, etc).  Our dance and movement activities, in class, support the development of those muscle groups, and encourage coordination and balance - with each child moving at his own pace. 

As we move, your child is also becoming familiar with the interval between the notes 'sol' and 'mi.'  These are the first two notes a child learns – from 'It's our time..' in our hello song, to 'eggs away…' to 'rain, rain, go away…'  Sol-Mi is everywhere!

 

How?

Read the e-book 'In My Sandbox,' together! 

As you listen to music this week at home, dance around the room, with your child.  Encourage her to reach up high (like a tree!), out wide (like a house), in thin (like a pin), and crouch small (like a mouse) as you dance, together. 

Help build your child's gross-motor skills, with these Classic Back-yard Games - toddler style!

 

Want to Learn More?

On our blog: Learn about 4 Benefits of Baby Music Classes (including gross-motor development!).

 

Kindermusik 7-year continuum:

Now, you are helping baby move her large muscle groups (or maybe doing those moves completely for her).  As a toddler, he will copy your big motions with his own body, learning how to do those moves himself.  In Kindermusik preschool classes, your child will use those big body motions to learn about musical concepts, like forte & piano, or staccato & legato.  In Kindermusik Young Child classes, big kids refine those movement skills to discover just how much muscle (or air) power it takes to produce a good tone on the glockenspiel, dulcimer, recorder, and other instruments.