Rituals and Routines for Babies

Musical Parenting Tip:  Establish daily rituals and routines with your child.

Why?

Daily Routines help your child regulate his day and learn what to expect. Overtime, you are helping your child learn to adapt to change.

Rituals are connection moments that are filled with a sense of playfulness that build bonds between you and baby that last a life time. "I Love You" rituals  increase attention span, decrease power struggles, and promote language and literacy development.

How?

• Attend Kindermusik every week!  We keep routines each week, by including our Hello song, rocking time, story time, a circle dance, and Goodbye song in each lesson. 
• Create some ‘helper’ rituals, at home! 
• Make pre-meal handwashing a ritual, by singing ‘Wash, wash, wash your hands, Wash your hands with Mommy/Daddy/Nanny/Grandma’ (to the tune of ‘Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands!’)
• Create a Bed-time ritual using a favorite book or song. Consider hammocking baby on a blanket with parents holding each end.
• Add a special rhyme to bath time and then another for clean up time.

Want to learn more?

On our blog:  Read Music and Movement Benefits:  Routines and Social-Emotional Health

Also, find Becky Bailey’s book, “I Love You” Rituals
OR Check out Pinterest Page: https://www.pinterest.com/consciousd/i-love-you-ritualstm/

Help Your Preschooler Discover Their Favorite Dance

Musical Parenting Tip:  Help your child find ‘the perfect dance for me!’

Why?

At this age, your child is developing an awareness of himself as a separate, unique being. This self-awareness has several dimensions:

• body awareness
• developing/ learning about personal preferences
• sharing thoughts/ideas that are valued by peers

Through body awareness & dance, your child will also experience & explore:

• Steady beat
• musical form
• choreography
• vocal exploration
• community dances

How?

• Read Frog Went A-Dancing from "Animals A-Dancing" unit, and encourage your child to imitate each animal’s dancing style, and sound.
• Play the ‘Rhythm Rascals’ song, and have your child choose a different dance for each section of music (from the story, or from his imagination!)  This song is also featured on the "Aniamls A-Dancing" Home CD.

Want to learn more?

On our blog:  Read Music and Movement:  Magical Ingredients to Learning

Experience Long and Short Sounds

Parents of Toddlers (2's & 3's)

Musical Parenting Tip:  Help your child experience long & short sounds.

Why?

• Your child’s awareness of a new concept is heightened, by experiencing opposites (like long vs short). 
• Through labeling this experience, your child is building his musical language vocabulary. 
• Learning about ‘long’ and ‘short’ now, prepares your child for preschool music terms like ‘legato’ and ‘staccato.’ 
• Experiencing different long/short patterns, strengthens her rhythmic awareness (preparing her for later study of notation in Kindermusik for the Young Child)

How?

• Help your child notice long & short sounds in music, and in your environment (what a long sound the firetruck siren makes!  Listen to the short sound of his horn!)
• Play the Bark & Meow game, then imitate other long & short sounds with your voice (oinking pigs vs. a mooing cow;  tweeting birds vs. a ‘whoo’ from an owl, etc).
• Play long & short sounds, with an instrument shaker, perhaps the elephant shaker.  Add a favorite song from your Kindermusik Home CD!

Want to learn more?

On our blog:  Read What Do You Hear?