5 Ways to Use Music to Support Your Child’s Development

Written by: Laura Bill, MT-BC

Music therapists use music to support nonmusical goal areas across many developmental areas. Here are five areas music can support, and some ideas for you to try at home!

Communication

Babies begin to learn language before they are even born. In the womb they are listening to the sounds happening all around them. This includes people talking! Their brains begin to prepare to acquire all the sounds they will hear and use to communicate. Though the entire process to say a word takes children about a year, they begin practicing their skills earlier on by babbling. Music can encourage children to explore their voices and begin to say words. 

Music stimulates many areas of the brain. One of the main areas activated is the temporal lobe which contains the language center. This part is on both sides of the brain. When speaking only the right side is activated, but singing uses both to process the sounds and words. So by singing more of the brain is being used which is always good. 

At home challenge: Leave out the last word of a familiar song lyric and wait. See if your child supplies the missing word! (Even if it is not spoken clearly your child may attempt to replicate the word or hum the contour of the remaining melody.)

Academic Skills

Many children’s songs are structured to support academic goals. “The ABC’s” teaches the letters of the alphabet, “Old McDonald” helps to teach animal sounds, and many, many songs teach about counting numbers. Even for older kids concepts like the branches of government, types of rocks and the countries of the world have been put into song to help them learn. I’m sure right now you are thinking of a few songs that you heard yourself in school. Why do these songs stay with us? 

The brain is naturally inclined to remember songs because of their rhythmic and melodic structure. When facts are placed into this structure, the brain has an easier time recalling the information. So it is much easier to remember what a conjunction is or how to count by 5’s in the context of a song versus the facts alone.

At home challenge: Find a song to sing with your child about a topic they are learning in school! 

Motor Skills

Have you ever wondered how you managed to spend so much time in the grocery store, typically ending up buying more than you expected? Or maybe why it can be so much easier to complete a workout with music verses without?

Our bodies are naturally wired to move to the music around us. Through this phenomenon, called entrainment, the brain syncs up to the beat of a song and has our bodies operate at that speed. So grocery stores use songs that are slow enough that people take their time walking down the aisle, thus seeing more of the product, but quick enough to keep the flow of people going in and out of the store. Many athletes also use music to help maintain the pace they want to run or workout at because of this. Plus music is enjoyable. Between entrainment and the fun music can bring it is a great motivator to encourage movement.  

At home challenge: Find a children’s zumba video to one of your child’s favorite songs and have a dance break! Remember children mirror our actions, so parents, dance your hearts out too.

Emotional Skills

Happy, sad, anger, grief, joy, tired, disgusted, scared, nervous, anxious, depressed, annoyed, lonely, love, and that was all before lunch. It is impossible to list all the emotions people can feel in a day, let alone all the feelings there are. Sometimes it can be easy to identify what we are feeling and what is causing it. An ice cream truck might make someone happy. A funeral would most likely make someone sad. Other times there is just a feeling and not always the words to explain it. 

Many emotional events can be expressed and processed through music. It can not only offer lyrics tied to emotions to help process feelings, but the music itself acts as an anchor to the present time. So a person can feel and process intense emotions, but still remain present in their bodies. Even if someone does not know how they are feeling, they can play instruments or sing sounds to express what they are going through. This may help them be able to process the feeling enough to be able to verbalize it later. 

At home challenge: Grab some instruments (or the pots and pans) and ask your child to make a song about their day! Make sure to note the good parts and the more intense parts. Ask them about what each of these moments in the song was about when the song is over.

Social Skills

In one way or another, everyone desires connection. Having family, good friends, or a supportive community always makes a world of difference when going through life. One of the best ways to help find these groups is through a shared interest, like music! Being a part of a band, choir, drum circle, or even just listening to music together can help create a sense of belonging and acceptance. 

Singing, or making music, is one of the only experiences in life where everyone is truly unified. Everyone is focusing on the same note or lyrics, entrained to the same beat, listening to each other, even breathing at the same time! Every individual becomes part of a whole and this leads to a subconscious sense of togetherness and unity. Within each of these music groups there are also plenty of opportunities to practice compromise and teamwork to make a concert or performance a success. 

At home challenge: Keep an eye out for our child and adult music groups to make connections through music!

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