Music Activities for Kids
Why Music is Good For Kids
We know instinctively that kids like music. We sing to them from birth to soothe them. We bounce them and watch them giggle. We see them light up and shimmy when almost any song with a discernible beat comes on. Why do we do these things? What is happening in their little brains when music is in the air? My kids music podcast Noodle Loaf is geared towards making these musical moments happen, but why do we care in the first place?
The benefits of music on child development are not only known instinctively but they are well studied. Per Bright Horizons: “A 2016 study at the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute found that musical experiences in childhood can actually accelerate brain development, particularly in the areas of language acquisition and reading skills. According to the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation (NAMM Foundation), learning to play an instrument can improve mathematical learning and even increase SAT scores.”
All those studies tell us what we know instinctively and yet we tend to stop making music as we get older. And sadly, a lot of adults have trouble meeting their newborns on the same musical plane on which the newborn resides because the adult is out of practice. The wise music educator Dr. John Feierabend notes: “One hundred years ago many families instinctively engaged their very young children in activities that were ideal for developing musicality. No one studied early childhood music education, and there was very little need for classes to be offered to infants and toddlers with their parents.”
Remembering Our Connection To Music
What did we know then that we have forgotten? I think it was easier to more clearly see the social emotional importance of making music together when there were fewer distractions. Bonds formed in families and communities through music and dance. Rhythm is downloaded via bouncing knee and melody is installed via lullaby. Literacy, gross motor skills and mathematical ability are the bonuses of being raised in a musical world but I don’t think they are the why. I think the core reason why music is hardwired into us is that it brings us joy, it brings us connection, it teaches us to be expressive and it brings families and communities together in a way nothing else does.
So if you want to know why music is good for kids, put down those studies and watch a 5 year old while their parent dances with them.
How To Have a Musical Home
If we’re on the same page that music is an essential part of a healthy home then the next question is how do you bring music into your home? For some this will be obvious, but for others who may be out of practice I would like to set some goals and offer some ways that you can help create a musical home. We’re going for what Dr. John Feierabend calls the “Thirty Year Plan.” The idea is that by the time someone is grown, they should be able to sing happy birthday without eliciting groans, be able to dance at their wedding without making their spouse question their decision and clap on beat without ruining a performance.
Musical Goals for Kids
These will be our goals for teaching music to kids:
Creating joy!
Bonding
Developing rhythm
Developing pitch
Developing expressiveness/artistry
Creating Joy - Even though I make kids music for a living, I am a firm believer that kids don’t need to listen to kids music. So at the risk of putting myself out of business, I encourage parents to play whatever music they love for their kids. You can decide what is or isn’t “appropriate.” i.e. The Ramones are a great kids band. Bob Marley is a great kids musician. So is Tchaikovsky. If your kid sees you loving music, they’ll probably love it too. (Until they turn 12, then the reverse is true.) So dance in the kitchen, sing in the shower & blast a song in the car with the windows down. When you’re having fun with music, your kids will too which is step 1!
Bonding - This comes with sharing the joy of music with your kids. This can mean singing to or together with your child. Sing a lullaby before you turn off the light. Invent a melody for one of their favorite rhyming picture books. Have a Motown dance party after dinner. Sing or listen to songs from your cultural background. These little ways of inserting music into your routines should be within the reach of most parents.
Developing Rhythm for kids- Probably the most fundamental way that parents teach young children rhythm is by bouncing them on their knee while saying a rhyme. You may have some old rhymes in your culture that you can use. I tended to just go with rap lyrics that my brain more readily had available. Another way to add rhythm to your child’s skillset is to clap their hands while singing a song. They may start clapping on their own. Match their tempo! Any way you choose to pair music and a steady beat on your child’s body is going to help pave those synaptic pathways. The Clap It Back segment on the Noodle Loaf podcast is great for this.
Developing Pitch in kids - Assuming you can sing on key then the #1 way to instill pitch in your child is by singing to them. Sing simple songs. That builds a melodic vocabulary that will make sense to a child. They gravitate to nursery rhymes for that reason. Think, “rain rain go away.” Folks songs are good for that too and generally more fun to listen to for the adults. The best songs for them to hear are going to be the ones you love singing to them and the ones they respond to. If they are a little older, echo songs, also called repeat-after-me songs, are wonderful tools to help develop pitch. Echo songs allow children to sing independently rather than in tandem with an adult voice. With echo songs, kids are also more likely to remember lyrics and melodies.
Developing Expressiveness / Artistry in kids - This begins with the way you read stories and sing songs. If you read with great expression then they will internalize that. The angry goat. The carefree fairy. Ham it up. Same goes for singing. When you sing with feeling you attach emotions to the words and to the sounds that children will be able to emulate. If that’s not your forte then find recordings that can help you out. And then there is dancing. Engage your child in a light happy butterfly dance to Schubert. Do a stompy angry dance to Metallica. Choose songs you connect with and dance in a way that mirrors the feel and the parts of the songs. Check out the creative movement based Time To Move segments on Noodle Loaf for inspiration.
Song quality matters for all of these. Generally I say go with your gut, but I recommend against just typing “fun kids music” or “music for kids” into Spotify and playing whatever comes up. There are a lot of people cranking out versions of “wheels on the bus” in the hope of getting a royalty check. Choose music made by artists. It’s like they say for knowing how to dress your baby. If you’re cold, they’re cold.
Music Activities for Kids
We have the why we make music, we have the goals for making music, now it’s time for the what music activities you can play with your kids. If you feel like you’re ready to get started then by all means close your device and go be musical with your kids. If not, here are some rhythm and music games to get you started. These music games for kids are suitable for toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary age kids. You’ll need to feel out what will work best for your children. If these feel advanced then follow the advice above and just sing and dance with your children each and every day.
Black Key Explorer
What you need: A piano or keyboard
Adult plays a simple repeating bass line pattern that alternates between a low F# and the C# above it on the low end of a piano or keyboard. The child is told they can make up any song they want but are only allowed to: play the black keys, use one finger at a time and only move one note up or down the piano at a time. If they choose to ignore some of those rules, that’s ok!
KaraYOUke
Goals: Developing pitch, bonding, joy, expressiveness
What you need: An instrument you can play chords on, or not
If you play an instrument, play a simple one or two chord progression, not too fast. i.e. Moving back and forth between C and F chords every 8 bars. The child is asked to make up a song about words the parent calls out every 16 bars or so. Here is a list of words to get you started: Snacks, The Beach, Bicycles, Penguins, Bubbles, Corn Feel free to let your child come up with the list beforehand. You can play this game without an instrument too! You can also use the KaraYOUke segment found within Noodle Loaf podcast episodes.
Mirror Dance
Goals: Bonding, joy, expressiveness, developing rhythm
What you need: Recorded music and a good speaker to play it on
Adult and child face each other. One is chosen as the leader and the other is the mirror. The leader listens to the music and does a dance that fits the feel of the song. The person who is the mirror copies the leader. It is important that the leader chooses movements that are nice and slow or they will be to hard to mirror. Be expressive!
Song recommendations: Saint-Saens - Carnival of the Animals (Aquarium), Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart, Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Count It Out
Goals: Bonding, joy, developing rhythm
What you need: a table
Adult and child sit at the table. Adult begins by playing a beat on the table alternating between the bottom side of their right hand fist and their left hand fingers while counting out 4 beats. The beat is this: 1 (right fist) 2 (left fingers) 3 (right fist) 4 (left fingers). Keeping a steady beat is important! The child is told they should tap the table (or clap or bang a pot or something else, up to you!) each time the parents says “2”. Begin by playing the beat and counting out loud. When the child is ready, only say the “1” out loud while continuing to play the rhythm.
Variations: Choose a different number // Tell them to choose a number and you have to guess it by listening to what beat they clap on // Make it 8 beats, can they play on beat 6? // Make it 8 beats and have them play on two different beats i.e. 2 and 6
Clapping Guacamole
Goals: Bonding, joy, developing rhythm
Grown up says this phrase “Chips and guacamole for my friend and me” to this rhythm: “taka taka taka taka ti ti ta”. Child repeats after the grown-up until they learn the phrase and the rhythm. Now do this:
Grown-up and child play the rhythm (clap, pat, bang on a drum etc.) together while saying the phrase.
Grown-up and child play the rhythm together without saying the phrase.
Grown-up and child only clap on the words “friend and me.” Try nodding in rhythm or tapping a foot to keep time.
Only clap on “Chips” and “me.” Mix it up, try different words! Have fun!
Noodle Loaf Resources
Music podcast for kids - Noodle Loaf - This music education podcast for kids can help your family achieve the goals stated above. Play this kids podcast during your school commute for 10-15 minute music lessons that will be fun for the whole family and don’t require any prep work or musical virtuosity from the parents. Episodes contain a variety of rhythm games, singing games and movement games that are not only great for learning music fundamentals but are also just a lot of fun. Don’t forget about joy!
Echo Songs, Vol. 1 by Noodle Loaf - Sing along echo songs are a very easy way to nurture musicality in young children. This album of 20 popular children’s songs from the podcast are a great way to sing in the car with your kids. Because of the nature of echo songs, kids can sing along from the very first time they hear the song. Not only will they develop pitch accuracy but many of the songs also have social-emotional messages that parents will appreciate.
What We’re Listening To - This occasionally updated playlist by the music lovers at Noodle Loaf is designed to introduce grown ups and their children to a diverse array of songs that they may not know but can enjoy equally. This a great place to start to find music for all those dance parties and sing alongs that your family will be having.