Music and Development

by Robin Lever, Composer and Musician

For three to five year-olds, singing songs, making music together with different instruments and dancing around are all too much fun to be thought of as learning tools.
Activities and games involving music are not only highly enjoyable, but can also be beneficial for child development in areas including Reading, Mathematics and Science, as well as Social and Personal Development.
As a group activity, music really takes off. Children with little else in common can form fruitful relationships when it comes to playing with musical instruments together.
Recent research has also shown that moving to music by dancing and doing actions to songs can help with brain development and memory.
Music activities help develop communication skills. Singing and chanting repetitive songs and rhymes all help build up confidence in using language.
Listening to music and talking about how it sounds and how it makes you feel is also a great opportunity to discover new words and to use them in descriptive ways.
Dancing and moving around to music develops a spatial awareness while also practising coordination and muscle control.
Listening to music and generating personal responses either verbally or through movement or by making pictures, can all be good ways for children to recognise and express their emotions.

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