Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”  It is a transcendent medium, one that takes on a variety of forms to meet the intrinsic needs of each person.  It is enlivening and motivating.  This we can all agree on.  What has been debated in recent decades is the relationship of music to learning. 

Early studies presented the concept of the “Mozart Effect”, claiming that simply listening to Mozart made people (particularly children) smarter.  The study had shown enhanced performance on certain measures after a period of listening to Mozart.  What followed was a firestorm of (good-intentioned as well as money-motivated) promoters of the idea that listening to music would make children smarter.  Many began to believe that simply playing great musical works in the presence of infants and young children would boost their IQs and give them the fighting edge in the race to becoming the uber-brilliant brain child apparently desired the world over. 

To the dismay of purveyors of music as a magical brain supplement, more recent studies have shown that the connection between listening to music and test results may be more likely the result of a favorable, perhaps relaxing, environment, not of a permanent increase in brain capacity.  Likewise, studies showing the connection between children who take music lessons and high academic scores, have been challenged by further research claiming this connection has more to do with other factors that allow the child to participate in those lessons (parent involvement, socio-economic factors, etc.). 

To many interested only in “bottom line academics”, the more tenuous the connection between academic performance and music becomes, the less value is placed on the inclusion of music in an education setting.  Music begins to be seen as a distraction from education, rather than a pleasurable contributor to it.  How unfortunate!  While it is becoming more and more clear that music does not contain a silver bullet formula, automatically transforming all in its presence into elite academicians, its value in the lives and education of all people, and particularly young children, is no less validated.  Here are a few reasons we, as parents and teachers, should still fight to include music, and its nearly inseparable counterpart, movement, in the lives of our children.

Music is Part of the Human Experience. 

If you want to create a super-computer, focus only on input and information.  If, however, you would like to contribute to the development of a human being that can think, feel, and create, provide and discuss experiences filled with beauty and wonder.  Give them opportunities to express opinions, emotions, and imaginative thoughts conjured up by music.  Let them absorb a variety of sounds and musical genres and give them the opportunity to respond in their own ways, whether by dancing, drawing, talking, or just being and feeling! 

Music Enhances and Enlivens. 

As humans, music effects us.  The next time your favorite song comes on the radio while you’re driving, look down at your speedometer and notice whether you have changed your speed.  I think the best excuse I’ve ever heard from a friend for getting out of a speeding ticket was “the music made me do it.”  When the officer further queried as to exactly what music had created such excitement, the answer was, “The Mormon Tabernacle Choir”.  Perhaps it was the novelty, or just a shared affinity, but it worked! 

You can be aware of this influence on children as well.  The mood of their environment and the tempo of their own movement can be ramped up or slowed down by the music that plays around them.  More than once, I have responded to an overly rowdy group of children by simply changing the music that played in the background to a slower tempo.   

Music helps children to focus and gets them ready to listen.  One way to do this is to come up to where they are, and bring them down to you.  This means you begin with music and/or movement that is fast-paced and active, and gradually bring it down to a calmer, slower level.  The song, “Candy Man, Salty Dog” by Sharon, Lois, and Bram(available on iTunes), is an excellent example of this.  By coming up to their level, or even bringing them up a level, you work out pent-up energy and match their feelings and movements to the music.  Once the children are tied in this way, it is easy to bring the music down and have them follow. 

Music is an Attention-Getter. 

 There was a reason the Pied Piper was able to lure the children of Hamlin away with music.  Children seem to be hard-wired to seek out musical experiences.  In fact, it has been shown that infants actually prefer and attend to their mothers’ singing voices over the same mothers’ speaking voices.  Children are easily drawn into musical activities, particularly if they are active participants.  If you are trying to get the attention of a group of children, try singing instead of speaking, or involve them in a rhythm game where they watch and follow your beats and patterns.

Music is often used for transitions in a classroom setting because the children quickly respond to the message and mood of the music.    Music can be used to begin the day, start clean up, or gather children for group time.  It signals to them where they should be and what they should be doing.  And more than that, it’s inviting so they want to be there, and they want to be doing it. 

Music is a Tool for Teaching. 

Because children WILL listen, and because they are actively involved, they are more likely to learn what is being taught through music.  Musical elements and the multi-modal nature of music participation also aid in memory and recall.  New vocabulary and facts, even phone numbers and days of the week, when set to music, are more easily remembered than those simply memorized by rote.  Just try teaching the letter names and order to a child without singing the time-tested ABC song! 

Music is a form of deep, personal expression.  Music also readily lends itself to promoting listening skills, discussion, and learning new vocabulary, all of which are literacy goals for preschoolers.  In fact, both the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the International Reading Association (IRA) recommend the inclusion of music as a way to build prereading skills, particularly phonemic awareness skills.  Songs and fingerplays reinforce language elements, such as rhyme, alliteration, fluency, and rhythm/syllables.   The mere act of listening to music and detecting the changes and differences in sounds builds auditory discernment, an important element in active listening, phonemic awareness, reading, and language.

Music Builds Creativity. 

While creativity is rarely, if ever, measured by the standard exams given in our schools today, it is one aspect that separates good students from brilliant minds.  Children who are given opportunities to develop creativity can apply learned facts in more valuable ways than simply filling in bubbles on test sheet.  These students synthesize and apply information in meaningful, literally creative ways, turning the information into “product”.  All the while, the creative process infuses an element of passion into the creator’s work  that makes the work motivating, and even fun! 

It has been said that Thomas Edison, while prolific in his accomplishments, never really worked a day in his last 50 years, because the creative process is not viewed by the creator as “work”.  Children who have the flexibility of thinking that allows them to see problems in new ways and find solutions in new sources will be the “Edisons” of tomorrow!

Music is not the subliminal brain suplement that many had hoped for, but it is a beautiful and enriching part of the human experience.  Our children will not become nobel laureats simply because we bathed them in the sounds of Bach, but through a variety of musical experiences, their lives and their learning will be greatly enhanced.

Great Articles to Read:

The Cognitive and Academic Benefits of Music to Children: Fact and Fiction

Authors: Rudi Crncec, Sarah J. Wilson, & Margot Prior

Educational Psychology, Vol 26, No 4, August 2006.

PreK Music and the Emergent Reader: Promoting Literacy in a Music Enhanced Environment 

Author: Donna Gwyn Wiggins

Early Childhood Journal, Vol 35, No 1, August 2007.

Top photo by Daniel Calia.

I am a fan of great children’s music artists.  Hap Palmer and Raffi are a delightful mixture of musical and educational genius!  And so I hope you won’t get me wrong when I say that I don’t think that’s the only kind of music children should listen to.

Music designed for children has some great aspects, the lyrics, timing, even the key in which it is written is designed to appeal to children and encourage their participation.  But there are so many different kinds of music in the world, and children should be exposed to it!  Add to that the fact that a change of pace is often good — for the littles and the bigs as well!  As long as the lyrics are appropriate, and the children respond to it, almost every genre can have something to offer.  Here are some suggestions for “non-traditional” children’s music that have become popular with some of the littles I have worked with!

The Beatles.  They’re classic.  There’s just something universally appealing about their music.  “Here Comes the Sun” is one of my favorites to use with young children, because the lyrics contain so many early reading sight words.  It’s almost as though George Harrison were writing the song for kids!  As I taught first grade, I had a collection of laminated song charts from which the children would sing, and then they would do activities, pointing to or circling specific words and letters.  “Here Comes the Sun” was by far the favorite!

Soundtracks.  John Williams is an indisputable genius!  His soundtracks are musically rich and emotionally charged.  Try using his and other musical scores from movies for movement activities!

Jazz.  Don’t overlook this unique musical style!  Artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Louie Armstrong can have a lot to offer our little ones!  The music is creative and emotionally evocative.  The  mellow mood of many of these songs can also have a soothing effect for all its listeners!

The Great Works.  There’s been more of an emphasis in recent years on getting children exposed to the great works of composers like Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Mozart.  This movement is good, and listening to this type of music can do great things for children, though it’s not the magic pill some describe — read more about that here.  When sharing this type of music with children, focus on its beauty, on the way they can move to it, the types of instruments that are being used, and how it makes them feel.  Avoid using watered-down versions of these masterpieces.  Some albums sold as “classical music for kids” is simply an electronic version of the melody.  Part of the great benefit of listening to this type of music lies in the weaving together of a variety of instruments, parts, and dynamics.

Share Your Own Favorites.  I remember going to concerts back in college and jumping around, dancing with the crowd in the student union building as an accomplished local artist, Peter Breinholt and his band played.  Fast-forward about 15 years and that artist is now my neighbor.  I have to laugh to myself now as I watch the children from my neighborhood jump and dance like my friends and I used to “back in the day”.  Pete’s music is always family friendly and appeals to all ages.  I’ve yet to see a child who doesn’t get up and dance to his song, You Wear Flowers.  (You can listen to it –third one down on the samples here.  Find more info here.) 

I’ve been lucky that my children enjoy some of the same artists I do, along with Pete, there are many other acoustic artists like James Taylor and Jack Johnson that we can share together.  Lately my husband has been sharing some of his favorites in the classic rock category with our oldest as well. 

It’s fun to bond over some of your own favorites and talk to each other about what you like.  I know much of my own music preferences come from the fact that I listened to many of my dad’s favorites growing up.  Mama Cass, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, and CCR are still some of my favorites.

Set the Stage.  While it’s great to share a variety of musical styles with young children, keep in mind of course that the lyrics need to be appropriate for their age, but also consider the tempo and energy of the music and consider the influence it has.  Children are HUGELY responsive to the energy of music.  If you’re looking for some quiet play time, the William Tell Overture may not be the best pick!

What are some of the “non-traditional” favorites you share with your little ones?

Top photo by emr1991.

Here’s a quick, easy, and inexpensive way (music to a teacher’s ears, right?)  to create a great tool for incorporating music and auditory discernment.  Whoa, back up the truck, what was that?  “Auditory discernment” is the ability to hear the differences and similarities between two sounds.  It can be as simple as hearing the difference between a bell ringing and a horn honking, but it’s also the groundwork for hearing the difference between the sounds in words, like the short e sound and the short i sound.  Phonemic awareness is a critical reading skill, and it is completely auditory.  So building auditory skills actually paves the way for reading skills.  OK, so back to the project at hand!

You’ll be making a set of shaky eggs with different sounds to be matched by the children.  If you haven’t made shaky eggs before, you really should- they’re so easy.  I explained the process way back here.  For this little project, make six different sets of eggs by using six different fillers.  You might want bells, coins, rice, popcorn, salt, and beads – just to name six off the top of my head.  Keep in mind that the amount in the egg affects the sound as well, so make pairs exactly the same, and consider differentiating pairs by having disparate amounts (one set with just one bead each, and another set with ten, for example).  To simplify, you may want to use just two colors of eggs, so that each pair has one of each color.  That just makes it easier for the children to match the sets, knowing they only have to check against six other eggs, not eleven. 

Now that you have six sets, you have an even dozen and can use a clean egg carton for your case.  Line up one color in one row and the other color in the other row.  Have the children pick one egg, give it a shake, and listen.  Then help the children shake the eggs in the other row, one at a time, until they find the other egg with the same sound.  Once a pair is found, they can put them side by side in the same carton, or in a second egg carton to keep confusion down!

There you have it!  I told you it was easy!  It’s a great sensory matching exercise, and you can always use the eggs for music time as well!

More from the “Exploring the Arts through Our Senses” unit here!

I try to fit a nursery rhyme, fable, or fairy tale into each unit.  As I’ve mentioned before, these are the literary classics of childhood!  When talking about the arts and the senses, I like to introduce the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin!

You can check out a book to read out loud, create a flannel board story, or use the coloring pages from this website.  Whatever your method, get familiar with the story and bring it to life in your storytelling.  After the story, talk about whether or not the children think it could really happen.  Probably not….at least not exactly (though the story’s historical roots are actually debated).  Nonetheless, listening to music can make us want to move in different ways, depending upon the way it sounds.  Play a few samples and have the children suggest what type of movement the music makes them think of.  Choose samples that remind you of a lullaby, a dancing tune, a quiet tip-toe song, etc.  End with a march and have the children march, parade style, to your next activity!

This activity builds language and literacy skills as well as an appreciation for, and experience with, music and movement.

More from the “Exploring the Arts through Our Senses” unit here!

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons has always been one of my favorite musical works.  This program music is so beautiful and powerful, but also so descriptive, you can literally see in your mind and feel in your bones what Vivaldi is trying to describe with his music.  (And if you aren’t sure what he’s trying to describe, check out these sonnets Vivaldi wrote to correspond with his music.)  Because the music is so suggestive of movement, it’s perfect for a music and movement activity with children!

I usually start out with the children by mentioning that this music was written by a man named Antonio Vivaldi a long, long time ago, and that he wanted to write music that sounded like the different seasons.  Then I announce each season as the music begins and we move to the music, calling out new movements to go with the music.  For example, in the Spring segment, we start out marching, then as the music quiets we tiptoe, as it has quick runs we jump and talk about flowers blooming up out of the ground or birds jumping into flight.  For Summer, we usually pant and fan, or slowly walk or crawl looking for water, because the music is slow and hot.  Fall involves some hands as falling leaves, of course, and Winter is freezing and shivering, or perhaps a snowstorm, dancing with white scarves.  (Here’s a great YouTube clip of Winter.  You can find other clips online as well.)

Create the movements together, listening carefully to what you hear and considering what you and the children know about each season the music is representing.  Should you be moving quickly or slowly?  Will your body be down low or up high?  How could you show leaves falling/birds singing/sun shining?  You may even want to listen to the music without any dancing first, and talk about what you hear and the types of movements you might use before you begin the movement portion of the activity.  I’m not suggesting that everyone should be doing the same choreographed movements, but some discussion time to consider movement will make them more intentional.  I don’t usually use Vivaldi’s entire movement, but enough to keep the children involved.  I may just use the Winter movements if we’re talking about that season in particular.  If I’m doing all four seasons, I may transition by saying something like, “Oh this is just way too hot here in the summer, let’s look for someplace cooler!”

This type of music and movement activity is great for exposing children to famous works of music and increasing their understanding and appreciation of it.  More importantly, it builds in them the ability to create as they internalize the music and express it again through their unique movements.  The movements also increase muscle strength and control as well as an awareness of personal space and boundaries (something you may want to address at the beginning of this endeavor).  The activity also builds active listening skills, which are important not just to music appreciation, but to learning in general.  For more information about the importance of music activities for preschoolers read here.

For more favorite fall activities, click here!

For more wintry activities, click here!

Top photo by Kerbi.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons has always been one of my favorite musical works.  This program music is so beautiful and powerful, but also so descriptive, you can literally see in your mind and feel in your bones what Vivaldi is trying to describe with his music.  (And if you aren’t sure what he’s trying to describe, check out these sonnets Vivaldi wrote to correspond with his music.)  Because the music is so suggestive of movement, it’s perfect for a music and movement activity with children!

I usually start out with the children by mentioning that this music was written by a man named Antonio Vivaldi a long, long time ago, and that he wanted to write music that sounded like the different seasons.  Then I announce each season as the music begins and we move to the music, calling out new movements to go with the music.  For example, in the Spring segment, we start out marching, then as the music quiets we tiptoe, as it has quick runs we jump and talk about flowers blooming up out of the ground or birds jumping into flight.  For Summer, we usually pant and fan, or slowly walk or crawl looking for water, because the music is slow and hot.  Fall involves some hands as falling leaves, of course, and Winter is freezing and shivering, or perhaps a snowstorm, dancing with white scarves.  (Here’s a great YouTube clip of Winter.  You can find other clips online as well.)

Create the movements together, listening carefully to what you hear and considering what you and the children know about each season the music is representing.  Should you be moving quickly or slowly?  Will your body be down low or up high?  How could you show leaves falling/birds singing/sun shining?  You may even want to listen to the music without any dancing first, and talk about what you hear and the types of movements you might use before you begin the movement portion of the activity.  I’m not suggesting that everyone should be doing the same choreographed movements, but some discussion time to consider movement will make them more intentional.  I don’t usually use Vivaldi’s entire movement, but enough to keep the children involved.  I may just use the Winter movements if we’re talking about that season in particular.  If I’m doing all four seasons, I may transition by saying something like, “Oh this is just way too hot here in the summer, let’s look for someplace cooler!”

This type of music and movement activity is great for exposing children to famous works of music and increasing their understanding and appreciation of it.  More importantly, it builds in them the ability to create as they internalize the music and express it again through their unique movements.  The movements also increase muscle strength and control as well as an awareness of personal space and boundaries (something you may want to address at the beginning of this endeavor).  The activity also builds active listening skills, which are important not just to music appreciation, but to learning in general.  For more information about the importance of music activities for preschoolers read here.

For more favorite fall activities, click here!

For more wintry activities, click here!

Top photo by Kerbi.

Photo courtesy frecuencia.

You can download the song from Raffi’s Singable Songs for the Very Young album, available at iTunes.  You might as well pick up a few more Raffi classics while you’re there.  The man is a genius!

For more Welcome Week activities, click here!

Photo by gilr.

You can buy rhythm sticks for a lot or a little, but if you’re pinching every penny (and who isn’t these days), or if you are susceptible to sudden flashes of inspiration, requiring that you must have these fantastic instruments for tomorrow’s activity and can’t possibly wait for shipping, you can make them yourself, quickly and inexpensively. 

First off, go on down to your helpful hardware place like Home Depot, or a craft store, or even the old Wally Mart, and get wooden dowels.  (I know for sure that the Depot sells carpentry-grade hardwood dowels, I can’t vouch for the others.)  I used the 5/8″ size, which comes in a 48″ length for about $2.  You’re going to cut them into 8″ lengths, so each dowel will make about 3 pairs of sticks.  Now, when I say “you’re going to cut them”, I mean that very loosely.  If you’re not so handy with a table saw, find a friend who is and who is nice enough to help you out.  My husband happens to fit this criteria fully, and did my dirty work for me.  You may even ask around at a hardware store or lumber yard and find that they do cuts for free or for a minimal fee.  You can  make your sticks longer if you like, but I don’t think I’d go much shorter.  You can also get thicker dowels if you prefer.  Maybe make a few different sizes and see how their sounds might differ! 

After cutting the sticks, inspect the ends.  You may need to do some sanding to make sure you don’t have any splinters or rough edges.  If you’re lazy  simple like I am, leave them natural.  If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, you can paint them or decorate them anyway you want.

So there you have it!  In less than an afternoon, and for under $1 a pair, you have a class set of rhythm sticks!  I’ve found that at the 8″ size they store very handily in an old plastic zipper case for a set of sheets I had bought, or you could easily use a shoe box or a small storage bin.  So get your sticks ready, I guarantee you’ll get your mileage out of them!

 I would say that my rain stick is probably the most popular instrument I own.  The children love the hushing, captivating sound, and it requires very little skill to play.  Basically, if you’re capable of grasping with your hand and turning with your wrist, you’re a natural!  I’ll give you instructions here to make your own full-size rain stick, as well as to make mini rain sticks with the children. 

Here are your materials:

Plastic Tube(I use the fluorescent light shatter guard you can buy at Home Depot for a few bucks.  Find it in the lighting department.  You can do it.  They can help.  You could also use cardboard tubes like a gift wrap tube or paper towel tubes, but I like the clear tubes because you can see what’s making the sound.  The children seem to be as fascinated by the sight as by the sound.)

Curling Ribbon (Like the kind you use for wrapping presents, if you’re an over-achiever like that.)

Pins or Nails (You want their length to be just a little less than the diameter of your tube.  We don’t want them poking through the other side!)

Packing Tape and Black Electrical Tape

Dry Beans and/or Seeds in a Variety of Sizes (Example: Rice, Popcorn, Kidney Beans,  Garbanzo Beans, and Lima Beans) 

Start by preparing your tube.  Tape the curling ribbon at the top, and wrap it around your tube, taping it at the bottom as well.  If you like, do a second section of ribbon, intersecting the first.    This is the guideline for your pins.  Push the pins in along the ribbon, about every inch and a half to two inches.  This is pretty tough work.  You may want to have gloves or a thimble on hand- literally.  With the pins through, it looks something like a helix. (Sorry, I didn’t warn you advanced Biology would be involved.)  Once your pins are in, you need to seal your bottom cap with electrical tape.

Now the fun part!  Fill your tube, about 1/4-1/3 full of a mixture of dry beans, rice, and seeds of varying sizes.  Then seal your top cap with electrical tape.  Don’t forget to cover the holes in the caps.  I’ve seen teachers empty the contents of their tubes at a make-and-take session I was doing.  I guess they were so captivated by the sound, they didn’t notice the pile they were creating on the floor!  Use your packing tape to cover the outside of the tube, to keep the pins from falling out or being pulled out (not that any kids you know would be that mischievous).  I find that running the packing tape down the length of the tube in two or three strips works better than wrapping it around the tube.  With a flip of your wrist, you’re ready to rock! 

* If you want to make individual mini tubes with the children, you can cut the shatter guard tube in halves or thirds, and prepare as above.  (Putting in the pins requires too much hand strength for the children to do alone.) Then, let the children help you put in the seeds and/or beans and seal the top.  Since the tube only comes with two caps, you’ll have to improvise by cutting paper or wrapping tin foil on the end, then covering it with the electrical tape to make it durable.

I have used my rain stick in a variety of ways.  I’ve used it to simulate rain as I’ve talked about seeds.  I have the children ball up like a seeds and then with the sun and rain (cue the rain stick), they stretch up and start to “grow”.  This is also a great way to transition, having them “grow and go” when they hear the rain.

You could easily find ways to use the rain sticks when teaching about water, weather, rain, sound, or music.  I made the small ones with the children after reading the book, Listen to the Rain, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault.  Because the children can see the items inside, you can encourage inquiry by asking questions like, “Where does the sound come from?”  “Which ones get to the bottom first? Why?”  How else would you, or could you, use your rain stick?

Top rain photo by Zanderalex.