Music, Motion, and Sensory

I am a firm believer in using music to help stimulate my children. I have seen my daughter become more verbal and more alert with music and motion. For this reason, we do a lot of musical play in our house.

Creating Music Makers

My children love to make things. The great thing about making things is that they are getting great fine motor practice while doing it!  Here are some music makers we have made at our house:

1.       Fill a soda bottle halfway with beans, rice, and glitter

2.       Put three to four pennies inside Easter eggs

3.       Put bells on a stick with colorful yarn

4.       Put bells on yarn and make a bell bracelet

5.       Turn a coffee can into a drum (hit with stick or spoon)

We decorate our music makers with colorful yarn, stickers, paint, and construction paper.

Singing

Once we have made our music makers, we use them to keep the beat while we sing some songs. Their favorite songs to sing with their music makers are:

1.       Row, Row, Row Your Boat

2.       ABC song

3.       Old Mc Donald

4.       Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

5.       If You’re Happy and You Know It

6.       I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy

Moving

Along with singing, my children love to dance and move around. We use our movement and dance time to work on balance, coordination, and crossing midline. We play our instruments over our heads, down by our toes, and over to both sides. We will also walk playing our instruments, and play our instruments at different speeds.

Watching

We also take the time to watch each other play our instruments. I think it is very important to build up their self esteem and validate each of them. I give each of them a turn to play on our stage (the front of the living room), and we cheer and clap for one another when the person is done.

Listening

The last way I incorporate music into our day is through therapeutic listening.  My son’s occupational therapist highly recommended the Kidz Jamz collection to help my children with transitions. We listen to the cd in the car on the way to therapy. The cd is a collection of children’s songs. The creator uses pitch and rhythm to calm children and help them focus. We have really enjoyed these cd’s. Here is a list of the collections:

1.       Grape Jamz

2.       Peach Jamz

3.       Razzberry Jamz

4.       Jungle Jamz

5.       Strawberry Jamz

6.       Surf Jamz

I hope creating, singing, moving, watching, and listening to music help your child too. For “Music gives the soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything” (Plato).