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What children learn from being exposed to Music?

Even before babies talk, their babbling helps to develop the neural pathways necessary for listening and speaking. Infants who hear language directed and responsive to them, babble more and have larger vocabularies as toddlers. When they hear and see others singing as a part of daily life, young children quickly pick up the habit, using sound to explore new ways to understand or describe the world around them.

Vignette: Listening to songs

‘Sam enjoys signing and signing along with his mother during his playtime. Mom plays songs in different languages to help him introduce new vocabulary in different languages. His mother also attempts to sign the words and perform different actions to the words to introduce him to American sign language, gain his attention and help motor development.

Children’s language development and creativity are vastly improved by the power of music and the pleasing effect it evokes. It ignites different areas of child development and skills for school readiness, including intellectual, social-emotional, motor, language, and overall literacy. Additionally, it helps the body and the mind work together. Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words. Through music, they can invent games, songs or stories to help them harness their feelings.

Understanding the significance of Music, it is no surprise that music helps parents/ caregivers to express joy, and to engage or calm their children. It also helps in building intimacy.

Simultaneously, allowing children to choose their favourite songs and singing along with them, enhances their experience. Like language development, toddlers develop their musical skills through imitating and memorising rhythms and tones of songs such as clapping to a beat and singing in tune. Some ways we can expose children to music include but are not limited to singing and sign to your baby, encourage making noise, introduce your favorite playlist, find your old instruments, offer a wooden musical toy, try an activity toy, Engage in interactive play.

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Toddler’s Language development and Mirror play reflection 

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Toddler’s Language development and Mirror play reflection 

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Are babies looking at the mirror and wondering if their hair is done right? Is there food stuck in your teeth?

No, they are simply looking at themselves in the mirror and having fun. It is very fascinating for them to look at another baby to interact with.

Mirror play is an opportunity to talk with your baby, laugh, and enjoy some time together to continue building a strong connection.

That being said, it also supports child’s healthy development and learning. Using a mirror during tummy time keeps the baby entertained and gives them an interactive way to develop their muscles and physical abilities, as they expand language skills. For example, even before they can use words, you can point out parts of their face and have little back-and-forth conversations. Any opportunity for conversation is great for the little one to learn language.

Mirror play also allows to nurture a child's developing self-awareness, which is a key part of their overall social-emotional development.Eventually, they will learn they are seeing their own face and start to recognize their reflection.

Baby Play With Mirrors

Begin by locating an unbreakable mirror or a mirror that is safely and securely anchored.

Position your baby in front of the mirror so that he can see both his reflection and your reflection.

Ask your baby to point to his nose, hair, eyes, etc. If he needs help, you can point to your own nose or point to his nose until he grasps the concept.

This exercise helps the baby learn the names of his body parts that he may not otherwise be able to see.

Work on imitation skills, by making funny faces in the mirror and asking him to do the same (wrinkle nose, stick out tongue, widen eyes, etc). There are few things cuter than a baby who is trying to mimic you, and there are sure to be many giggles during this activity.

Use favorite toys to perform sort of a "puppet show" in front of the mirror. Invite him to join you in the play, to see if he understands the relationship between himself and the mirror.

Vignette: Sam was seated in front of a huge mirror door along with some toys. Him and his mom began by looking at the mirror and wondering who they see. Next they point the different body parts on each of them. Later mom allows her little one to explore the mirror on his own. He looks at himself in the mirror and then his mom alternating for a while. Next, he crawls closer to the mirror and stretches his hand to his reflection in the mirror.

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Tummy Time is one of the baby's first crucial exercises for a baby's visual, motor, and sensory development. Tummy Time is the period during the day your baby spends awake and on their stomach. It can begin as soon as a newborn, and continue throughout the baby's first year.
How Does Tummy Time Help With Meeting Milestones?
Tummy Time is crucial for healthy motor, sensory and visual development.
Motor Development-
● Strengthens baby’s back, neck, and core muscles.
● Build a foundation for babies to meet motor milestones including rolling, sitting, crawling, and more.
Sensory Development-
● Feeling different textures (blankets, carpet, etc.) on their arms, hands, and cheeks can help baby’s
tactile sense (sense of touch).
● As babies move and their weight shifts, they gain a sense of body awareness.
● Positioning the baby differently helps develop their movement and balance (vestibular sense).
Vision Development
● Helps develop eye and hand coordination. By looking down at their hands, the baby is seeing how
they move and explore what they can do.
Tummy Time’s Role in Language Acquisition
Tummy time also provides opportunities to foster and grow the parent-child relationship through play and interactions.During tummy time, if you get on the floor with the baby to label and describe the things they look at, points at or reaches for, they will learn that words have meaning. If you interact with them around things they are interested in, especially by responding to their vocalizations, they will begin to learn to express themself, understand you, and navigate back-and-forth communication. The following vignette explains this development.
Vignette:​ Sensory and Motor play through Tummy Time
Sam was given water in a baking tray along with some plastic ducks and measuring spoons to explore. His mother played music to introduce new songs while also communicating with him during his play to help him understand his actions of splishing and splashing. He curiously splashed water on the tray and felt the droplets on his face. He responded back with a smile to express his joy during his tummy time and coos back to navigate back and forth communication
marking an initial stage of language acquisition.
(BEFORE I TRIED THIS I WAS CERTAIN My BABY HAD GOOD HEAD CONTROL and UPPER BODY CONTROL AND I WAS SUPERVISING AT ALL TIMES )
Baby water play is just one way to play on your tummy!

Stay tuned for more ideas.

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Every child is different and learns in a different way. Learning through play however is encouraged. Giving the children opportunities to play and extend their learning through questioning and experimenting is ideal. Keeping the activity fun and interesting spurs their learning. Playful learning assists in developing key skills such as communication, creativity, expression, teamwork and many more.

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Sam, a three and half month infant, is engaged in playing with his toy animals. His mother helps him arrange a few miniature animals on his mat in front of him while he chooses to lie on his tummy and look at them. He stares at each of them for a few seconds and then communicates with them with his coos. His mom introduces each animal by its name to him, while patiently listening and answering with his coos. Next, he kicks his feet on the mat indicating his mom to support him crawl ahead, inorder to reach out to the animals.’
A constantly changing world requires change in educational approaches, where the student is no longer a passive receptacle but an active participant in construction of knowledge. Hence, they should be presented with surroundings that complement this natural curiosity. Similarly, play is very signicant for a child during his/her early years. Environments that are stimulating for young children should be lled with an abundance of safe objects to explore, allow freedom of movement, that provide a variety of experiences. Children start to feel stimulated long before they learn to crawl from just gazing around their own environment and taking in the sounds, smells, touch and visuals. In the Vignette, sam is visually stimulated that enables him to learn about different colors, recognizing different animals. When he moves closer to them, he explores through touch.
To conclude, the environment should create learning “opportunities” that facilitate investigation, curiosity and building of knowledge and skills. The interaction between the physical spaces, resources and new learning methods gives rise to a more holistic learning.