Six Reasons You Need To Nurture The Music in Your Toddlers’ Life.

Written by Genie Price 

Peanut butter and jelly, shoes and socks, rain and mud puddles – are all important joys in a toddlers’ upbringing. While all those aspects are significant, just as much as the alphabet, counting and recognising shapes is – music and movement also play a substantial role in the expansion of the young mind.   

From as early as birth, there is music present in many aspects of daily life: theatre and dance, television and movies as well as celebrations and ceremonies.  

Even at home, parents instinctively use song – nursery rhymes and music to help soothe and calm their children, helping to quickly establish trust and security and promote the musical culture of the lives of many.  

So, is music an important part of your toddlers’ daily life? And if so, why? 

The answer is yes, and in more detail – we discuss below. 

• Language Development:  

Just as infants long to walk and run, your toddler yearns to absorb, to imitate and to increase their vocabulary – through speech.  

When music is introduced in both an educational program as well as the home setting, the benefits towards speech development are endless. 

And, because music is perfectly designed to engage the auditory senses, it helps to train your toddlers listening abilities – introducing them to pattern and predictability, new words and their meanings, as well as new sounds, all the while – developing their language skills. 

• Promotes early Math concepts:  

Maths!? But my toddler is only two years old!  

That’s right. Early math skills are promoted through engaging in musical experiences.  

How? Well, whether it be the lullaby you sing to bubba at night, or the spontaneous groove in the car, the counting, patterns and repetition, the tone and pitch of music are all prerequisites to learning about early math.  

Although your toddler may not know it right now, they will soon come to use these skills in the classroom.  

• Supports motor development and coordination:  

Music evokes movement and helps the body and mind work together.  

Trust me, your toddler will thank you for allowing them to explore a combination of music and dance.  

They will bounce, jump, spin and move in a way which feels natural and enjoyable to them.  

Music will enable your toddler to strengthen their motor skills, find their centre of gravity and encourage co-ordination, it will also nurture the much-needed art of self-expression and creativity. 

• Promotes creativity and imagination:  

Because music has come to evolve over many decades, along with it, is the ability to be freely creative and expressive. 

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein 

“Dance like no one is watching” is exactly what your toddler will do when they hear the sounds of music. These sounds will motivate your child to move at their own will – making this their own creative experience. 

No one can tell them how to “feel” the music, this will instinctively happen. The creativity and imagination of their own evolving mind – will take over and what you will see is an experience which involves plenty of expressions.  

• Lifts moods and decreases stress:  

What is the first thing you do as an adult when you are feeling down? Aside from eating a big block of chocolate, the next best thing, for many – is to listen to music.  

Studies indicate that listening to music is a mood enhancer and can decrease levels of stress.  

As soon as pleasurable music is heard, even if it’s Grandmas husky voice signing a bedtime lullaby, the dopamine levels in the brain are increased, and while you think that your toddler is too young to notice, you’re wrong.  

The word itself, is not important, however, the direct result of this increase is better moods and decreased levels of stress. 

• Music allows for social connectedness: 

Toddlers love to sing and dance and whether they be at home on their own or as part of a school or church group, valuable life skills are being developed, such as: working together and relating to others within a space.  

You can be sure that wherever a toddler is getting their groove on, adults are not far behind because music is in most cases, a common ground for the majority of us, toddlers included.  

Music is also a well-known avenue for which beloved songs, rhymes, and dances can be passed down from one generation to another. Be it our own cultural music or the new Ed Sheeran song – Perfect, music is a social activity which involves family and encourages community participation.   

See, music is known to contribute to the overall health and well-being of your little one. Through musical experiences you can nurture sensory exploration, strengthen body awareness and gross motor and more importantly so, exposure to music for your toddler will mean expansion of the mind.  

With benefits like this, wouldn’t you want music as part of your life?