Singing and Movement for Children

“My child loves to sing!” I hear this comment from many parents who visit the music room. Yes, all children love to sing, dance and play with instruments! They love to listen to all genres of music and their wide open minds absorb and assimilate all of their experiences!

Many parents are interested in lessons or additional musical experiences for their young children. Home, school and church are their best opportunities for music! Do you sing with your child? (Children are never going to say to you “you can’t sing in tune”– that’s in your head!!). Do you speak nursery rhymes? Listen to Raffi?   Shari, Lois and Bram? Music of the 60’s? Do you have instruments in your home– maracas, drums, rhythm sticks, shakers, xylophones, a piano?   Children love to explore sounds and have you on the floor with them.

In 1988, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the vocal qualities of preschool children, after spending a year in area preschools in Columbus, Ohio. The students were very eager to participate in my study. Their favorite activity was adding motions and movement to the songs. The visual identity stimulated the rote singing.

The children loved being recorded and listening to themselves sing (no surprise there!) They would hold a microphone for the recording and sing for as long as I wanted!

The children frequently wanted to be the ones to chose the song and the key and starting note. By letting them choose the key most comfortable to them, they were able to sing more in tune. They loved to sing alone, but also with others. They loved to move and dance while singing. They loved to sing the same songs over and over! There was no boredom with repetition!

There are several different types of excellent music theories to expose children to. Here at ESK, I use the Orff methodology based on the teaching of the German composer and educator, Carl Orff. His method encompasses “sing it, say it, play it”. We use many different percussion instruments, as well as xylophones and glockenspiels. The children are fantastic at singing a song, and picking out the melody on a pentatonic scale (5 noted). The Orff method also encourages improvising and creating new melodies. I start the Orff method with students in three year old class and continue all the way through fifth grade.

World music is also one of my favorite genres! Students at ESK listen to all types of world music and learn to respect the cultures of all people.

So let your house be a musical home! Encourage singing and dancing with your children! Play music and sometimes sit quietly while listening. Let them choose the songs to play. Have a CD player and CD’s, that they can play independently.

Sing to the Lord a new song!

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Today’s blog post is written by ESK Music Director Debora Sousa, Ph.D.