As a nanny, you have an amazing opportunity to nurture children’s growth through engaging activities and enrichment. One simple, yet profoundly impactful way to do this is by incorporating music and rhythm into your regular routine. Exposing children to music provides cognitive, social, emotional and physical benefits that can last a lifetime.
From a very young age, babies start responding to rhythm, melody and vocal tones. Listening to music and being rocked or bounced in time captures their attention and makes them feel safe and loved. As they get older, singing, dancing, and playing simple instruments taps into children’s natural inclination for movement and creativity. AND, the bonus is that music supports all areas of child development:
- Language/Literacy: Singing helps build vocabulary, phonemic awareness, memorization and articulation skills. Rhyming and chanting develop pre-reading abilities.
- Math/Patterns: Keeping a steady beat fosters self-regulation, understanding of patterns/sequences, and grasping of complex math concepts like fractions.
- Motor Skills: Moving and grooving works on gross and fine motor abilities, coordination, balance and body awareness.
- Emotional Intelligence: Expressing emotions through music and discussing song lyrics promotes self-awareness and empathy.
- Social Skills: Interactive musical experiences build cooperation, self-confidence and the ability to take turns.
- Focus/Memory: Music engages multiple areas of the brain, improving memory recall and extending attention spans.
There are so many easy ways to add music to your day! Sing nursery rhymes, action songs or your own made-up tunes during diaper changes and meals. Create shaker eggs, drums or guitars from household items (HERE is a link with ideas). Turn on fun, age-appropriate music and have an impromptu dance party. Clap out rhythms or march together to get energized before outings. Research local music classes in your area for children.
You don’t need to be a talented singer or musician. What truly matters is exposing children to the joy of music! Allow them to explore instruments freely, makeup silly songs about their day, and narrate activities by singing your words. Over time, these musical experiences will boost children’s cognitive development while creating warm bonding moments you can cherish together.