Music is an incredible resource that can play an important role in your child’s development. Exposing your child to music from a young age is shown to help improve many aspects of child development. Actually, music, singing and dancing play an important role in society. It’s in every aspect of our lives, from television to movies to other celebrations.

Music exposure can help improve social skills, positively influence child development and be of great benefit to children of all ages.

Music and the Brain

Exposure to music in childhood actually helped to accelerate brain development (University of Southern California, 2016). Musical exposure especially positively influenced language acquisition and other reading skills.

Music helps to ignite many skills that can greatly benefit children at school. Music helps inspire:

• language
• literacy
• social-emotional capabilities
• heightens intellect
• positive emotions.

Dancing helps to improve coordination and other motor skills as well.

Singing happy birthday to a loved one sparks a lot of joy, and incorporating music games into your child’s routine can help them relate the feeling of joy to the experience of learning. Even teenagers benefit from music, and may use musical experiences like concerts and creating bands to form friendships and discover their own self-identity.

Musical Training and the Brain

Children who undertook intensive musical training and learning an instrument tend to have great motor and fine motor skills compared to non-musically trained kids.

Studies have found that children who are trained in a musical instrument from a young age actually have a different brain development to support this training. The corpus callous, right primary auditory region and other brain regions experienced more development than non-musically trained children, which makes sense. These are the areas of the brain that are needed to play a musical instrument well.

Musical training helps the brain develop faster, and children reported positive social, emotional and cognitive development compared to their non-musical peers. Thus, musical training is very good for your child’s brain development and enjoying a musical instrument activity may be a great idea!

What Age Group Benefits from Music Exposure:

All age groups benefit from being exposed to  .

Teenagers identify music with their self-identity and can use it to build a stronger sense of self-esteem. Primary-aged children, on the other hand, may find music an interesting way to learn and will enjoy sing-a-longs and other musical initiatives.

Parents can start exposing their children to music from infant onwards. Infants will benefit from parents using lullabies and other songs to soothe them and to help them sleep. Toddlers will enjoy singing games and other musical experiences, and may also benefit from musical instrument training or dancing lessons. No matter what age your child is, music is sure to make a great impact on their development.

Final Thoughts:

Music has a monumental positive effect on your child’s brain development. No matter how old they are, music is the key to ensuring healthy social, emotional and physical development.

Are you ready to find a musical activity near you but don’t want to waste your time trying to find activities on the web? My Schedule Studio makes it easier than ever to book music lessons, dancing and other musical activities from your phone. Search, schedule and shortlist activities with a few clicks to save you time!

Resources:

https://www.unicef.org/parenting/child-development/how-music-affects-your-babys-brain-class

https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/music-and-children-rhythm-meets-child-development

https://news.usc.edu/102681/childrens-brains-develop-faster-with-music-training/