Music for Young Children

Any of the music methods (e.g., Kodály, Orff) mentioned in Chapter 4 offer sequential learning for
children. Kodály in particular spent a great deal of effort on developing beautiful singing voices for young
children. Children’s voices, after all, are their first instrument—a child’s first exceptionally pleasant
musical experience is likely to be hearing lullabies from a parent or guardian, and then vocally
experimenting with his or her own voice. Kodály graded learning in small steps for the very beginner
learners, starting with three-note songs (sol, mi, la) and expanding gradually to four, five, and six notes
and beyond. For the youngest, songs with three notes are an excellent place to start, because these
children will not have much difficulty imitating or matching these pitches and can be successful from the
outset.

Music for Children Birth To Three Years Old

Music activity for infants and toddlers engages the child’s aural and physical being. Such age-old
activities include tickling, wiggling, bouncing, and finger playing.

At this level, musical play creates and reinforces the special personal bond between an adult (or older
child) and infant, while also introducing music to the child. For newborns and very young children,
speaking a rhyme and wiggling toes connects sound to a pleasurable and intimate act, as well as
introducing the idea of rhythm and phrasing to newborns and young children.

Below are a few of the rhymes and songs particularly good for newborns and toddlers. They include
some very familiar nursery rhymes and action games appropriate for this age group. Keep in mind that
almost any nursery rhyme can be used for these activities, as long as they have a steady beat, which
luckily most of them do.

Early Learning Goals

The prime areas

Communication and language

Listening and attention:

 Using our pedagogical approach to learning, children will engage in role-play to music and create
dialogue according to the situation.
Listening to a story activates parts in a child’s brain that allows them to turn the story into their
own ideas and experience thanks to a process called Neural Coupling.
Creating movement to the story will support memory development and make it easier to
remember with accuracy.
 Music, dance and drama give children the opportunity to share and enjoy a wide range of
rhymes, music, songs, poetry and stories.
They also link language with physical movement in action songs, rhymes, role play and practical
experiences.
 When using books/poetry try to create physical movements to support this story, thus becoming
a physical memory, either from a chant or specific movements for a phrase.

Understanding:

Children will follow instructions on the session, involving several ideas or actions. They will gain good
listening skills, concentration and enhance memory skills.
Provide opportunities to extend each child’s learning through music and movement and offer ‘open
ended’ situations for them to answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response
to the stories or events.
Anticipating key events in movement or music or dance will help to support sequencing, phrasing,
patterns and rhythm.

Speaking:

Children will express themselves effectively through songs, rhymes and role-play, showing awareness of
listeners’ needs.
Play confidence-building games to support children in their development and speech, moving from
mime to spoken word.
Sequencing will assist in understanding time; past, present and future.
Using props and role play children develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or
events. There should be opportunities for children to react, talk, imagine and respond to
music, movement and sound.

Physical Development

Moving and handling:

 Children will show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements supporting fine
and gross motor skills.
 Build a foundation of basic movements; galloping, skipping, jumping, catching, crawling, rolling
and hopping while safely negotiating space.
Incorporate stimuli, scarves, claves, balls to support and strengthen hand/arm control, always
use both hands when using equipment, as young children are generally ambidextrous.
 Children are generally more active when outdoors as they are able to take part in more vigorous
play eg, cycling, running, swinging, and climbing.
 They also have more room and freedom to explore and develop their physical boundaries.
 Make time for some structured play as it is ‘inclusive’.
 Provide a multitude of stimuli, apparatus and space to ensure the children can explore their
physical potential.
Children can explore the use of props, and develop co-ordination, control, manipulation and
movement.
 Gripping equipment, playing of percussion instruments and action songs build control of all the
60+ combined muscles in the hand.
  Children will learn to use movement imaginatively, responding to stimuli, including music and
performing basic skills.
 They will create and perform dances using simple patterns.

Health and self-care:

Music and movement use high energy, cardio syllabus, to engage and stimulate children.
Recognizing heart rhythms before and after exercise will help children to understand the necessity for
warm –ups and relaxation. They will know the importance of good health, physical exercise, and a
healthy diet.
Play ‘Fine Dining’ games to encourage discussions on healthy eating.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Self-confidence and self-awareness:

 Children will become absorbed in music and role-play and develop a new confidence in their
abilities. They will develop good posture, strength and balance.
 They will be confident to try new activities and will make preference over some activities. Ensure
a wide choice of movement based equipment is available for play. Children will build emotional
bonds with peers and carers. Through this interaction, they will develop language and
communication skills.
 Create opportunities for children to speak in familiar groups and talk about their ideas.
Opportunities will arise for children to react, talk, imagine and respond to music.
Doing this they will gain knowledge of the world, be creative and imaginative, and develop their
personal and social skills.
 Try playing classical music when painting – the results can be incredible!

Managing feelings and behaviour:

 Physical development builds positive attitudes, enthusiasm, motivation and confidence and
children will gain self-esteem.
Using Mirror Mime, will support emotional development and provide an understanding of
emotions.
 Developing stories through movement provides the rich experience of emotional understanding
as the children take the role of certain characters. Eg Rainbow Fish. Through emotional
development children will learn tolerance and sensitivity.
 Children can adjust and change their behaviour to different situations, and take changes of
routine in their stride.
They will be able to represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through music and dance.
Providing opportunities to evaluate responses and reactions will enable children to develop
‘empathy’.
Making relationships:

During activities children can play co-operatively, taking turns with others. Simple songs involving
leaders, eg In and out the Dusty Bluebells, support taking turns, building relationships and sharing.
They can take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity.
Playing circle time activities will enable the group to show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings thus
forming positive relationships with other children.
This gives children the opportunity to develop self-confidence, respect for others, group interaction and
social skills.

The Specific Areas

Literacy

Reading:
Becoming familiar with stories will assist in literacy development.
Evaluating performance and participation after activities enables children to openly discuss their views
and encourage vocabulary.
The use of tracking activities will strengthen eye muscles required for reading.
Creating narratives when working alongside books as an outreach activity will build confidence,
vocabulary and sentence structures.

Writing:
Using specific equipment, play dough, scarves, parachute, percussion instruments etc, children will
strengthen their manipulative skills
required for writing.
Arm/hand movements in dance will build a foundation for creating key movements used in letter
structuring and build gross motor skills.
1. The upper body must be strong enough to hold the body in an upright standing or sitting position.
2. The shoulders muscles must be strong enough to control the weight of the arm, and flexible enough
to rotate freely to position the
arm for writing.
3. The upper arm holds the weight of the lower arm and hand, delivering the hand to the page.
4. The lower arm provides a sturdy fulcrum on which the wrist rotates.
5. The wrist holds the hand steady and rotates to the appropriate position.
6. The fingers fold around the pencil which is held in place by the thumb.
7. Together, all five fingers do a precision dance on the page:
a. placing the pencil at the exact angle to meet the page, b. pressing down and maintaining the right
amount of pressure to leave the
imprint, and c. coordinating the tiny up, down, left, and right movements across the page.

Mathematics
Numbers:
Music + movement develops mathematical understanding through stories, counting songs, games and
dance patterns/choreography.
Children will have the opportunity to experiment with numbers, patterns, and spatial awareness.

Using numbers in rhythm will build music understanding and number ordering. When using balls on a
parachute, children can predict
numbers and count less or more.

Create dance patterns using a 4/4 rhythm, including doubling and halving. Sequencing is crucial in
understanding place and order,
using simple pathways and retracing steps will build on this key developmental area.

Introduce ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’ to assist with number ordering and playing chase games increases
cardio resistance, strengthening
heart and lungs.

Shape, space and measures:

Spatial markers can be used to encourage spatial awareness, as children are yet to discover the capacity
of space.

Create opportunities to discuss size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time with equipment used in
dance. For example catching scarves/balls comparison. Using different sized similar object to compare
and contrast size.

Balance is key in boosting core strength, co-ordination and control.

Creating ‘home-made’ instruments will require levels of mathematical understanding of size, weight and
shape.

Using spatial awareness to engage in the journeys they take when moving and making precise pathways
will boost critical thinking.

Understanding The World

People and Communities:

Role-play is an important context in which children expand their knowledge and understanding of the
world. Through their play, they can express themselves with confidence and find out what it may be like
to be in someone else’s shoes.

In the early years dramatic play is closely connected to everyday lives. Children will talk and act out past
and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They will know that other
children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this.
World Dance/movement and music is a great way to understand different cultures and beliefs and
provides a multitude of open ended possibilities and an openness and curiosity for other countries.

During activities children can respond by using many senses, and use resources from a variety of
cultures to stimulate different ways of thinking. Using blindfolds for Heuristic Play brings an awareness
of our senses.

The world:
Children will understand similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living
things through dance and movement.

Becoming an animal, tree, or a seed will create an understanding and observation of animals and plants
and children will be able to explain why some things occur, and talk about those changes.

Role play is closely connected to children’s everyday lives and features much of their own immediate
environment, opportunities should arise in how environments might vary from one another.

Use natural resources; tree stumps, twigs, stones and pine cones to represent changing environments.

Use tunnels to explore restricted space and strengthen arm and leg muscles.

Technology:
Children recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools.

Providing the opportunity to film/record their dance/movement and replaying the footage, will give the
children a huge sense of pride and self-confidence. They will also be able to offer critique and
evaluation and look to enhance their movements.

Try scheduling a ‘show’ create a dance with the children, record the work and view it, you may wish to
include some healthy popcorn!

Simple ICT music composition sites like “Finger Drums” will enable children to compose music, perform
and evaluate their experience.

Through the use of musical instruments, both professional and homemade, our syllabus gives the
opportunity for exploration, observation, prediction, discussion and stimulate children’s interest and
curiosity.

Expressive Arts and Design

Exploring and using media and materials:

Our syllabus develops children’s imaginations which is crucial in creative development.
Using everyday objects to explore movement provides open ended situations for development; eg
Bubble Wrap may be a secret pathway, be careful not to pop the bubbles as you’ll wake the dragon!

Children can represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art,
music, dance, role-play and stories.

Children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them.

Provide bubble mixture for the children to use – resulting in reaching, catching, popping, predicting
direction, size and space.

Making up rhymes and changing ending to songs will boost creative development and social and
emotional development.

Being imaginative:
This area of learning includes art, music, dance, role-play and imaginative play.

Music and movement provides a stimulating environment which nurtures creativity and where
originality and expressiveness are valued.

Children will safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with
colour, design, texture, form and function.

Make some everyday objects available for ‘Role-Play’ area rather than ‘structured’ dressing up clothes;
rolling pins, table cloth, hair rollers, camouflage net etc.

Children will explore the use of props, role play and a wide range of music and discover their ability to
‘play’.

Providing opportunities for exploration is important for development –

Pass the Handbag is an excellent confidence building game. Vary the contents, props, instruments,
cooking items, food etc

Music, dance and drama can give:

Children with visual impairment the opportunity to have physical contact with instruments, sensory
equipment artifacts, spaces and movements;

Children with hearing impairment the opportunity to experience sound through vibrations and rhythm
through movement;

Children who cannot communicate by voice the opportunity to respond to music in different ways, such
as gestures and dance.
Other benefits of music in child development.

 Toddlers love to dance and move to music.

To them music is repetition, which encourages language and memorization. Silly songs
make toddlers laugh. Toddlers also enjoy singing. They aren’t self-conscious about their ability
and most of them are eager to let their voices roar. They like songs that repeat words and
melodies; use rhythms with a definite beat with actions. Remember music helps to strengthen
memory skills.

 Children’s brains develop faster with music training that’s why at least most ECD teachers are
encouraged to engage children through music, rhymes and poems.
Music instruction appears to accelerate brain development in young children,
particularly in the areas of the brain responsible for processing sound, language development
and speech perception and reading skills, according to research by neuroscientists. They proved
that music instruction speeds up the maturation of the auditory pathway in the brain and
inv=creases its efficiency. It helps to process sound more accurately (stimulates the auditory
system of children which connects our ear to the brain to process sound) in preparation for
language development, reading skills and successful communication.

 Very early in the life, children will start to identify rhythms and even move to beats of music.
Remember, music touches souls.

 Music provides cognitive benefits that support children’s early development.

 Music increases toddlers’ sensory development. Just as taste, textures and colors and a child’s
sensory development, so does music. Exposing children to different types of music can help
create more pathways between the cells in their brains. So try to be more constructive and
creative in all learning areas.

 It helps them to identify sound patterns and learn through repetition.

One can also pair music with movements or visual aids that stimulate the senses. This
allows children to not only hear the music but also feel and move to the rhythms and see, touch
and play instructions.

 Music can improve literacy and numeracy.

From an early age, babies can hear the difference between different types of sounds
after just a few weeks a baby is able to identify their mother’s voice from others. Exposure to
music enhances a child natural ability to decode sounds and words.

 Music is a mode of life.

 A lot of parents tuck their children in bed with a lullaby or calm them down with a song.
Just as music can soothe a child, it can also lift their spirit. You can use music to indicate routines
(play time) or different moments in the child’s daily schedule.

 Music helps toddlers to build coordination.

Even if the child doesn’t understand the lyrics of the song yet, they can definitely move
to the rhythm of the music.

 Music encourages children’s inclination to move, developing their fine motor skills and gross
motor skills.
If the rhythm is very entertaining, you may even notice the children starting to jump up
and down, which helps them to develop their muscles, strength and balance. So teachers must
endeavor to provide their learners with musical instruments, they will mimic the movements of
the teacher which helps in hand-eye coordination and exercise their clutch grip.

 Music can help toddlers develop their vocabulary.

Even though at first the children/ learners may not understand the word in a song or in
a nursery rhythm, they do develop their understanding by identifying the story telling in a song
e.g. ABCDE….. Therefore help the children to learn more by teaching them interesting songs,
rhymes, poems. You can also encourage the child to change the words in a song to keep them
engaged and learning.

 It helps to improve their brain power and memory functions. Music helps in stimulating the part
of the brain that is responsible for reading, math and emotional development.

 It helps them to develop social skills and confidence.

While growing up many children will face challenges of adapting socially. The best way
to help them overcome this is to help them learn how to play a musical instrument or be part of
the singing group. This helps them develop social skills .e.g. how to relate with people, how to
work in a team, leadership and discipline and how to appreciate rewards and achievement.

 Music inspires creativity in children.

You will definitely agree with me that musicians are some of the most creative people
today. Whether it is writing the lyrics to the song or practicing a new way to play the guitar. The
children tap into their inner creative spirits, learners start miming or imitating other people
singing and dancing.
Objectives of music in early childhood development.

There are several objectives of teaching music in ECD; they are as follows:

 To refine, arouse and develop the infant’s musical ability and potential to understand music.
Teaching music at this early stage will prepare and sustain learners for their future musical lives.
 To cultivate the art of self expression. Through music all emotions can be expressed in a non-
violent manner.
 To sharpen the children’s aesthetic, intellectual and academic potentials.
 To develop a serene, calm and beautiful sense of handling relationships. Through music children
can learn different solutions of handling social solutions.
 To develop critical thinking. Learning a piece of music requires critical thinking.
 To develop language skills, listening, fluency, speech and in some way a pre-reading and writing.
 To develop team spirit among the young children
 While music is a great way to introduce new words, it can also contribute to children’s progress
and learning in many different areas. Music supports self-expression, cooperation and motor
skills.
 Since music is social activity, those who team to participate and enjoy it, learn to work with
other people.
 To convey cultural values, religious and moral ethics to infants. Since music is an interesting art,
the message in it can easily be picked.

 Music is a good method of teaching young children. It ought to be given half the time they
spend with the caregivers, parents, teachers or even people they meet.
 Music motivates learners. Music is used to boost the morale of learners. It can be done in pre-
lesson within the lesson or after the lesson. When the teacher senses drowsiness, boredom or a
drop of attention in the learners.
 Music relieves learners of the strain of other subjects that is to say in between periods. Children
minds can get relaxed when they sing or act. When they are tired of an activity, music can
relieve and relax their minds.
 Music is important in the teaching of values, promotes and preserves people’s cultures.
 It develops art of self-expression. Music being a performing art done with and for other people,
it develops self expression.
 It helps to develop imagination and creative powers. “When I grow up, I will be….”
 Music is used to develop concepts of other people. E.g. it can be used to develop the concept of
numeration system in Mathematics, body parts in science- they can sing; head, shoulder, knees
and toes. Among others.
 Music is informative. It can be used to convey messages to different people. A message one may
have not attended to will almost unconsciously listen to it.
Aspects of music to be developed in children

“Teachers ask children/learners to demonstrate what they have learnt; transforming learning
into something they want to do. Learners begin to teach their peers and become leaders in their own
right.”

However as a teacher of music, you should help your learners to develop in five areas to enable the child
develop holistically which you have to cater for through music.

Through this process of development, we hope to inspire our learners and equip them with skills and
processes that will help them navigate new content and challenges that the future might present.

1. Cerebral development.
The academic area emphasizes communication, comprehension, critical thinking and curiosity to
enhance academic learning.
2. Physical development.
This focuses on health, fitness and sports.
3. Social development.
Support learners to get involved in their communities, work towards common goals and
understand themselves and others. E.g. it can be for interaction and enjoyment with each other
hence forming the basis for future relations.
4. Spiritual development.
This is focused on core values awareness and practice, rather than on a particular religion. Music
can shape behavior and feelings through religious songs.
5. Emotional development.
Encourages learners to pay attention to their emotions in order to identify, understand and
express them positively.
N.B; Cite some songs which can help you to for the development of those areas.

Composition, collection and compiling music for young children

Composing music

This refers to the putting together or words, phrases, sound, tunes and melodies into a
meaningful piece of music. The music should have a beat or rhythm.

Musical composition or simply composition can refer to an original piece of work of music, either vocal
or instrumental, the structure of musical piece, or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of
music. People who create new compositions are called composers.
Composition consists of only two things. The first is the ordering and disposing of several sounds in such
a manner that their succession pleases the ears of the listener. This is what the ancients called
“melody.”

The second is the rendering audible of two or more simultaneous sounds such in such a way
that their combination is pleasant. This is what we call “harmony” and it alone merits the name
“composition”

The following steps can be used to compose music.

 Identify the theme, topic or idea you want to sing about.

 Identify the words that you wish to use to bring about the meaning you intend to pass on to the
school.
 Write down the identified words to make stanzas to make up a poem. Identify the mood and
rhythm you would like a song to portray.
 Try out tunes randomly which can bring out your mood and follow the required, rhythm,
 Repeat the tunes that are interesting, meaningful or appropriate. Several times for mastery.
 Introduce the words in the stanzas into the tune.
 Practice the words in the tune several times for mastery.
 Write down the song as you practice singing it.
 Sing the song for somebody and get comments and criticism for improvement. (the producer)

Collection and compiling of music

The music that is composed should be written down in either sol-fa or staff notation.
This helps to keep the composed music in its original form. If one is unable to write the
composed music then record on a disc or cassette tape.
The recorded material should be kept in a cool dry place far from magnetic materials. Pieces of
music that are learnt from other sources can also be recorded or written down and kept in a
safe file for future use.

Musical instruments:
These include instruments like;
 Shakers.
 Wind instruments.
 String instruments.
 Percussion instruments. These are instruments used to produce beats and
rhythm. E.g. drums. They can be made from tins, polythene paper, rubber
bands, car tires, etc.
 ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN IN MUSIC AND MOVEMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
 Assessment is a systematic process of gathering evidence or information
about children’s knowledge, skills and abilities in a certain activity area.
 The purpose is to recognise whether the children have acquired certain
skills or concepts in Music activities.
 To determine whether the child is making progress in the learning process.
To measure how well teachers teach and how much the children learn.
 To assess child’s ability and potential which is a process but requires proper
planning on the teacher’s side.

How could it be done?

 By awarding marks to children.

 By marking statements or comments for young children.
 Through observation;
 To get accurate information e.g. sounds, pitch, words
 To know the children’s ability and potentialities
 It enables teachers and parents to understand their children better.
 It helps a teacher to improve on their observation skills.
 To know whether their children are able to change their behaviors
 Through demonstration and participation.
 Checklist;
 This is an assessment tool that is used to record what is noticed during observation.
 A checklist involves making a list of what is to be observed before starting to observe the
children.
 Then teachers observe the each child against the checklist as prepared .
 Teacher observes the skills gained in Music e.g. singing, dancing, clapping, and playing
musical instruments.

Checklist-

Number Name of child Singing dancing

1 Robinah
2 Beatrice
3 Namuyaba
4 ………………………
Where; ‘*’ means not able
* -
- *
* *

 The teacher records the notes that describe the significant activities that a child can do and
evaluate the children’s progress.

Assessment is a way of estimating the nature, value or quality of something. It involves making clear