The Benefit of Music And Movement For Infants, Toddlers and Pre-schoolers

In the first three years of life, a child’s brain grows faster than at any other time. While academic foundations are an important area of focus, technology may not be a suitable replacement for some of the traditional teaching practices.  Music and movement is one of those traditional teaching methods that is sometimes left out of day care and preschool program schedules. We all know that children love music but is it really needed for healthy child development?

The answer is a resounding yes! Music and movement integrates physical, cognitive, and social and emotional learning domains for a whole-child approach to learning. Music and movements programs don’t just provide infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers a fun activity; educational research is affirming that it provides critical skills necessary for learning. The potential benefits include the following physical, cognitive, and social and emotional learning domains.

When children take part in music and movement activities, they are allowed to have fun, be creative and dance around and burn off some energy. When children participate in music and movement activities in a group, they also develop and refine their social skills. They learn to participate as a team, they learn to share and they learn how to be creative in group environments. Research is very clear that music and movement is an important prerequisite for learning success.

At Mt. Elizabeth, we have done our research, our students participate in music and movement class every afternoon. Songs are chosen intentionally by our curriculum director to fit our curriculum, match our bible studies for the month, and sometimes, just for fun.