Music and dance are incredibly important aspects of any child’s life. From the time they’re born, parents instinctually rock their children, sing to them, bounce them, using music and movement to engage, soothe, and care for their young one. As a child gets older, parents can use this innate connection to help their child grow and succeed by learning about the developmental benefits of both music and dance. These artforms use both the body and the mind, and are key for children as they learn to make connections between their own actions and abstract intellectual concepts.
Engaging with music or dance allows children to grow in their motor skills, communication, expression, creativity and imagination, social emotional skills, and so much more. The most key developmental years in a child’s life happen before they are 5 years old. When a child is this young, skills like recognizing patterns, sounds, and cues in music and sequencing movement, body awareness, and spatial patterns in dance are all valuable to helping the child develop successfully and even transition into their school years.
As a parent, you can use music and dance at home to start building these skills. By singing and clapping to silly songs, hopping like a frog, galloping like a horse, or finding more ways to involve music and dance in your daily life, your child will start building stronger connections between their own body and the world around them. Finding activities like group music and dance classes is a great way to deepen these connections and provide you and your young one with community and structured activity.
Our children learn and grow by interacting with the world: by doing, playing, and exploring. On top of that, it’s no secret that children love listening and moving to music. How wonderful is it that these activities they love can also be key to helping them grow and develop!
At OC Music and Dance, our Little Stars program for ages 18 mos to 5 yrs old offers the opportunity for parents and children to bond through music and movement while preparing our very young students for a lifetime of learning.
Visit our website to book a free trial class today! https://ocmusicdance.org/
Written by: Sammi Waugh, Director of Early Childhood Education at OC Music & Dance
