Sneaking Music into Your Everyday Life
We know all too well that sometimes our kids don’t want to do the things that we know are good for them (cough, cough…eat vegetables, go to sleep, etc…). To be fair, sometimes even we grown-ups don’t want to do those good-for-us things either. (Who wants to eat a salad and go to bed early, when there’s ice cream to be eaten and Netflix to be watched?)
To get around this, crafty parents have learned that the whole process of making sure their kids do what they need to can go a lot smoother if they sneak little things into their routine and form strong rituals for their children to comfort in.
Lucky for us, these same tactics can be used to make sure our children get the musical education they need to grow up with a passion for music!
Here is how to incorporate music into your daily lives using your pre-existing routines and rituals!
- Perhaps the easiest way to incorporate music into your life is to listen to and sing songs in the car! Music can transform a quick drive to the store or a long road trip into a fun and powerful learning time. Also, it doesn’t hurt that turning on your current Music Class collection is known to have major calming effects on a tantrum-throwing child…
- Clean up, clean up, everybody, do your share! Putting back toys can induce full-blown meltdowns. Try singing the same song every time you clean up to form a little routine, add some distraction, and shift your child's focus. This can help turn cleaning up into its own musical activity or game, that will at least partially distract from the upsetting realization that the toys are going away. The trucks are back in the bin, and you’ve turned a seemingly trivial time into a great learning moment. Way to go, you.
- Patience is not a virtue that children have mastered yet, therefore waiting around for things with a small child in tow can be very difficult! To make waiting entertaining and educational, try playing a song game or a finger play with your little one. Need some inspiration? For a song game, try “A Ram Sam Sam” (The Bear Collection). Or help your little one practice counting with “Five in the Bed” (The Bunny Collection) or "Elephants on the Web" (The Dolphin Collection). Other options include songs with a strong beat that you can bounce them on your lap to like, “Giddy-Up Pony” (The Panda Collection), or songs that you can act out with your fingers like, “Itsy Bitsy Spider” (The Elephant Collection). In a pinch, remember that many Music Class songs can be about ANYTHING, so you can sing "Nanny, Poppy" (The Dinosaur Collection) and just start naming people and items that are around you!
- Soothe your baby to sleep with a sweet lullaby. I know you might be thinking, “But I’m not a singer”, but trust me; no matter if you’re Adele or just the world’s okay-est shower singer, your child loves to hear your voice. Researchers claim that parents singing directly to their children can help develop reciprocal communication. So, give it a try! Pick your favorite lullaby (or try one of ours) and sing to your baby tonight!
After a while of incorporating music with these tips, you won’t be “sneaking” anything at all! Your child will be begging to listen to music as soon as they’re in the car seat and will be sleepily awaiting your serenade each night.
So even if some days the war of the vegetables is lost, you can rest easy knowing your child’s musical nutrition is top-notch.