1. Music and Toddlers Student Created

2. Music and Toddlers Go Together…  Toddlers love nursery rhymes.  Singing to their animals.  To have their parents sing them a lullaby.

3. Music Helps… Music helps create what is called “a rich sensory environment”…  Taste  Smells  Textures  Colors  Sounds Being able to experience all of the above helps create more pathways between cells in the brain.

4. How Toddlers Respond… Toddlers respond to music best when they can experience it. This includes…  Rocking  Marching  Rolling  Tapping  Clapping

5. Keeping Time…  Toddlers are at an age now when they can keep time “sporadically.” They have trouble keeping rhythm but they are learning to keep a steady beat.  Mostly though, they love to march around with a pot and a wooden spoon creating noise.

6. Music Can Also Teach Facts and Skills…  “ABC’s” teaches the alphabet.  “There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” teaches rhyming and memory.  “No More Monkey’s Jumping on the Bed” teaches counting.  “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and the “Wheels on the Bus” teach coordinated movements. These songs help create the skills that are needed for math and reading later on.

7. Music and Transitions… When music is part of the everyday schedule, it helps toddlers to feel more secure because they know what to expect.  Bath time: “Now it’s bath time, now it’s bath time, yes. It is.” sung to “Are You Sleeping?”  Brushing teeth: “Brushing, Brushing, Brushing teeth.” sung to London Bridge is Falling Down  Put in bed: the same lullaby every night. This helps the child cue in to that it is really time to sleep.

8. Want To Add Formal Music?  Just before toddler-hood is the perfect age for bells, rattles, shakers, tambourines, or even rain sticks.  Toddlers can play drums, cymbals, and xylophones.  Older toddlers can do simple wind instruments like a pipe whistle, a kazoo or a recorder. If you want to do music classes, have them be no more than 45 minutes long, and reinforce the games and music learned at home.