The Importance of Music and Movement | Child Development and Family Center | Northern Illinois University (2024)

FAQs

The Importance of Music and Movement | Child Development and Family Center | Northern Illinois University? ›

Music and movement are also social activities that help children feel part of the group. As children grow in their appreciation of the beauty of music and dance, they acquire a gift that will bring them great pleasure. Music brings another dimension of beauty into our lives.

Music and movement provide children with so many benefits. They help children develop skills such as cognitive growth, problem-solving, self-expression and social development. Without music and movement in early childhood education, a child's learning is incomplete.

Social/Emotional Development

Marianne Frostig, in her classic book Movement Education: Theory and Practice, says, "Movement education can help a child to adjust socially and emotionally because it can provide him with successful experiences and permit interrelationships with other children in groups and with a partner.

EYLF learning outcomes

The Early Years Learning Framework encourages curiosity, imagination and creativity (4.1), which can be achieved through music and dance. When children perform musically they are expressing ideas and making meaning using a range of media (5.3).

Maria Montessori believed that the ability to absorb and retain information is optimized when a child's body is in motion. Studies also show that combining language with movement increases learning by 90%.

Humans are wired to be sensitive to sound patterns, and this sensitivity allows music to foster communication and imagination in young children. Even before babies talk, their babbling and sound-play helps to develop the neural pathways necessary for listening and speaking.

It's movement that gives us healthy joints, strong bones, physical strength, good circulation; including cardiovascular circulation, good coordination and reflex reactivity; improved learning skills and concentration, and mental well-being.

The develop ment of musical skill in early childhood is divided into four phases: the Reflex Phase, the Intention Phase,the Control Phase,and the Integration Phase (Table 2).

It helps the body and the mind work together. Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words. Dancing to music helps children build motor skills while allowing them to practice self-expression. For children and adults, music helps strengthen memory skills.

Enhance self‐concept by sharing music and dance of each other's culture. Refine listening skills‐noticing changes in tempo or pitch. Awareness of movement and body positions. Creativity and imagination.

What are the cognitive benefits of music and movement? ›

The more diverse the music and its associations (such as dancing), the greater the increase in connections between brain cells. This heightened connectivity leads to improved cognitive function, including memory, attention, and problem-solving abilities.

Encouraging children to move in time to music helps them develop a sense of rhythm. Performing action rhymes and singing activities involving marching, dancing or skipping to a beat helps them learn where to divide language into units of sound, especially if the divisions are emphasised.

Overall, music and movement activities enable children to improve self-expression, hand-eye coordination, physical activity and learn new concepts in a fun and engaging way. This can occur anywhere – not only within an educational context.

It improves memory, language, attention, emotional regulation and decision making. When language is combined with movement, studies have shown that learning improves by 90%. Movement also creates better self-awareness and better awareness of others.

Movement strengthens muscles and bones, improves coordination, builds fitness and develops motor skills. Movement and physical activity are also good for children's confidence, because they give children the chance to try new activities, test abilities and discover what their bodies can do.

Engaging in music and art activities helps enhance cognitive skills such as problem-solving, pattern recognition, and critical thinking. The integration of rhythm, melody, colors, and shapes stimulates the brain and nurtures cognitive development in early childhood.

It helps them process and express their feelings, which can be empowering. Through music, children can find solace, release pent-up emotions, and gain a sense of control over their emotions. This emotional resilience and self-understanding contribute positively to their overall self-esteem and self-confidence.

Training children in music at an early age exercises higher brain functions, including complex thinking assignments. The pathways we use for spatial thinking are like the music pathways in our mind. When we listen to music, the spatial pathways are "turned on" and prepared to be utilized.