Once you've made it through early postpartum you might feel ready to join a Mother's Group, Play Group or Baby Music Classes for the sense of community and social interaction not only for your baby, but for you to connect with other mums in the same life stage.
Here are the key benefits of attending a Baby Music Class:
- Social development and interaction
Using music to help infants be in tune with emotions like happiness, sadness and anger gives them a solid foundation for social skills. By conveying those emotions through song and combining it with parent interaction, like bouncing games and instrument play, infants can become familiar with these feelings early on and kick-start their own emotional awareness.
Another McMaster study showed that moving in sync to music with others helps toddlers form social bonds. The study observed that 14-month-olds were more likely to help an adult (who dropped something) if they had previously bounced in time with the music, compared with an adult whose movement was off-tempo.
- Motor skills
As infants discover new instruments, they figure out how to use them and how to make the sounds they want. “Babies, they’re not that coordinated,” Trainor says. “So they have to learn to coordinate their actions, but in response to the information that’s coming in.”
Infants can develop their motor skills by, for example, playing an instrument like the tambourine—or, as Schnider did with Jaxon, having your baby grasp a mallet and guiding their hands over xylophone keys. As they catch on, infants can then practise refining their movements to make a desired sound. That also plays into another amazing benefit…
- Sensory enhancement
The mix of sensory awareness and motor control is crucial for a baby’s overall development. Being able to notice differences in sounds and fine-tune one’s movements is important for playing instruments and even learning to talk and sing.
- Language development
Any exposure to language is good for babies, especially through an accessible activity like making music. As Schnider discovered first-hand, singing can prompt babies to chime in, in their own little way. Research shows that gabbing attempts—even if it’s just gibberish—is good for babies’ brains and can even give them a leg up once they start school.
- Emotional regulation
The classes teach parents to soothe their babies through music, particularly by singing favourite songs, which helps to create healthy associations. Music is also an important tool for expression and self-regulation and allowing your child to be aware of their own emotions, and recognise that their state can be shifted by positive triggers.
- Brain boost
Researchers at the University of Washington discovered that musical play sessions help activate parts of the brain responsible for both music and speech processing, as well as other important cognitive skills like controlling attention and noticing patterns. When looking at the responses to music of two different groups of babies through a brain scan, the study found the group who participated in musical activities showed a stronger response to changes in the music than the group who played with toys while music simply played in the background.
A similar McMaster study supports this, showing that while infants seem to be naturally drawn to beats and rhythms, babies who go to music classes show more responsiveness than those who don’t. The study says having musically trained parents helps with this as well.
- Parent-child bonding
Last but not least, life as a new parent is hectic, but it’s important to spend regular focused time with your little one in order to strengthen those parent-child emotional connections. Having fun by experiencing music together is one of the best ways to do that.
Even something as simple as singing to your child can do wonders in building a stronger bond, according to a study from the University of Miami. While researchers discovered that babies engage more with being sung to versus just listening to music, they also noticed that as mothers sing to their children, they have a natural ability to adjust their singing to keep their baby’s attention. The mutual interaction also results in feeling more empowered as a parent, the study says, which is particularly helpful for mothers with postpartum depression.
Joining a local Baby Music Class can help you find support from other parents. Musical Minds run Music Classes for babies and toddlers weekly at From Day One.
3 Months–12 Months
Our Babies classes are set in a comforting and gentle environment where you and your child are encouraged to explore sound together. You will be guided through songs and activities that can be easily incorporated into your daily routines.
- Exploring new sounds and communicating together through music
- Responding to the parent and teacher’s vocal play
- Playing baby-safe instruments that connect the child with the music
- Listening to musical stories and experiencing songs, chants and rhymes from our community and the world
- Connecting to the musical beat and rhythm of nursery rhymes and everyday routine songs
- Puppet play
- Movement using sensory objects; scarves, ribbons, parachute, soft materials
- Lap play songs and games
10 Months–24 Months
Your kids are on the move and our Toddler Time Music classes here to guide you through activities and songs that you can sing and play daily. This includes imaginative musical play through storytelling and puppets, dances, and instrument play to develop coordination and confidence.
- Exploring instrumental sounds and communicating together through music
- Responding to the parent and teachers vocal play
- Playing percussive and pitched instruments (xylophones) that connect the child with the purpose of the song
- Listening to musical stories and participating in creating song stories
- Singing and experiencing songs, chants and rhymes from our community and the world
- Connecting to the musical beat and rhythm of nursery rhymes and everyday routine songs
- Imaginative musical play through Puppets and actions
- Movement and Dance using sensory objects and instruments; scarves, ribbons, parachute, soft materials
- Lap play songs and games
