This week, in our Montessori Babies Podcast Episode 14 we spoke all about 3 main ways that we can use music daily with our sweet babies. And these three ways are really something that can be incorporated at multiple times throughout the day and really whatever suits you and your lifestyle with your baby or babies.
I want to open with a quote this week to kind of fuel our musical inspiration. “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” And that was said by the well-known Greek philosopher, Plato.
Below is the first way that you can incorporate music daily with your babies. If you’re interested in learning the reasons why music is amazing for both baby + you, take a listen to our Montessori Babies Podcast Episode 14 below.
#1) Montessori Circle Time
The first way that I would suggest incorporating music daily with babies is by having a daily Montessori Circle Time. I actually wrote a blog post on this a while ago and I absolutely recommend having a daily Montessori Circle Time with your child or children!
And this can be whether you’re a parent working with your own child at home, a nanny working with children in somebody else’s home, or a teacher working with babies in our school or daycare setting. Having a daily circle time is so amazing for those purposeful moments of connection.
So here are some of the ideas that I like to keep in mind when conducting the circle time. The first is that music is amazing for language development and this is proven by countless studies. But music really just is a way that we are able to give our kids an extra stepping stool to their language learning.
Because they’re absorbing everything. And since babies are extra drawn to rhythmic music type auditory experiences, add in the language piece and it’s just so amazing for their language development. So as we mentioned earlier, the back and forth interaction is great for those serve and return experiences.
But to put that in other terms, it builds trust and conversation. So it it really just shows your child what back and forth type language is going to look like.
And within that, your child is watching your mouth and body to learn their language using that absorbent mind that Dr. Montessori talked so much about for the first six years of life. We are introducing rhythm, we’re showing babies, they can transform their environment. And we add this really fun, stimulating sensorial experience into our circle times.
So onto suggestion number two…
#2 Sing As You Go
So essentially what this means is you sing as you’re doing stuff. And it may sound a little bit like I’m suggesting, you know, you turn into Mary Poppins, but that’s definitely not the case. It’s another way to sportscast. So sportscasting is essentially where you’re narrating everything that you do. So if you sing as you go, you’re just essentially placing those words to a song.
So, for example, something that I would do all day long is make up songs and add them to tunes that I already knew. And I promise, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. So for example, say one of my kids has a dirty diaper. They just made a poop and they need a diaper change.
I may say something along the lines of, “Oh, you just made a poop. Let’s go change your diaper. I’m going to pick up your body.” And then as we’re walking over to the bathroom or, you know, to your changing table or wherever you have to change your baby, I would sing something like, “We’re going to change your diaper, your diaper, your diaper, going to change your diaper.” You know, just literally anything.
And I’ve actually found that singing can really decrease the power struggles. And so what I mean by this is if you say, “OK, come on, we’re going to the door” and, you know, they run the opposite way. But if you start, you know, marching over and singing on your own to the door, there are a lot more likely to follow you.
There are a lot more likely to want to do that, too, because it’s this fun experience. And speaking of fun experiences, onto point number three…
#3 Music and Movement
And so the third way that we can use music daily with our babies is through an experience that is traditional Montessori. It’s called music and movement. And it’s a very purposeful time for these musical types of interactions, for music, for dancing, for instruments. And I always did music and movement and had just such fun dance parties. I still do that with my clients and their kids to and on high notes and find notes at the end of, you know, our sessions at the end of the day. But I also did that with my kids when I ran my Nido. You know, I would play just some really fun, fun music.
Babies learn through modeling. And so we would dance and be silly. We as the teachers and the guides. And since I did it at the end of the school day, the parents would start to pick up as well and they would be interactive too! It was just so much fun. So I definitely suggest giving that a try. It’s such a fun experience!
And that’s it! Let me know if you try these suggestions out and how they work for you in the comments below. 🙂
Xoxo,
Bianca, Your Baby Tour Guide