– Riddhi Doshi Patel

According to latest research, one of the best ways to optimally develop children’s motor and social-emotional skills is through music and movement

Early childhood is a time of rapid physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. In particular, it’s a period of significant motor and movement development. During the early years, children learn to coordinate their muscles and body movements. According to latest research, one of the best ways to optimally develop children’s motor and social-emotional skills is through music and movement. In this essay, I explain the importance of the 2 Ms: music & movement in enhancing children’s physical coordination, emotional expression, and cognitive growth during the early years.

Music benefits

•   Introducing children to music enables them to discriminate between different sounds, song lyrics, rhythms and vocalise it themselves (e.g, Alphabet song / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).

•   Songs also introduce children to new vocabulary and sentence structures, phonetics and rhyming words.

•   When youngest children remember song lyrics, repeat rhythms, it enhances recall, memory and pattern recognition skills.

•   It prompts children to attempt their own lyrics and music, thereby encouraging creativity.

•   In group play, children singing together develop skills of cooperation, social bonding, and teamwork.

Movement and learning

•   Likewise encouraging physical movements such as dancing, hopping, clapping, and running develops children’s gross motor and coordination skills.

•   It develops right and left-brain functions independently and integratively.

•   Physical activities teach children spatial orientation and control, thereby improving hand-eye coordination, pattern recognition and frontal lobe development.

•   When children dance freely, they develop self-confidence and self-esteem.

•   Learning to stop, start, and adjust physical movement supports impulse control and develops listening skills.

Magical combination of music and movement

Rhythm (music) and motion (movement) when integrated enhance timing, coordination, and focus of children. More important, they boost children’s social and emotional growth by encouraging self-expression, creativity and communication skills.

Suggested activities

•   Action songs and games such as “Simon Says,” and “If you’re happy and you know it…clap your hands!” improve children’s motor coordination, active listening and sequencing capabilities.

•   Freeze Dance and Musical Statues build their impulse control, quick thinking and balance.

•   Ribbons and Music — the well-known game where you have laser-sharp focus on a ribbon you’re holding as you move around freely — improves self-bodily awareness, focus and self-acceptance.

•   Drum Circles — an activity where children play beats either by copying each other or improving their own beats — enhances physical coordination and social bonding.

•   Animal Movement Songs with instructions such as “hop like a frog”, “flap like a bird” encourage imaginative thinking, motor skills and body awareness.

While introducing these activities, ensure they are age-appropriate, balance structured and unstructured activities while prioritising children’s enjoyment and participation over accuracy and perfection. Moreover, incorporate short bursts of music and movement in the daily routine rather than one-off sessions.