Make a Resolution for More Music in Your Life

Music Can Help to Improve Joint Attention – Defined as the ability for a child and caregiver or therapist to maintain coordinated attention to one another and a shared activity, joint attention is a foundational skill that underlies the development of language and social interaction. Songs that include fingerplay like The Itsy, Bitsy Spider and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or body movements like The Wheels on the Bus naturally guide your child’s attention to you.

Music Provides a Predictable Routine - For children that have difficulty moving from one activity to the next, a familiar song consistently sung before, during, or after an activity can help the change go more smoothly. For example, during therapy sessions, a Hello song can help the child settle in and know it is time to work with their SLP and the Clean Up song helps us move from one activity to the next, signals that a transition is coming and gives the child time to prepare, or end the session on a positive note

Music Can Motivate – Most children love music and are excited about participating in an activity when there is a fun beat or catchy words. Instead of asking a child to practice a word, we have seen a lot of success with practice singing a word or practicing vocabulary in a song. Some examples of this include:

Song

Baby Shark