Tag Archives: Arts

Apr 12 2012

Musical Moments

First band concert by kids

First band concert by kids (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My grandson brought home a flyer for the school concert this week.  It delicately (In Giant Bold Print)reminded me that this was Music in Our Schools Month, and offered a free concert for my listening pleasure.

Now, I’m not sure when the first (or last) school concert you attended was, but I sure remember my last concert.  The oldest grandchild was 9 and had second chair for a rendition of “Oats, Peas, and Beans” on the Violin.  I can assure you it was a phenomenal treat to hear the sheer artistry of the composition played in the acoustically designed cafeteria as I sat on a  lunch table bench labeled with a piece of computer paper stating “peanut free” secured with packing tape directly beneath my behind.  You may now breathe a sigh of relief that I did not record it at the time and will not be linking to a site that you can share the experience with me over and over.

However, I do think music is a critically important part of a growing child’s education at any age, and some of my favorite suggestions for introducing music are below:

Infants through Toddlerhood:

Singing favorite songs over and over.  Before they are even six months old, infants can benefit from music.  My daughter, a speech and hearing therapist, shares that developmental research has shown that mapping the auditory cortex helps develop pitch and encourages spatial-temporal abilities… Who would have guessed? The Next Bieber can be in your arms right now!  And humming Row, Row, Row the Boat is just the jumpstart he needed.

Sitting until 3 Years:

Pots and Pans from under your sink.  That’s right – a spoon, a Tupperware container with a lid, and a metal pot makes an excellent drum set.  And the basics of  banging a spoon on your pan improves hand-eye coordination! So if it has become clear by the time your grandchild is toddling he will not be able to carry a tune, banging the pots and pans may help him become a better athlete.

3 Years to 5 Years:

Musical Games like “Ring around the Rosey” or “Patty Cake“.  Clapping, waving, jumping, dancing, and singing along reinforces thinking skills like visualizing and forethought.  According to my grandson’s Physical Therapist, musical games assist tremendously in focusing young children’s energy for five or six minutes at a time on gross motor skill development and coordination.  I have witnessed his receptivity to learning is much better when music is included in his therapy.

6 Years to 10 Years:

The Radio.  If you are not able to introduce your grandchild to learning to play an instrument, due to lack of resources at school or lack of personal opportunities, do not let that discourage you from continuing to take advantage of the many free musical options.  Introduce your grandchild to many styles of music, not just the current pop trend.  Share your favorite teen beats, my grandchildren love to Doo Whop.

This is the point at which your grandchild will begin to notice that music has structure.  Most published research on music and improved academics originates from this age group, and not just because this is the age group where testing becomes popular since kids are in school: math and reading is about patience and patterning. Listening to a song long enough to start singing along with the lyrics helps develop the longer attention spans needed for reading, and being able to repeat the rhymes and inflection in a chorus is a blend of concentration skills and patterning found in math.

If your local school has a music concert this month, and it is free, you may want to venture out, if only to have an idea of what you are in for later on or to show community support for the program so it is still there when your Mini Mozart has an opportunity to participate.  But if not, or if you prefer to keep a little closer to home with the little ones, I hope you can find a way to put a little music into your day.

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Feb 1 2012

Making Paper Boats

A Paper boat

Image via Wikipedia

Making paper boats is a great craft for your grandchildren to spend some time on.  I found several very nice links to websites that provide unique ways to make paper boats, and they float!  There is even one that discusses the science of origami, so if your have a little one who wants to really make something, check it out.  After you have built and decorated to your heart’s content, you can take them to your neighborhood park, your backyard pool, or your bathtub for a race on the lake!

If you are having a tough time waterproofing your paper boat, a quick application of tape across the bottom will help keep it running longer, or use tin foil instead of paper and set the grandkids to experimenting with different boat shapes to see which design runs the fastest.

 

Simple Origami Boats

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-boat.html

 

Four Step Paper Boats

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Floating-Boat-out-of-Paper/

 

 

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