Fun with Music - Sing with Your Children!

This article is part of our Fun with Music series.  I have teamed up with Angelique Felix at angeliquefelix.com to bring you ideas on having fun with music with your children the whole month of July.

Read last week's Fun with Music post that introduced our series and listed a lot of different musical ideas for you and your family!


This week is all about singing with your children and inspiring them to create their own songs!


Visit Angelique's 8 Steps How to Write a Song with Your Child at www.angeliquefelix.com

Children love to sing!  Visit any playground and you will hear children singing and humming as they play.  Music is a social activity and children get so excited when an adult joins them in making music.  So if you need motivation to sing with your child then just think of the delight on your child’s face when you start singing with her!

Ms. Tonya leading music time at the local library.

Choosing a song:

Children love having their name in a song. I wrote about the importance of this in The Purpose of the Hello Song.

Pick songs that are simple and fun. They don’t have to be difficult. The Wreath Dance is a great song that gets everyone moving and calls each child by name. Watch this video to learn how simple it is.

Can’t see the video? Click here.

Singing songs with children lays groundwork for language growth, reading, speaking and self expression. Making music also teaches math and science and could help your child do better in school. To read more about the advantages of music education read The Benefits of Music.

Song ideas:

The Wheels on the Bus
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
London Bridge
Ring Around a Rosie

Inspiring Creativity:

After you sing a song a few times, see if you and your child can change the words.  Put your child’s name in the song as well as some of her characteristics.  We love to do this with "The Good Day" song.

"The Good Day" song goes:

When cats get up in the morning

They always say good day.

When cats get up in the morning

They always say good day.

Meow, meow, meow, meow

That is what they say.

Meow, meow, meow, meow

That is what they say.

After singing this song using different animals, we like to put in different family members and try to think of what they would say in the morning.

Daddy asks “Where’s my coffee?”

Mommy says, “I love you.”

Big sister says, “What should I eat for breakfast?”

The little girls get so creative!  Plus, they remember what they made up days and weeks later.

For more ideas on writing songs with children visit Write a Song with Your Child.

I have found that children’s favorite songs are the simplest songs.  Pick a simple song or two and sing with them!  Then start changing the words and have fun being silly.  Your child will be delighted and you’ll have fun too!  Singing together shows love and creates wonderful memories!

Visit the other Fun with Music articles!

Introduction

Sing with Your Child

Classical Music and Creative Art Project

Kid-Made Instruments and the Great Outdoors.

5 Classic Musical Games