Your toddler’s first attempts at music making may well happen while he is sitting in his high chair. He may be waving his spoon about, bang it onto his tray, and – wow – it makes a sound! He is delighted and tries again… and again.
You can encourage these first attempts by imitating him and giving him different things to bang against. As he gets older, you can give himdifferent implements to hold, e.g. a plastic spoon, a wooden spoon, a metal spoon etc. and comment on the sound they make.
You can also show him how the same instrument can create different sounds – a quiet sound when tapped gently, and a noisy sound when banged hard.
Action Songs and Nursery Rhymes
There are plenty of nursery rhymes that involve clapping. And clapping is the first stage of developing a feeling for rhythm. One that you may know which is very useful because it has lots of verses with different actions is this one
‘If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it, then you surely want to show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.’
I strongly advise investing in a few CDs with action songs and rhymes on them. You can put them on while you are preparing his food or doing basic household jobs. You can sing along to them and do some of the actions. This will put both of you in a good mood. It will be even more helpful if you have to keep more than one child happy while they are waiting for their lunch or dinner.
Take a look at the CDs at the Early Learning Center. I got similar ones for my grandchildren and they are still doing great service when I have visiting children.