Sing, listen, and create! Music can be a wonderful learning tool for children that helps develop mental processes and has great educational value. All parents should strive to find ways to integrate music into their child’s life. Sparking an early relationship with music encourages your child to maintain this mentally stimulating interest.
Listening to music helps develop and sharpen early listening skills, it develops certain neural pathways in the brain, it exposes children to the ideas of harmony and teamwork, and it gives your child an outlet for self expression.
Some Top Tips on how music can help your child develop from Ryan Judd of The Rhythm Tree:
- Speech and communication – Singing custom written songs, i.e. Big Bear Takes a Bubble Bath, to isolate speech sounds and get lots of repetition without monotony.
- Fine and gross motor – Using traditional and adaptive percussive instruments, like maracas, to address specific fine and gross motor skills.
- Academic – Putting academic information into a song format so that recall is improved.
- Social skill development – Music therapy groups where children practice greetings, turn taking, eye contact, requesting, etc., through musical activities.
- Behavioral – Creating songs and musical stories about appropriate behavior.
- Social-Emotional – Singing songs that teach a child how to identify feelings and how to cope with “big” emotions.
At Adam & Friends we are passionate about encouraging your child's development and what better way than through music! Children's musical products feel and sound similar to a 'real' musical instrument and are a great stepping stone for your little mozart! Make sure to get more than one musical instrument so that you and your child can play side by side or practice turn taking. Enjoy hearing different sounds and making different beats while introducing your child to the joy of performing!
You can’t beat the Samba beat! Traditional Latin percussion and a CD of play along music. Colourful, inviting and lots of fun! Great starter set to see what your little one enjoys. Great for group sessions too.
Bendy Bells
Rhythm Pals
A unique set of six complementary instruments with specially moulded handles to encourage a strong, firm grip. Attractive colours, interesting shapes and textures to motivate exploration of touch and sound. Different techniques are required to play each instrument. Encouraging the development of audio, visual, tactile and motor skills. Suitable for individual use or group play. One of our most popular products.
Whirly Twirly Rainmaker
Lollipop Drum
Fun design with quality sounds and integral handle. Includes soft-tipped beater. Great classroom product too.
Shape Shakers
Easy to handle, colourful shape boxes that rattle when shaken. Can be used to gain attention and to encourage grip and finger dexterity. With rounded corners for safety. Colours/shapes may vary. Size: 5cm approx.
Boomwhackers
Strike the Boomwhacker to strike a chord!
- Tuned tubes that everyone can play.
- Robust and colourful.
- The instrument of the new century!
Musical Mat
It may look like a piano, but this musical mat plays 7 other instruments including: trumpet, saxophone, violin, guitar, banjo, oboe and vibraphone. Record up to 38 notes using any combination of instruments and them play them back. Also includes 10 demo nursery rhymes. Amazing!!!
Maracas
Tough bodied Maracas. A durable toy that comes in a pair.
Musical CD's
One of the most interesting findings has been associated with studies done on classical music’s effect on the brain. Classical music for kids, such as Mozart, stimulates the spatial pathways in your brain and makes these pathways ready to operate. Playing this type of music for your babies and encouraging your older children to play musical instruments will help them develop these mental pathways.
Playing all types of music in addition to classical pieces is very important for your baby’s mental development. Songs teach your child how to pick up on patterns. Also, singing to your child is a great way to stimulate verbal skills. It is much easier to memorize song lyrics than to memorize a string of spoken words. Becoming familiar with lyrics helps improve early memory skills and brain functions associated with speech.
