I sing at least three songs to my three-year-old every day before nap, and every night before bed.
I tell you this to preface another different, yet connected story:
My son can be, well, three at times. Most of the time. All of the time.
He speaks his mind, regardless of whether it is or isn’t offensive, politically correct, feng shui, etc. Illustration: he has reminded me that I have a much larger butt than his own on many occasion, and has, more than once, asked me why my boobs sag. Thanks. Spent $50 on a new bra after that one.
This time it was regarding my MIL (mother-in-law for those not up on the anagrams). She was babysitting him so my hubby and I could go out on a date. Baths were taken, teeth brushed, books read and then it was time for the songs. She began singing 20 different songs, but was halted each time with a ‘you can’t sing that song – my mommy sings it better’.
I guess while looks are lacking, my voice is still appreciated.
It is because of this constant singing, however, that has helped my son become quite the musician himself. When a song he is familiar with (because of my singing) is played he BELTS out the notes, with fairly accurate tonal precision, and (usually) similar sounding words.
It’s only been since we have been living with my brother, however, that his love for the piano has grown, though. My brother is a very accomplished pianist and often plays and sings at the same time. My son now does the same. His songs aren’t nearly as ear-friendly, nor do his words make any sense – but the spark of the musician is there. And I think it’s adorable.
Here are some of the things I have been doing with him to keep this fire regarding music alive:
-Sing every nap-time and bedtime WITH my son (he sings along)
-Play the piano in front of him AND help him play (push down his fingers in the correct fingering needed to play ‘Hot Cross Buns’, ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’, and ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ – simple, recognizable songs that don’t require very large hands to achieve.)
-Allow him to ‘play the drums’ while I cook – pull out extra pans and spoons of various materials, creating various sounds.
-Make homemade instruments, like paper plate maracas, grass whistles, oatmeal container drums, pvc pipe xylophones, and scrap metal chimes.
-Play music in the car when driving places, and encourage him to sing along to the words.
I constantly praise my sons singing, and occasionally bribe him with gum to sing louder (especially at church – all the old ladies love seeing him belt out the hymns!) and it works – he not only sings, but he loves to do it, and does it well. And he tends to be on pitch, which mean he’s already developing a musically inclined ear.
Music with toddlers is easy and fun, it just requires a little patience with a lot of noise and (at least in my case) a few less-than-polite comments…
Hi, my name is Heidi and I love to blog about parenting and health. Currently I am a part time juicing blogger at Juicingpedia. I love to share my juicing recipes with fellow health conscious people…including my little boys who are really starting to love green juice!
About The Real Supermum
i like this blog, i never really sing to reanne as i cant sing lol but she loes music and dances to it all the time..her faves are justin beiber haha..should encourage her to sing more often tho xx
We’re always singing in my house nursery rhymes everyday as soon as my son here’s a song he starts dancing haha x
I sing nursery rhymes and silly songs all the time to my boys! I have a thing about nursery rhymes and will look up the origin of the ones I like and try to learn all the verses it drives my OH crazy lol x
My son loves music, singing and humming along to songs all the time. We regularly sing songs together and dance to cd’s.
x
We also have an extensive instrument collection which are played with pretty often!
Definitely think its important to involve them in music
when im cleaning i always put a cd on or the music channel on tv, my kids love it and dance along, so funny to watch on a cleaning day! lol x
my girls love making there own instruments with boxes…paper cups..elastic bands…rice…paper
me and the girls love a good boogy! lol. saucepans and wooden spoons are great – get the earplugs out tho lol x
made shakers the other day she loves it we even dyed the rice different colour and put them in a clear bottle she loves it xx
I do the drum’s with pots and pans while dinners being made. I like to sing and dance with my son so would love to know how to make the paper plate maracas! x
i love siging and dancing around with the girls lol
ellie loves it wen i dance around like an dat bat lol
I used to sing to them when they were babies and knew no better, but they do listen to music a lot, thats what comes from having a 17yr old sister.x
i’ve all ways sang to my little man, he has 2 cd albums of his own and we put them on and dance. he all so has some shakers and penny whistles and stuff so we make loads of noise lol
my little ones love their music wether it be on cbeebies the radio nursery ryhmes or music channels they start singing and dancing away i found it helps my youngest with her speach too she trys to sing everything wev got lots of new sounds from songs!!
We never stop singing in our house were like a living musical lol xx
Good blog
I’m always singing to/with my daughter, she loves it , and I sing to my lb aswell to get him asleep xx
My son loves music, we dont do the whole nursery rhymes though we usually just fire up mummy’s cd player and blast out the overtones, boyzone or pop party collection lol. He loves to dance along to the music we actually have quite a bit of fun being silly. I love singing along as well and Ronan gives it a good go although his speech isnt quite all there. We have music on first thing in the morning to start the day and last thing at night to wind down. Music is a big part of our lives as I feel it brightens up any day and lightens the mood as it has a feel good factor xx