This month we’re moving on to setting up music sessions for children between 18 months and 3 years. Many child development experts, notably Piaget and Vygotsky, identified stages or zones when children are more able to learn new skills based on their previous abilities. In this series, I aim to identify the ways in which music can work with these special developmental periods, making sessions more accessible and enjoyable for littlies, and easier for the grown-ups leading the sessions.
Toddlers 18 months to 3 years are quite different to babies. I am including this relatively wide group to allow for individual levels of development – we all develop at different rates, so there will be some children more advanced and others less developed than others. This grouping should be able to cross the range of development, allowing for both early and late developers to feel confident, interested and challenged, together.
Little ones 18 months to 3 years:
– use NO often and insist on doing things themselves
– can get easily frustrated and distracted, learning from adult behaviour
– resort to tantrums if feeling misunderstood
– are still learning to identify colours and numbers
– are still learning to identify, recognise and explain emotions
– gain confidence and reassurance with ritual, routine and repetition
– often love bathing and playing with water
– are developing the ability and understanding sharing
– are increasing their vocabulary
– learning to match and keep the beat
These songs and games help to work with the developing skills of toddlers:
Apple Tree
Apple tree, apple tree
Will your apple fall on me
I won’t cry and I won’t shout
If your apple knocks me out
Toddlers are growing in confidence all the time. They have mastered or are mastering skills like holding on and letting go, so they can start to pass objects to each other, around in a circle. They often enjoy suspense and surprise, and these are elements that help to develop their patience and turn-taking skills. These are early skills towards more complex ones like following rules in a game, standing in a queue, saving money and delayed gratification, building resilience.
The game is played by passing an “apple” around a circle – ball or soft toy would also do. Younger children often develop these skills better by starting to pass a toy or ball to each other by sitting in pairs across from each other. The trick is to pass slowly enough to pass on the beat of the song, e.g. APPLE tree APPLE tree, WILL your apple, FALL on me, Iwon’t cry and I won’t shout, IF your apple, KNOCKS me out – passing on the words in bold. Not only does this not prevent only passing the apple between friends, it also reinforces musical skills like pulse and rhythm, making it easier for them to learn to sing and dance as they get older.
Bell Horses
Bell horses, bell horses
What time of day
One o’clock, two o’ clock
Time to away
This follow-the-leader game for confident walkers, and balancing controlled activity with going a bit mad! It can be introduced musically with sitting in a circle with instruments – jingle bells or mixed percussion (shaking/tapping/ringing), where children use a beater or tap the instrument on their knee/hand. And quick note, following modern language development, I usually change the last line to “time to run away” – which changes the pattern of long and short beats.
Whichever way you sing it, it finishes on “away” with jingling, tapping or shaking the instrument quickly, as if you were a horse racing away! Then passing the instrument to the next child (on the left, for example), and starting again, tapping to the beat.
Confident walkers and older children can use hula hoops to keep distance and learn following and leading. One child holds hula hoop from the inside while the other holds it from the outside, holding the edge as if it was horse reins. The child in the hula hoop walks to the beat in any direction, careful not to bump into any other “horse-rider” pairs. The child on the outside follows by matching their steps to the “horse”, without pushing or pulling the hula hoop. On “away”, both run madly and then swap roles, so that they each get a turn in leading and following!
Charlie Over the Ocean
CALL RESPONSE
Charlie over the ocean Charlie over the ocean
Charlie over the sea Charlie over the sea
Charlie caught a big fish Charlie caught a big fish
Can’t catch me Can’t catch me
Singing while playing games develops the ability to do two things at once, developing both sides of the brain and improving the ability to plan ahead and automate repetitive or predictable actions, playing a version of duck-duck-goose.
With children sitting in circle, the pulse can be reinforced by all tapping their knees as they sing. One child walks around the circle singing the CALL part, stepping the beat. The others tap the beat on their knees and sing the RESPONSE. On the last line, the CALL child either drops a toy fish behind another child, or gently taps them on the shoulder, and runs around the circle faster than the other child, to sit down and continue with the game.
An alternative – as so many songs can be turned into versions of “duck-duck” goose – is to have three children around a bucket, each with a ball. The adult sings the call, and children throw balls (“fish”) into a bucket as they sing the response, one at a time at the start of each line. On the last line, “can’t catch me”, children run around the area and move to a different bucket and collect another ball to play again.
Music, specifically singing, is a great way to develop movement, planning, co-operative and language skills in a fun, accessible, non-competitive way, far from desks and sedentary behaviour. Try it out today!