The Developmental Super Powers of Songs, Rhymes, and Fingerplays

Do you remember your parents reciting nursery rhymes and singing songs and lullabies for you? If so, chances are you are also enjoying sharing them with your child. I wanted to share with you some of the very rich benefits researchers have documented that come from this simple, pleasant, nearly universal practice of singing, moving, and saying rhymes with our young children. It goes far deeper than you might think!

I can still picture my mom reciting to a very small me, "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair, Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?" and the delight it gave me to think through that clever pun at the end. Mom loved sharing it with me and us reciting it together.  This and other fingerplays, songs, dancing and singing we enjoyed together were the beginning for me of a lifelong and deep love of music, words, poetry, stories and wit. My mom shared many rhymes, fingerplays and songs that many families have enjoyed together. Some are traditional and widely known through publication, like the European "Mother Goose" rhymes, and through oral and folk song traditions from many cultures and passed down in families and communities. Others are more contemporary and have made it into popular culture to become standards children enjoy in childcare centers and preschools. Some parents enjoy making up their own ditties on the spot. Whatever the source, research shows the many lasting developmental benefits of music, rhymes, dances, and fingerplays. The National Association of the Education of the Young Child notes that,

"...music activities simultaneously promote development in multiple domains. Singing a lullaby while rocking a baby stimulates early language development, promotes attachment, and supports an infant’s growing spatial awareness as the child experiences her body moving in space."

Music and movement activities, fingerplays and rhymes, rhythms and dancing stimulate development in every area of human growth and development: physical, cognitive, social and emotional, communication, language and literacy. They are like the Clark Kent of children's activities, seemingly common and mild mannered, but definitely possessing hidden superpowers.

The long-range effects on language is perhaps the most obvious and well documented of these benefits. These activities develop children's phonemic awareness, receptive and spoken language skills, assist duel language learners and expose all children to multiple languages and variety of cultural stories.

The physical benefits are the ways music, movement, and fingerplays develop both fine and gross motor skills and body coordination ("Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" are examples of fine motor developers, "I'm A Little Tea Pot" and "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" develop large muscle skills). Children gain awareness of their own bodies and all its parts (think "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "The Hokey Pokey"). They also strengthen the proprioceptive system (the unconscious perception of movement and spatial orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself--feedback to the brain from the inner ear, muscles, tendons, and joints about the body's position in space). The next time you play "The Noble Duke of York," note all the different body positions your child is exposed to.

The effect upon cognition and memory is very strong. Music and movement activities strengthen and develop powerful neural pathways for memory and create wide boulevards for rapid learning that is retained long-term. If you want to remember something, set it to music, make it rhyme or add a rhythm. (The "ABC Song" is a classic that has helped generations of American children learn and remember the names and order of the letters in the English alphabet). There are also cumulative songs where children develop skills to remember lengthening sequences with each verse ("There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"). Studies with aged dementia patients have shown the storehouse of childhood music and rhymes is something many patients can still readily access even when other aspects of their memory are much diminished. Music, fingerplays and rhymes also promote pretend play and symbolic thinking ("The Farmer in the Dell" and "Wheels On The Bus"), sequencing and counting ("5 Little Monkeys" and "One Elepahnt Went Out to Play"),  repeating, predicting and extending rhythmic patterns ("Old McDonald Had a Farm," "Chicken Soup With Rice," and "Each Peach Pear Plum"). Rhymes and songs like "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb," " If You're Happy And You Know It" develop rhythmic accuracy in keeping a beat (an ability shown to correlate with higher test scores in early elementary years). Children can better distinguish differences in pitch, timbre, volume, tone and rhythm through repetition of music and movement activities.

These activities are simple and enjoyable. They can be done anywhere, anytime. Singing and rhyming during transitions and on-the-go-moments can be a great tool to help you navigate these typically difficult times during the day more successfully and add some fun for you and your child.

What are some of the songs, rhymes and fingerplays you enjoyed as a child?  Which has your child really liked? Have you found any books or CDs along these lines that your family has especially enjoyed? Please share them with us in the comments section. If you'd like some suggestions, here's an article with lots of ideas you can try, as well as some recording and book suggestions. I hope you'll enjoy doing some singing and dancing, rhyming and fingerplays with your little one. It reaps heaps of developmental rewards!