Get up and move!

Music and movement are magical ingredients to learning for both parent and child. A baby’s first communication is through movement. A toddler will respond immediately to lively music with what seems to be humorous gyrations but to him are quite serious attempts to coordinate movement with rhythmic patterns. The young child seems to be moving constantly – leaping off couches, rolling down hills, and spinning around and around until she falls down in a giggling flop on the floor.

Here’s why children want – and NEED – to move. Our brains fully develop through movement activities such as crawling, rolling, turning, walking, skipping, reaching, swinging and much more. The brain has a plan for development that involves specific and intensive motor activities to make full use of our complicated nervous system. The nervous system of each human being must go through a series of developmental stages before the brain can operate at its full potential. All children “program” their motor and perceptual equipment, nerves and brain cells by using their whole body and all their senses.
 
Movement is fundamental for the development of the central nervous system but movement and rhythm are also essential for the development of the soul. When a parent moves with her child, a special bonding takes place that is extremely important for social and emotional growth. When a parent sings to his child, not only are language skills being developed, but also a sense of love, comfort and harmony. The special touching, laughing and rhythmic moving that takes place in a music and movement class and together at home lays a very strong and much needed foundation for a happy, healthy and joyful life!
 
So… put on your music, especially your Kindermusik, and just get moving!

-Adapted from an article written by Anne Green Gilbert, Director of the Creative Dance Center and Kaleidoscope Dance Company in Seattle, Washington, and a consultant for Kindermusik International.