Music gives children an educational advantage

Music-making and music sharing is such a vital and natural part of children’s play and this study shows that.

“Science has shown that music’s effect on the brain is particularly strong, with studies demonstrating an improvement in IQ among students who receive music lessons. Advantages in the classroom have been identified for students who study musical instruments, and the effects of ageing on cognition may even be mitigated through lifelong musical activity.”

The big questions are – if it is so good, and in theory, so natural, what might be getting in the way of it happening in every child’s development? One barrier could be time. We think we need lots of time to make musical play with our little ones, when in fact 30 seconds here and 30 seconds there can add up to a lot across a day. Just singing an instruction can do the trick.

Another barrier might be the idea that every parent needs specialist training to make musical play. If we think of musical play as just playing with sounds, no one needs specialist training, they just need to explore sounds and respond to our little ones’ excitement, inquiry or even confusion. It is play, just with sound.