Music and the arts are fundamental to children's creative expression and their overall growth and learning. As a caregiver, you can help children develop a love of making and exploring music and art. What Roles Do Music and Art Play in Chidren's Development? From the moment they are born, children are learning and expressing themselves in new and creative ways. Parents, as well as caregivers, are children's first teachers, so they can support their learning and self-expression through music and the arts. Of course, all children develop at their own pace, but there are some common patterns. Here is an overview of how music and art play important roles in children's growth. Babies are busy looking at, listening to, and exploring their world, and music is a great way for adults to engage, interact, and bond with them. Babies delight in hearing, mimicking, and responding to repeated sounds, rhythms, and melodies with their own sounds and gestures. Playing together with safe, creative, and colorful materials, helps develop baby's sensory and motor skills. Toddlers move, explore, and repeat things again and again as they learn. Music and the arts provide toddlers with an important sense of "look what I can do!" Rhyming songs and simple instruments encourage them to sing and dance as they develop new language and motor skills. Art materials, such as large crayons, fingerpaints, and modeling dough, allow toddlers to explore scribbling, painting, and sculpting. These materials also help them begin to recognize colors, shapes, and textures, as well as cause and effect. Scribbles soon develop into circles and lines as toddlers begin to name their creations. Preschoolers are beginning to represent their world through different symbols and use all kinds of art materials to explore and recreate their experiences and feelings. They also enjoy the sights and sounds of art and music in their surroundings. Learning about artists, and being able to say, "I am an artist, too!" makes the experience even more special. Preschoolers use singing to explore language as they make up their own songs and play with words. They also love to act out scenes and create stories using homemade props and costumes. As they move and dance, preschoolers are developing their body image and learning new ways to move through space. Tips to Enhance Children's Experiences with Music and Art Music and art are a natural and vital part of every child's growth and development. Children not only develop their creativity, they also learn new skills as they express themselves as "musicians" and "artists." There are fun and easy ways for caregivers to take an active role in all areas of a child's learning while enjoying music and art together. Let Sesame Street be your guide. Sing songs all day long: Sing favorite songs together during daily routines, such as waking up, before meals, leaving the house, bath time, or bedtime. Create simple new songs and rituals together. Play with words, rhythms, and even movements, and try recording your own songs so that you can play them over and over again. Play your instruments: Share instruments you have with children. Or, make simple instruments together like rattles from empty containers with dried beans inside, drums form round oatmeal cartons, or stringed instruments using rubber bands over a shoebox with a hold cut in the lid. Paper towel tubes with wax paper secured over one end with a rubber band make great pretend horns and kazoos. Hold a "parade" as you make music together. Be artists together: There is no right or wrong way to create when you explore art materials with a child--it's the process that counts. Draw, paint, play with clay, make collages, and build things together as often as you can. Find a special place to make art and store art supplies. Act it out: Create puppets out of old socks, gloves, or paper lunch bags. Use paper plates to make masks. Decorate with scraps of yarn, wrapping paper, and fabric, and then act out simple stories together. At home gallery: Talk with children about any artwork they might have around their house, and where it came from, including folk art, crafts, and decorative pieces. Find a special place to display the child's own work and the things you create together. Creative cultures and celebrations: Talk with children about their family's cultural traditions that involve music and art. Include children in creating special songs, dances, or decorations for family or community celebrations. Explore the music and art of other cultures with children by visiting museums, attending local cultural events, and looking and listening for art and music when you are out and about together. Adapted from the "Learn and Grow with Sesame Workshop: Music and Art Together" guide. For further recommendations on how to help children develop cognitive, physical, social, and emotional skills, while they learn to create music and art, please contact your local PBS station to see if they conduct Ready To Learn workshops.

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