It’s when kids lose some of their learning over the long summer break.
Clare Shaw, Founder and teacher at Mini Mozart says:
“It’s important for children to have a complete break over the summer holiday but there are ways in which you can keep their brains engaged without them noticing.”
Mum and ex BBC Proms presenter Clare says:
“Music can be used to help your child to develop the skills s/he needs for school readiness. I’m not just referring to learning intellectual skills, like reading and writing (although music helps with these skills too).
But music can also help your child to develop fine motor skills, language skills, memory skills, and social skills plus qualities such as confidence, curiosity, discipline and respect.”
Get your child involved in sensory play. Sensory play activates and stimulates a child’s senses.
These senses are how children learn about the world around them and make sense of the new things they’re experiencing each day.
Sensory play builds observational skills and abstract thinking and encourages experimentation. It’s excellent for helping to calm a child who may be feeling anxious or angry.
To get started you could encourage your child to make their own musical instruments.
They can make drums using pots and spoons or maracas with dried beans and a paper cup or a guitar from an empty tissue box and some rubber bands.
Sound tubes can be made using an empty paper towel roll filled with uncooked rice or beads and secured at the end with fabric or tape.
Your little one will delight in the process of making the toys as well as hearing the different noises they make.
Songs provide an outlet for children to express themselves.
Through music, children can eternalise and process feelings. This helps to promote emotional intelligence and self-regulation, key skills for well-being and development.
One simple and fun game to encourage your child to express themselves involves calling out a song (eg Old Macdonald had a farm, If you’re happy and you know it) and an expression eg hop like a bunny, scurry like a mouse, clap to show you’re happy.
Action and movement songs encourage children to move their bodies.
They help to develop fine and gross motor skills and enhance hand-eye coordination.
Give your child some arts and crafts activities while listening to music.
Music and rhythm can help to enhance memory retention in children.
Songs that incorporate educational themes such as alphabet, numbers and colours make it easier for pre-schoolers to remember complex information.
Experience the world together through music — while teaching your child to be a better listener.
Find folk songs and traditional musical styles from different countries and regions, and listen to the songs together.
Talk about what you like (“I love the strong beat!”), what you hear (“I hear a piano”), how you feel (“This song makes me feel relaxed”), what the words in the songs mean.
Turn on some fun music and encourage your preschooler to dance.
When you pause the music at random times, your child should stop and “freeze,” holding whatever position s/he is currently in.
This game is great for building a child’s concentration, listening and balancing skills.
Get some exercise with your preschooler while you challenge each other to make up the funniest/happiest/saddest/highest/lowest/fastest/slowest dance moves in accordance with what song is playing.
Incorporating songs into your daily routine supports language development.
Through repetitive listening and singing, children are exposed to a range of vocabulary and linguistic structures, helping them to comprehend and use new words.
Rhythmic patterns in songs also help with pronunciation and intonation. So expose your child to melodies by singing often!
Even if you don’t think you have a good voice, sing along to your favourite playlist. Turn the grocery list into a song by singing it to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
Sing your instructions to your child with any melody that pops into your head even old Britney Spears’ songs work!
Try it and see how this will help your child develop memory skills and confidence.
About Clare-Louise Shaw, Founder, Mini Mozart
Mini Mozart was created by Clare-Louise Shaw in 2005 and is the culmination of over 20 years of experience combining musicianship, presenting and parenting.
After gaining music scholarships at Uppingham School and Berklee College of Music in the USA, and a music degree from Newcastle University, Clare joined BBC Music.
There she worked with all of her heroes at the BBC Symphony Orchestra and The Proms winding up as a TV presenter for programmes like BBC Young Musician of the Year and The Proms.
In 2005, whilst on maternity leave, Clare decided to pursue a new venture. She already had a love of working with children and music having previously been a singer at Disneyland Paris.
Her lightbulb moment came when she saw how much her son loved it when she played the violin, clarinet and piano to him.
Without delay, she got her anti-natal group and her instruments together with a piano accompanist. And just like that, Mini Mozart was born.
Through Mini Mozart, Clare has been able to combine her true passions of music, children and communication.
About Mini Mozart
Established in 2005, Mini Mozart offers live orchestral music classes for babies and toddlers across 39 venues in London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Surrey.
At Mini Mozart children engage with orchestral music played by professional musicians (all music graduates) in a way that is impossible with recorded music.
The classes are not designed to be static ‘baby friendly’ concerts or recitals, the children are encouraged to pluck, press, blow, scrape, bang whatever instrument is on offer.
Each class features two or more live orchestral instruments with a piano accompanist.
If a child completes the Mini Mozart course from baby to the start of school (reception) then they will have interacted with almost every orchestral instrument.
Mini Mozart prides itself on getting the children school ready.
Besides the musicality and rhythm skills, children gain transferable skills including fine motor, language and social skills plus qualities such as confidence, curiosity, discipline and respect.
Photo by Barbara Olsen
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