Music in the Early YearsExpressive Arts & Design

Exploring and using media and materials: children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing

them. (DfE,2012:10)

Adults should provide opportunities for young children to play and experiment with music and musical instruments because it:• supports children’s developing listening and attention skills, • enhances a child's ability to discriminate between sounds thus supporting the development of

phonetic awareness,• supports the development of language and literacy skills, • positively impacts on spatial reasoning, which is linked to mathematical thinking,• supports the development of physical co-ordination, particularly fine motor skills, supporting

pre-handwriting skills,• promotes teamwork and a sense of fun when music-making in small groups, • enhances children’s confidence and self-esteem if they have opportunities to perform for

others.

Activity IdeasOpportunities for children to explore music can be included throughout daily routines in early years settings:• offer opportunities for sound exploration through listening and singing. • use songs for directions and moving children from one activity to another. • play background music during self-selected play. • include songs during large and small group activities.• record the children creating their own music while singing or chanting. • explore rhythm by moving to recorded music. • use different instruments and instruments from other cultures to add variety.

Links to Theory:• Howard Gardner (1983) Multiple Intelligence Theory: Musical-rhythmic

intelligence (one of Gardner’s Eight Intelligences) involves children’s ability to recognise musical patterns. It also includes the ability to produce and appreciate music. Since music evokes emotion, this is one of the earliest intelligences to emerge. Composers and musicians are examples of people with this type of intelligence.

• Jean Piaget: children develop cognitive structures on their own through many processes including adaption, accommodation and assimilation. This can be linked to children exploring musical instruments with limited direction form adults.

• Lev Vygotsky: learning through social interactions.• Albert Bandura: Modeling

A wintry musical song

Dance like snowflakes,Dance like snowflakes,

In the air,In the air,

Whirling, twirling snowflakes,Whirling, twirling snowflakes,

Here and there,Here and there.

Use ‘cold’ sounds to accompany this rhyme which can also be sung to the tune ‘Frere Jacques’