Kids Studio Berlin News

Learning To Play With Your Baby

2011-10-01T16:29:00.005+02:00

Emily Ford shares this lovely article about the importance of connecting with your child...

"Playing with your baby can be one of the sweetest joys of parenthood.

But cavorting on the carpet and frolicking in the yard with an infant or toddler does not come naturally to everyone.

If you're pregnant with your first child and have little experience with babies, watching veteran parents mesmerize their children with rhyme and song or elicit giggles and belly laughs with finger play can be a little intimidating.

But just like how to diaper or swaddle or nurse, you can learn how to play with your kid. And mastering the art of Here Comes a Mousey or Shoe the Little Horse is tons more fun than learning how to take a rectal temperature.

Playing with your baby is just as important as feeding or clothing the cutie pie. Play has a crucial role in a baby's social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.

Play also helps you bond with your child. Plus, the more your baby laughs, the less she cries.

I have five pregnant or postpartum friends and relatives, my own little baby boom. After going years without attending a baby shower, I've enjoyed ordering artwork from Salisbury artists Emily Brinskelle and Meredith Abramson (who have the neatest baby gifts at whimziggystyle.com) and browsing through my collection of how-to parenting books.

I'll hand down the books to my sister Laura, who is due in January. And who, by the way, is not the Laura whose husband learned from his dog in a dream that she was pregnant.

One of my favorites is Pat-a-Cake and Other Play Rhymes by Joanna Cole, who also wrote the Magic School Bus series.

Worn and tattered, that book stayed in my diaper bag for years and helped me turn what could have been agonizing hours on airplanes and in waiting rooms into happy memories.

Many adults are not used to breaking into song or dance or even spending time on the floor. But through nursery rhymes, silly ditties and floor play, we can reconnect with our own childhood and see the world through our baby's eyes.

If your jig is less than graceful, your voice far from melodious, who cares? I'm sure I made some angel's ears bleed every time I sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," but my kids loved it anyway.

Singing, even off-key, to a cranky tot can work magic.

Incorporating play throughout baby's day will entertain junior while turning chores into enriching experiences. Elaine Martin's book Baby Games includes songs and games for diaper changes, getting dressed, eating, quiet time, outdoors, bath time and more.

Play doesn't have to be elaborate. My kids loved to wait in anticipation while I circled a finger above them saying, "I'm gonna bore a hole and I don't know where, I'm gonna bore a hole right...there!" Tickling, and squeals of delight, followed.

Babycenter.com has wonderful play suggestions, and taking a Kindermusik class can give you hands-on training in songs and games.

Learning how to play with your baby benefits you both. We all played once. We just need to remember how."

Explore Sounds With Your Children

2011-10-01T16:28:00.002+02:00

We all know that every little baby is an amazing, beautiful miracle, right? And what about those perfectly formed, adorable ears? Are they the most incredible things ever? Possibly. Research has also shown that new-born babies have quite amazing hearing abilities. They are capable of recognising all the sounds in all the languages used on the planet, whereas us poor adults find it difficult to distinguish between the long and short 'e', or the 'o' with or without the umlaut! So, what goes on in those soft delicate folds?

In short, selective hearing. From the age of around six months, babies start to focus on vowel sounds. They begin to recognise the ones they hear most often and store them away for future use. Later they do the same with consonants. By the age of one year, they have stored all the sounds they need to communicate. At an older age, language learning becomes progressively more difficult.

Knowledge of music is also learnt in these early months. The more music your child listens to at a young age, the more aware s/he will be of all the sounds in the world. This will give a huge advantage to your child when learning about music, learning to play an instrument and discovering his/her own vocal expressions.

Vocal play is a natural form of communication between parent and child. The more varied it is, the more sounds your child will hear, and therefore remember, and be able to use at a later date. The vocal play in Kindermusik classes will give you some ideas to use at home. There are few, if any, rules so feel free to let loose and express yourself through your own personal instrument – your voice. The sound of the parents' voice is important to a child's listening skills, music ability and language development.

Inspiration From Nature

2010-01-09T21:22:00.004+01:00

Music is all around us.. if we look carefully...

Practicing Pays Off For Young Musicians

2010-01-07T22:53:00.001+01:00

ScienceDaily reported that a new study has found that children who study a musical instrument for at least three years outperform children with no instrumental training -- not only in tests of auditory discrimination and finger dexterity (skills honed by the study of a musical instrument), but also on tests measuring verbal ability and visual pattern completion (skills not normally associated with music).

Click here to read the full story!

"Musik braucht keine Rechtfertigung"

2008-10-12T00:00:00.000+02:00

Hier ist ein interessanter Artikel aus der Wiener Zeitung "Die Presse".

Musizieren macht schlau

2008-06-11T23:56:00.000+02:00

Das Musizieren nicht nur spaß macht sondern auch schlau wurde ja bereits durch viele studien belegt.

Leipziger Forscher haben nun die Auswirkungen des Musizieren bei Kindern und Jugendlichen auf das Sprachvermögen untersucht.

Bitte klicken sie here und den vollständigne Artikel zu lesen.

"Musical Motivation" for children and their grown-ups

2008-05-03T22:53:00.000+02:00

How can we help our children keep building their interest and love of music? Here are a few ideas you can use at home - much will depend on the ages of your children, and some will apply better to certain ages. Basically, just as elementary school teachers suggest "littering your house with books" to encourage young children's reading and enjoyment of reading, I would say, "litter your house with music"! That is, put it all around your house and family, so it becomes an important part of your everyday life.

Use your home materials; use your family activity book in Our Time for activities to do at home; do the "bring to class" projects in Imagine That and the at-home activities in Young Child; practice with your child so he can feel successful playing in class. Let your child teach you how to play a song she is learning to play. Sometimes it's rewarding for your child when you let her start from the beginning, remind you how to hold your mallets, point out the notes you miss and so on. This also helps her to lern they don't need to be perfect when even grown-ups forget things and make mistakes.

Sing, dance, and play music at home -- OFTEN-- Kindermusik CDs, other good children's music, your own favorite "family appropriate" singers and musicians. Make it a fun part of your family's day as often as possible. Remind children that the music we make by singing and playing instruments is also "real music" - not just what comes out of the CD player!

Listen to a wide variety of music - classical, folk, country, jazz, a bit of rock and pop, music from other countries. Borrow some CDs from the library with out-of -the-ordinary music o find out what you and your family like.

Create a "music basket" for your family, and put in your egg shakers, zig zag blocks, fiddlesticks, resonator bars, slide whistles, drums, tambourines, and any other music-making objects you can find. Even make a few of your own! Put it in the same room with a CD player so it's easy to put on some music and march, dance, and play often. Try to avoid the temptation to ask your children to "not make so much noise" :-) Of course, some instruments, like slide whistles and loud drums, make great basement and outdoor "parade" instruments!

When you get to Imagine That and Young Child, keep your child's current instrument and bag very handy for them to get out. Yes, sometimes that means you'll get to class without your slide whistle, drum, book, folder, or glockenspiel, but it's so much better to actually use them during the week and your child can share with a friend or use a spare from his teacher in class.

If your - Mom or Dad - play an instrument, play it for and with your child. It doesn't matter if you last played it in school and it's been in the attic since then. Children enjoy hearing it because: A) It's a real instrument, not just the sound of one on CD, and B) it's Mom or Dad playing it. Ask other family members to share whatever they may play - maybe Grandpa plays a bit of piano, Grandma plays the accordion, or Uncle Joe plays the balalaika (or whatever :-) ). It's a great way to share your family's culture and history as well as music, and often others will not think anyone would want to hear them unless they're asked.

If you have older children, or older cousins, have a family music night where everbody plays something - whatever instrument they're learning to play, or sing a song. Have everybody join in for a sing-a-long and/or "family jam" with all those instruments from the music basket.

Look for family concerts and events in your area. Orchestras, bands, choirs, parades, theater, ballet, puppet shows, children's performers, summer concerts in the park .. the list is almost endless. ------ By the way - next week-end is the "Karneval der Kulturen"!

If you're not ready to invest in a piano, look for an electronic keyboard - one that is more than a kids#+ toy without being a huge investment. Put it in a place where your child can easily play it (not "play with it") and explore it - simply expect them to treat it kindly and gently - playing with fingers, not fists or feet, not putting food or drinks near it, and so on. Your could even consider looking for a used child-size violin or guitar - not to start lessons on it, just to explore and play.

Try to avoid the temptation to rush into formal lessons - there is plenty of time for this when children are ready. This is a wonderful reason to continue in Imagine That and Young Child classes even when children are in school. We continue to keep the focus on process, not on performance, while we build our singing skills, instrument playing, ensemble playing, and even music reading and composing. We also weave in lots of movement, story-telling, and imagination to keep it age- and developmentally appropriate.

Happy music-making - and may your home be littered with music!

Thank you Amy Brewer for those thoughts.

Warum musikalische Frühersiehung und das auch noch in Englisch??

2008-04-20T23:20:00.000+02:00

Um einen Artikel über Musikalische Früherziehung zu lesen klicken sie einfach hier. Die dort aufgeführten Vorteile plus (für nicht Muttersprachler) das spielerische näher bringen der heutzutage wichtigsten Weltsprache.

Kommen Sie doch einfach zu einer kostenlosen Probestunde vorbei. Vereinbaren Sie einen Termin noch heute.

Sie erreichen uns über die Links unserer Websiten auf der rechten Seite oder telefonisch unter:

- 030/ 80 90 85 07 Kindermusik with Adrienne (Kurse in Mitte und Zehlendorf)

- 030/ 43 66 16 23 Kindermusik with Alexandra (Kurse in Charlottenburg und Hermsdorf)

Warum Musik die Kinder schlauer macht

2008-04-04T20:56:00.000+02:00

Musik förder die Entwicklung eines Kindes: Es lernt leichter sprechen, sich rhythmisch zu bewegen, vieles besser im Gedächnis zu behalten. Und Musik baut Spannungen ab.

... "Man kann gar nicht früh genug damit anfangen, Kinder an Musik zu gewähnen, indem man ihnen etwas vorsingt, zum Schlafen die Spieluhr anstellt oder mit ihnen gemeinsam Kinderlieder singt, wenn sie schon etwas ältern sind".

... Sobald sie laufen können, beginnen sie auch, sich nach Rhythemn zu bewegen, versuhcen , ihrem Tanz einem Rhythmus zu geben und entwickeln darüber Rhythmusgefühl.

Um den vollständigen Artikel RHYTHMUS FÖRDERT DAS GEHIRN - Warum Musik die Kinder schlauer macht aus dem Hamburger Abendblatt zu lesen einfach hier klicken.

Hands-on parents strike better chord with children

2008-03-24T22:17:00.000+01:00

New Australian research shows parents rely heavily on commercially produced CDs and DVDs for children's musical stimulation, claiming they don't have the time or musical talent for anything more creative.

"Singing with a young child allows for spontaneous vocal play, movement and drama that are not always possible with music CDs and DVDs," said study author Peter de Vries. "Some products with a visual component are non-interactive . . . and detract from musical events.

"These products can constrain spontaneous musical play . . . and parents need to be aware of their detrimental effects on young children's musical development,"

"But just putting music on doesn't have the same effect. Children learn by doing, especially with adults, and there are so many opportunities for spontaneous singing."

To read the full article from the "Hearald Sun" click here.

With Kindermusik you the parent and the most important teacher for your child(ren) will get encouragement and tools to do joyful activities in your child(ren) comfort zone and best learning environment (your home).

Better Minds Through Music

2008-03-06T22:29:00.000+01:00

If you are bringing you child to Kindermusik maybe you are doing it because it's a fun thing to do together or even with your friend and her little one. Maybe you are wanting your child to take piano lessons or violin lessons in a couple years so you know Kindermusik will help with musical requirements of keeping a steady beat, having a good ear, and actually reading music (Young Child). And some of you are discovering more benefits, like this new research from the DANA Foundation that states musical study positively affects a child's cognitive development and can affect even the babies.

It's an investment that's so worth it. But hey, we knew that!

Come on in, you're in the right place. New families can join anytime.

By the way - thank you Yvette Odell (fellow Kindermusik Educator) for sharing this information on your studio blog.

Mind-reading mothers

2008-02-25T21:21:00.000+01:00

A study from the UK has found that in the first two years of life, the most important factor in a child's development is not it's mother's education or wealth, but how well she interprets her baby's moods.

...The better a mother interpreted her child's mood, the faster it developed the ability to represent its thoughts and feelings through language and play.

To read the whole article at NewScientist click here.

Baby Robins learning to fly

2007-07-04T22:39:00.001+02:00

It's always fun starting a new course with new songs! I hope you all also had fun. I espessically loved the way the children flew around like birds in class. I found a few great video clips on Robins. Here are a few for you to enjoy with your child!