Starting from the 16th week of fetal development, the child hears sounds. He hears the sounds of the outside world during this period very muffled, but his mother’s voice, heartbeat, and the sound of blood flow accompany him constantly. These sounds are interwoven for the baby in a real melody that gives him comfort and a sense of security. From that moment on, sounds begin to play a big role in the life of a child, and this influence does not recede until the end of life. The sounds of music are especially important for mental and even physical development.
Music for the baby in the stomach
Specialists in prenatal development unanimously believe that it is necessary to acquaint a child with music even before birth. Babies begin to perceive the melody at a gestational age of about 16 weeks (see topic: when newborns begin to hear). It is best to introduce the crumbs to classical musical compositions: they are time-tested and have a positive effect. Turning on the music, all mothers notice that the baby’s activity is changing: under some tunes, he calms down, under others, on the contrary, he begins to actively move. The fact is that music greatly affects the emotional state: some melodies calm, relax, others invigorate, cause a surge of activity.
Both calm and energetic music are useful for the development of the child: through it, he expands the range of emotions experienced. With the help of research by psychologists, it was proved that children who listen to classical music even before they are born develop better physically and mentally, master different skills earlier and speak better.
By and large, expectant mothers can not only limit themselves to classical music and listen to everything that is pleasant to themselves, but it is better to limit some areas of music. For example, it is believed that rock music leads to increased emotional arousal and provokes aggression. Children who “grew up” on such music are distinguished by restless behavior and excitability.
Music from birth
After birth, music begins to play an even more important role in the life of the child. Music acts on a newborn baby in the same way as it did before birth: it sets its emotional background. During active wakefulness, you can include funny, dynamic songs, before going to bed or during screams and moods - quiet, calm melodies. True, if we talk about lullabies, it is definitely much better if mom sings it herself. Some of the mothers evaluate their vocal data very low and prefer to include ready-made recordings so as not to form a bad musical ear in the child. These fears are in vain, because the kids are the most grateful listeners, and the voice of their beloved mother is the most desired melody for them. If you really don’t really succeed in singing, you can simply speak in a chant - this is better than someone else's voice from the speaker.
The older the child becomes, the more profound and comprehensive the influence of music on him.In addition to developing the emotional sphere, music contributes to the development of motor skills. Even if you do not teach your child dance movements when he learns to stand on his own two feet, his legs go into dance as soon as he hears his favorite song. Moreover, the child feels the rhythm very well and moves in accordance with the sound.
- Very well, music affects the development of fantasy and imagination. Music not only evokes certain emotions - after them visual images almost always arise. The child represents the heroes of a musical work, in his imagination there are pictures associated with the melody. The older the child, the brighter the images that appear. For children over 5-6 years old, “musical fantasies” are so characteristic that they are able to express them artistically - to draw a picture from their favorite song.
- A very important aspect of the influence of music on the development of the child is the formation of an aesthetic taste. As we already said, you can listen to absolutely any kind of music with your child, but classical pieces of music must be included in the program. They are a kind of standard of sound and musical taste, universal for people of any age, gender and social status. In this regard, parents need not worry that classical music is too complicated for the child: that's why it is “classical” to be liked by any listener.
- In addition to classical music, the child must be acquainted with folk music. Through it, he joins the culture of his people, and folk songs are generally a storehouse of wisdom and knowledge about the structure of the world. You can not only listen to folk music, but also play. If we talk about Russian folk instruments, then many of them are quite accessible to the baby: pipes, spoons, rattles.
Even if parents are not fans of folk music and do not gravitate to folk musical instruments, children's musical instruments and toys must be in the house. It can be a tambourine, metallophone, a children's synthesizer or any other instrument. The main criterion is good sound and accessibility for the child. For kids, musical toys are good, making different sounds and playing tunes. For such toys, the main criterion is the sound quality. These toys help develop auditory concentration skills.
Children over two years old are already able to memorize lyrics. You don’t even have to memorize them on purpose: while listening and trying to sing along, the child remembers the words and then pleases the parents with the first attempts at solo singing. Thus, music also affects the development of memory and speech.
For people living in the world of sounds, music is a means of relaxation, restoration of strength, increased efficiency, and stress. By introducing a child to music, we do not seek to grow a musician out of him (although some of the children really demonstrate good musical abilities from childhood that need to be developed), we only contribute to his full development. You should not expect any concrete positive results from the kid’s acquaintance with music, let it be a process for the sake of the process. The human psyche is so complicated that you can never predict in advance when and in what situation the effect of the earlier works of Mozart or mother's lullabies will manifest itself.
Read on:
- What music is useful for newborns
- 10 facts about the benefits of music and nature sounds for mothers and babies;
- The effect of fairy tales on child development;
- How games influence child development;
- Gadgets and kids (the pros and cons of modern gadgets for the development of children).
During my pregnancy, my mother regularly included classical music and, especially, the works of Mozart. She sincerely believed that listening to music had a beneficial effect on the course of my pregnancy. At that time, I was not particularly aware of the deep meaning of these musical sessions. But what is surprising is that both pregnancy and childbirth went amazingly smoothly with me. A wonderful girl was born.