Play and Creativity Using Music: Musical Games/Creativity Play
How can music activities at home encourage play and creativity in children?
Play is one of the most important parts of early childhood. When a child is engaging in play they are building their brains to develop skills in math, reading, and social skills. Trial and error discoveries in play are what lead to imagination and creativity. There are many ways that parents can promote play and creativity through music at home.
Musical Games/Creativity Play
- Peek-a-boo is fun! When they are infants, they are learning about object permanence; something was there, it went away, and then it came back.
- Make “roads” on your floor with painters tape. Get out a wide range of vehicles for your child to zoom on the tape with. Does the car move fast or slow? Is the train loud or soft? Consider adding a song like “Hurry, hurry drive the firetruck” or “Wheels on the Bus” to their play.
- Finger paint to different kinds of music. How does your picture look when the music is soft or soothing? Feeling the texture from the paint is also a great sensory discovery.
- What sounds are your baby making? Make the babbling or cooing sounds back. This is the idea of Serve and Return. Baby serves a cooing sound and the parent coos back.
- Older children might be exploring their imaginative play. Perhaps there is a way to add a song or rhyme to their creation.
- Find a song or a rhyme that teaches impulse control; starting and stopping. “Hop little bunny, hop-hop-hop. Stop little bunny, stop-stop-stop.” You can also freeze when recorded music stops and then continue moving when the music starts again.
Make a musical environment, and they will play and create!
Play and Creativity Using Music Series
Additional Resource for how MacPhail Center for Music promotes creativity in their classrooms
Resources for Information on Play
Playing with Music at Home
Play in Early Childhood: The Role of Play in Any Setting
Center for Inclusive Child Care