Music time with baby
One of the best things about singing with your baby is that they don’t care if you can sing in tune – they just love to hear you sing!
Your baby will love it when you take the time to sing and dance with them. You will see them watching, listening and even starting to copy your actions and your words. And everyone will have a great time.
So, for a very simple, low cost and fun thing to do with your child: it’s music time! All you need is yourself, your baby and some shakers or music toys if you have them.
Singing to your child regularly is the best thing you can do. The repetition helps them remember the songs and the movements, and don’t worry they never get tired of it. You can even have a regular music time sing-a-long, such as when your child is in the bath or in their highchair.
What to sing?
A song with actions is best and the most fun! As they get to know it, they will copy the actions and the words and then. You can also stop at the most exciting point of the song and wait for them to keep on going: such as “Open, shut them, open, shut them, give a little… [clap]”.
We have included some songs with actions to try, but you can always make up your own songs and your own actions. That’s half the fun!
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star
- Row, row, row your boat
- Open shut them
- Insy Winsy Spider
- If you’re happy and you know it
- Round and round the garden
When your baby knows the songs well, try stopping and waiting for your baby to take a turn singing. If they don’t know it, that’s fine, just keep on singing. They will get there and soon enough you will both be singing together at music time!
