Make daily chores more fun for everyone by adding music to your routines. Singing familiar songs can help soothe a cranky baby in the car, in the store or while waiting in line.
Childhood rhymes and songs have been around for a long time, for good reasons. Babies and grownups have fun, babies learn language, and babies get to know you better by listening to your voice. Many songs repeat words over and over, and this helps your baby learn to predict what comes next. Even babies who are not yet talking enjoy the rhythm and repetition they hear in song.
What You Need
The words to a short children's song like "The Wheels on the Bus"
Let's Go
Here are the basic words to get you started. You can add verses that you already know, or think up your own. Add hand or body motions that imitate the words to make this even more fun.
The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round,
'Round and 'round, 'round and 'round.
The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round,
All through the town.
The driver on the bus says, move on back,
Move on back, move on back...
The people on the bus go up and down,
Up and down, up and down...
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish...
The Daddies on the bus say "I love you, I love you, I love you..."
Judy Goth-Owens is a Parent Educator with the Ingham Intermediate School District and a Child Development instructor at Lansing Community College.