How to Help Children Understand Rhythm

There's no secret to teaching rhythm to a child. The key ingredient is to make it fun!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Your imagination
• Household items
• One or more children

1. Find some easy songs to teach and sing with your children. If you can't remember any from childhood, surf the net or buy a children's song book. Some old favorites: Mary Had a Little Lamb; Ring Around the Rosie; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

2. Begin by singing the songs to them and encouraging them to sing along. It doesn't matter if they don't get the words right. There's no wrong, no time schedule. Just fun!

3. As they get more familiar with the songs, add clapping or marching, even dancing. (But marching around a room is often quite popular.) As you do it to the beat, they will begin to pick up the sounds of the rhythms.

4. Encourage your child to find sounds. Perhaps a ticking clock or a croaking frog. Clap or count to the sounds.

5. Play a game of copy cat: tap a series of varying beats on your leg and have your child mimic. Then your child makes up a series of beats and you copy. Rattttt-tat-a-tatttttt. Start out with an easy series of rhythms and over time, make the series a bit longer and more complicated. If your child becomes bored or frustrated, move on to another activity.

6. Find shows on television that incorporate music. Sing along and dance with your child. Every single thing you do that involves music and beat teaches rhythm to your child.

7. As time goes on, your child will become familiar with different rhythms. You may notice that s/he will share this knowledge with friends. Children are often the best teachers of one another as they explore and learn.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't tell your children you're going to teach them anything. Just incorporate fun musical activities into your daily life.
• Use your imagination to turn household items into "musical instruments." Tinker toy sticks make great rhythm sticks, pots and pans are drums, a box of oatmeal becomes a maraca. My mother, a music teacher, once had a classroom of first graders who couldn't stop playing with the Velcro fasteners on their shoes. She turned it around and had the kids strip the Velcro to the music. They loved it.
• As you do household activities with your children, make up songs as you go. The old song "This is the way we ride the bus" becomes "This is the way we wash the dish, wash the dish..." This not only teaches musical skills, but helps them learn to be creative with lyrics as well.
• There's no right or wrong. Always encourage and praise.