Music and Bonding: Kids

Sometimes its hard to find those moments to really bond with your kids. Between jobs, school, after school activities, extracurricular activities, play dates, music lessons/classes, and getting that homework done, it seems that finding family time is harder as your kids start elementary school. It can feel like we have to cram so much into these little moments. How do we make space to just learn about their day, what they are enjoying, and maybe even some of their new favorite things? Even if you don’t struggle with fitting this time in, I want to share a few tips to use music to make these moments meaningful, without lots of prep or taking lots of time (or musical knowledge!)

1. Story Time: Do you like to read stories with your child? This is a great bonding activity and is an easy place to add in some music. Many books already lend themselves to being sung or chanted (or rapped!) Some of my favorites to sing are nursery rhyme books by Iza Trapani. These books are based on nursery rhymes that you and your child probably already know (such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), but adds more verses to make them into a story with great pictures. These are great to be sung or chanted. Your children won’t care if you aren’t the best singer… you can also encourage them to sing along with you! Some other books that you might like to try are Pout Pout Fish (good for rapping) or the Freddie the Frog series (comes with a CD to listen to).
2. Dance Party: I don’t know about you, but I cannot spend the whole day sitting. Too many times our children (and ourselves) spend much of our day sitting. Sit in the car or bus to school, sit at your desk at school, sit to come home, sit to eat dinner, sit to do homework. Especially kids who have just started elementary school are not used to all this sitting. So why not have a dance party at home? Take some time to learn what songs your children enjoy, and listen to them together. Do some moving and dancing. This can be whenever you can fit it in, when you get home in the evening, after dinner, or even while making dinner! Learning about the songs that your kids like will help with the bonding, and who doesn’t like to dance!
3. Bed Time: If you are struggling to find that bonding time with your child, bed time could be the best place to start adding it in. When I was younger, my dad would always read me (and my siblings) a story before going to bed. Even when I got older, this was one of my favorite parts of the day, and I looked forward to that time – even if the story he picked wasn’t my favorite. My friend and her parents always read a short book and sang a song with her parents before going to bed. If you don’t already do something like this, try adding it in. Just a short conversation about their day and singing a song together at end of the day can mean a lot to your child! The best songs to sing are slow with a simple melody, such as “You Are My Sunshine,” as these support winding down for bed.

Do you have other ways that you use music to bond with your children? Please share them with us in the comments! And, if you have any other questions about how to use music to assist with bonding, please let us know!