Were you that kid who was told to ‘mouthe the words’ at choir practice so you wouldn’t spoil the music? Or worse, told that you were tone deaf? Maybe you weren’t that bad, but still had trouble carrying a tune or keeping the beat? Whether or not you consider yourself musical, bringing up musical kids is easier than you think.

I am not tone deaf — quite the opposite. I was born into a musical family and grew up listening, singing, playing and, finally, teaching music — in that order. And the order is important.

Listening is everything

Listening to music is the first step in musical development and, luckily, it is the one everyone can do. It is never too early to start. Research has shown that even babies begin to respond to what they hear, including music, even before they are born.

Does it matter what kind? Probably not. But kids love all kinds of music and exposing them to a wide variety of music is exciting and fun for them. And research tells us that early brain stimulus, that is so crucial to brain growth, is enhanced by different and varied experiences.

Singing makes everything fun!

A wise professor of mine once pointed out to me that if you walk into a preschool class and there is no singing, something is wrong. Kids naturally hum as they play. They spontaneously sing-out what is going through their minds, as they work their way through their imaginary world.

We parents naturally sing to babies, too. Crooning to soothe a fussy baby, or humming a lullaby as you rock a baby to sleep, is a staple of parenthood. When do kids stop singing? When do we? Singing stops when we become self-conscious of our singing; when, for whatever reason, we either start comparing or judging the sounds coming out of our mouths.

If you want your kids to keep singing, take your cue from them and do what they do. Put a little singsong into the things you say to them. Sing along with the radio in the car, not just in the shower. Sing nursery rhymes with them. Join them in their songs when they sing things you both know. Show them by your actions what research has confirmed —that singing is as natural as talking, maybe more so. Your kids will love it and they won’t be judging you. They won’t even mind if you sing out of tune. We can’t all be the next American (or Canadian) Idol.

Of course, there is much more to raising musical kids than listening and singing. And I will come back to this subject in future posts. And even if music isn’t the centre of your life, as it is mine, more and more research is showing that developing musical ability in kids provides them with a great foundation for learning all kinds of other things in life.

And who doesn’t want that for their kids?

Judi Meade is the owner of Art-enfant, a member of Neighbourhood Toy Stores of Canada (NETS), and LearningToys.ca. Her stores are a destination for families looking for unique and fun playthings that sneak a little learning in on unsuspecting kids.