“They want toys to get their children into Harvard: have we been getting playthings all wrong?”
This is a worthwhile read by Alex Blasdale, citing research that shows “the best new toys are the best old ones – sticks and blocks and dolls and sand that follow no pre-programmed routines, that elicit no predetermined behaviours.”
One of my favorite children’s librarians is Gloria Bartas. Whenever I observed her in action, I was impressed with her creativity, her enthusiasm and joy, and her lovely singing voice. I just discovered a YouTube video of Gloria singing “Get Your Smile On”. I’d never heard this before and I think it’s great, so I wanted to share it with you!
An article in the Nov. 1, 2022 issue of neurosciencenews.com describes research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine that shows ways that music supports the social development and interaction of infants.
Study lead author, Miriam Lense, Ph.D., assistant professor of Otolaryngology and co-director of the Music Cognition Lab at VUMC, asserts, “Singing to infants seems like such a simple act, but it is full of rich and meaningful social information…when caregivers sing to their infants, they are intuitively structuring their behavior to support the caregiver-infant social bond and infant social learning.”
“Although what a caregiver expresses is important, when and how they express social cues is particularly critical for infant-caregiver communication,” Lense added. “Rhythmic predictability—a universal feature of song—is an integral mechanism for structuring social interactions and supporting infant social development.”
Reyna Gordon, Ph.D., associate professor of Otolaryngology and co-director of the Music Cognition Lab at VUMC reinforces, “Making music is not only about entertainment: making music is a core aspect of early socio-emotional development….innateness for music is intertwined with early social engagement.”
For more information, read the article below!
Sensitivity to Musical Rhythm Supports Social Development in Infants
About a month ago, Shael Weidenbach, Area Resource Manager of Youth Services at the Indianapolis Public Library told me about a wonderful series of videos that she is creating and curating called “Reading Ready Time.” She sent me links to a few of them; my favorite was one where she interviewed the driver of a garbage truck and then she actually was able to go into the truck and drive it! The videos were varied, but they always started with her welcoming her audience into the library and ended with her linking the topic covered by her guest with books available in the public library.
Shael asked if I would make a video for her on Mother Goose on the Loose, so here it is!
While browsing the National Head Start Association’s website and checking out their resource library, I found this great activity! Just as MGOL’s “Rum Pum Pum” activity builds upon each child’s familiarity with their own name, Hayes Greenfield introduces Creative Sound Play (CPS). Building upon names, this joyful game sparks the imagination while enhancing self-control, exercising working memory, sparking creativity and flexibility, practicing phonemic and phonological awareness by learning and sounding out their names, using active listening skills by participating in a call-and-response activity, raising confidence and self-esteem by becoming both a good caller and a good responder. The four minute and 22 second video by Hayes Greenfield entitled “Sounding Out Names with Creative Sound Play” is all you need to learn the “how” and “why” that will enable you to easily add this activity into your programs!
nhsa.org/resource/creative-sound-play-classroom/
3 Ways to Bring Creative Sound Play to the Classroom