Learning Opportunities for Children in MusicPlay


Personal

  • Build confidence through success-oriented activities and accomplishment of tasks
  • Focus on instructions, the leader, and other students
  • Listen to instructions, the song, and the language used by others
  • Develop skills in making choices: who to choose, how to respond, what to share

Social

  • Take turns and wait for turns
  • Acknowledge others and be acknowledged by others
  • Observe and accept ideas of others
  • Gain skills and confidence in being a leader and a follower
  • Share thoughts and demonstrate understandings within a group

Movement

  • Coordinate and pace movement with the beginning and ending of sound, and with individual words, sounds, and phrases
  • Explore body awareness by suggesting and demonstrating movement ideas

Language

  • Use language (vocabulary and experience) to describe ideas and actions
  • Become responsive to language cues: instructions, challenges, stories, directions, ideas

Music

  • Sing for enjoyment
  • Sing to express thoughts and feelings, interact with others, and accompany activity
  • Build a repertory of songs that can be performed alone or with a group and without accompaniment
  • Develop vocal skills in speaking and singing
  • Experience musical elements of closure, beat, rhythm, structure, melody, and text

 

From Bennett, P. D., Ed. (1999). SongPlay: A collection of playful songs for children. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard.