Introduction to singing with your baby

How it aids development

Babies and young children love nursery rhymes, and the rhythm of songs and rhymes helps with the development of their language. Songs with actions in them are especially good because babies can join in with them by moving their body or doing the actions with their hands, long before they can sing along. Your child will be able to start with simple actions like clapping, or opening and closing their hands, and gradually learn to do more complicated actions as they grow and develop. Find out more from Dr Jacqueline Harding about how singing with your baby can help in five key areas of their development. 

Social emotional wellbeing

Singing with your child can help your child's emotional and social development. They learn so much from the rhymes about life in general, how we feel and how we connect with others which will help them develop a more happy and balanced approach as they grow. If You're Happy is a great song to sing. 

Mathematical development

Singing rhymes can help with your child's numeracy which can help them become ready for school. Using finger or counting songs can be a great way of introducing maths by counting the beats or using fingers. Incy Wincy or Pat a Cake are a good choice of songs to use. 

But what if I can't sing?

The beauty of singing with your baby is that it doesn't matter if you have singing ability or not as your baby doesn't mind! They will just love the fact you are singing rhymes and songs with actions. They will get very excited when they know it is singing time as it will be that special quality one to one time that will create a stronger bond between you both. 

And remember...

• Singing with your child is not age restrictive, it doesn't matter how old or young they are, you can sing with your child at any age.
• Help your baby move with actions songs, such as 'happy if you know it, clap your hands'. Even if your baby is too young to do actions themselves, you can help them my taking their hands in yours and clapping for example.
• If you don't know any songs to sing with your baby, don't worry you can make them up! It can be about anything whether it is their favorite toy, nap time or even when the postman posts your letters. It doesn't matter as long as you are having fun with your baby. 

Our videos are a useful tool in helping you and your baby or child sing songs and learn new songs. They are also subtitled in other languages including Polish, Bengali, Punjabi, Arabic and Turkish.