Music makes children brainier and lively

"Experiments have shown that unborn babies in the womb appear to relax in response to certain music and also that they seem to recognize this music after birth," says Professor Michael Schulte-Markwort, head of child psychology at Hamburg's University Hospital in Germany.

"From the outset, music helps the language centres in the brain to develop so that children who have been exposed to music at an early age tend to learn to speak earlier than those who are born into non-musical homes," he says.

"Learning the tunes and lyrics to songs also aids in developing memory skills for other tasks," he adds.

Rhythm and dancing also skills young muscles in coordination so that children good in music and dance are healthier and better coordinated than children whose parents never teach them to sing and dance and play a simple drum or other instrument.

"Children develop a feel for musical tones and associate certain tone patterns with certain rhythms," he points out.

"As soon as they learn to walk, they also begin to move rhythmically in time to musical stimuli and thus automatically begin to dance," he adds. "Good and attentive parents naturally encourage their offspring to sing and dance rhythmically."

He also insists that pre-school children should engage themselves in games involving rhythmic movement and dancing as that encourages them to clap in time with the beat or to beat out the rhythm on simple percussion instruments such as bells and chimes and little drums.

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