Music
Toddlers like to listen. They also love to get involved in music play. They’ll often start singing to themselves while they’re involved in other play activities. Toddlers also enjoy banging on drums, and making sounds using real or home-made instruments. Songs and music play are good forms of self-expression. Also, singing encourages toddlers to use words and helps develop their memories. Because their memories aren’t fully developed, toddlers will be able to remember only a few words at a time. They can put actions to the words as you sing them, though, and add in the words they remember.
When my husband and I had our first son we were surprised to find that we knew a lot less words to nursery rhymes than we thought we did. We ended up getting a fantastic cd with 50 different nursery rhymes on it to listen to in the car and we soon picked up the lyrics.
Nursery rhymes are fantastic for little babies and toddlers, they are short, cute and easy to remember melodies and words.
Please check out the link above which will help you learn some lyrics to well known nursery rhymes.
Music is always playing in our house and the boys love it, my toddler is always singing and dancing. Music always makes us smile... even if it is the 20th time in a row you've heard The Muppet's song. It makes me smile as I see the joy it brings to kids.
The link above are our recommendation for some great kids CD's.
From a very young age kids like trying out and experimenting with instruments. Percussion instruments are always fantastic for toddlers, keyboard/pianos, recorders or harmonicas are also fantastic!
The link above will give you some great recommendations for instruments to have at home for your toddlers to play with.
