Musical Bumblebees

 

Musical Bumble Bees is a music and movement programme focused on whole brain development in children aged 3months to 6yrs of age, through the use of percussion instruments, singing, stories, movement and dancing and musical games. 

 

The importance of music: 

• Music helps to develop motor skills and co-ordination

• Music helps children develop spatial-temporal ability

• Music helps build memory skills

• Music awakens humour and creativity

• Music establishes a foundation for a child’s development in speech and reading

• Music provides a "good-feeling" base for a healthy self image and development of social skills             

 

Info relevant to Baby Classes: 
Research has proven that babies are born with billions of brain cells, twice as many as when they have grown up to become adults. When a baby is stimulated these cells form connections with other cells and start to form the neurological highways that transport information. Over time the connections between the cells become stronger and easier to access.  

Children who grow up listening to music have strong music-related pathways that transport information.

Music, especially Classical Music, can train the brain for certain types of thinking because the pathways that are formed when listening to Classical Music are similar to the pathways used to recognise patterns and sequences –this ability impacts on a child’s mathematical and analytical abilities later on in life.  

When a baby is born there are about 200 billion brain cells waiting for stimulation and to form connections. When the brain is stimulated, new connections are formed and the brain networks increase density. Music is the perfect way to stimulate this development. Scientists have discovered that a child’s brain grows to 90% of its adult capacity in the first two years of life (Your Baby, June 2008, Mozart Magic).

 

During class time babies are stimulated in many different ways. With dances, rhymes, exercises and percussion play. Repeating activities is very important as the more a baby repeats an activity the more responsive he will become. The key to a baby’s learning is to introduce and develop skills at the right time. A gap in the learning and development of a baby is what is believed to cause learning and behavioural problems later on in school (Fun Start, 2007, June R Oberlander).