Six ways music helps children learn

From singing to your baby bump to nursery rhymes, lullabies and beyond, many of us naturally start sharing music with children from their very earliest days, but did you know that being exposed to music when you’re very young can actually have a huge impact on how your brain develops?

Early exposure to music plays a crucial role in ‘wiring’ your baby’s brain for learning. Hearing songs teaches babies how language is put together – when you sing, words and phrases are slowed down, and the structure of them is easier to follow.

Join in with Dodge as he teams up with musical stars to sing along to happy, kind and uplifting tunes. It’s all about feeling good, having fun and sharing the joy of music together.

Singing together regularly helps babies build a vocabulary of sounds and words long before they can actually understand them. Copying actions like clapping and hearing repeated lyrics also helps develop the ability to observe and mimic what’s going on – a key skill for learning. Try listening and singing to our Nursery Rhymes playlist with your baby.

Join in with The Baby Club songs, learn to sign with Mr Tumble and groove to jazz, funk and pop renditions of nursery rhymes with Hey Duggee.

Letting older babies make a noise with an ‘instrument’ (even just a saucepan and spoon) encourages them to express themselves, and gives them a way to communicate their feelings before they can talk. Why not make a simple bottle shaker or microphone to use with your little one? 

Give your child the reins and watch as they create their own funky animal music with the free Andy's Safari Sounds game.

Toddlers love rhymes – and they’re not just for fun. Rhymes teach children how particular words sound, and how changing a letter makes a new word (such as ‘moo’ and ‘boo’). This knowledge will help them when they begin to learn about letters and sounds for reading. If your child is ready to read, you can explore letter sounds together with Alphablocks or share a story from the Storytime app.

CBeebies Storytime introduces children to a world of stories through beautiful, interactive story books. The app aims to inspire a love of stories in every child in the UK and support early years reading.

In the morning with so much to do, and not always enough time to do it, things can feel busy, to say the least! Establishing a morning routine can help you and your family stay on track with everything you need to do. Whether you're getting everyone ready for the nursery drop-off before work, or catching a train to an event or to visit family, a routine can make things feel more manageable.

Help your little one learn daily habits and create a routine with their favourite CBeebies friends.

Keeping time to a beat introduces the idea of rhythm and pattern, which helps to develop children’s reasoning and problem-solving skills. Make a bongo drum or rainbow shaker and get your little one to play along with some of their favourite songs.

Watch on iPlayer 

Songs, Stories and Rhymes collection of shows on iPlayer

Even more music on CBeebies

Visit the Music collection for more songs, games and activities to get help your little ones learn about music.