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Music and Movement in the Early Years

Music and movement offer many rich learning opportunities across the Early Years Foundation Stage and play a vital role in children’s early development. Learning and playing through music and movement supports children’s physical, emotional and cognitive development and provides fun ways for children to interact with one another. For the children in my reception class, planning activities that included music and movement has been largely beneficial for children’s creativity, communication, and coordination.

Primary school students exploring real-world science with hands-on activities

Musical Development

Music captures the attention of young children and provides great entertainment for many. The children in my class, particularly those with SEND, enjoy expressing themselves through singing while clapping and moving along to the rhythm. In my class, learning songs and moving to music during continuous provision has had an impact on children’s fine and gross motor development and has strengthened their memory. Singing songs with repetitive lyrics such as nursery rhymes and familiar pop songs has allowed my EAL children to communicate with their friends in different languages. Our parents and carers have commented on how impactful this has been for their children’s confidence and language skills.

Below are some ways to use music in an Early Years setting to support children’s development:

Singing

Learning new and familiar songs can be a great way of encouraging non-verbal (Selective Mutism) or EAL children to communicate. Tidy-up time songs, welcome songs and singing the register can be useful ways of implementing songs each day. Singing can also be introduced across the curriculum in Maths, Literacy and Phonics.

Body Percussion

Children can explore different sounds their bodies can make, for example, clapping, stomping, jumping, clicking and snapping. This is a great way for children to recognise and stay within a beat or rhythm.

Instrument Play

Investing in a range of musical instruments for the environment can allow children to explore sounds in an open-ended way – drums, shakers, xylophones and hand triangles.

Listening Activities

Dedicated listening times to expose children to a range of different genres help children to appreciate the many different sounds in our world. Children can discuss how the different genres make them feel – fast and slow music (happy and sad). We have used this activity in our Speech and Language interventions to encourage children who are reluctant to express themselves.

Storytelling

Using a combination of music and storytelling can support children’s imaginative play and allow them to use newly introduced vocabulary.

Performance spaces

Introducing an area for children to perform can build confidence in talking with others. We have a stage area in our outdoor provision to allow children to story tell, sing and dance in front of their peers.

Tempo and Melody

Listening to different music helps children’s emotional expression and provides a space for them to explore their feelings in a safe and supportive environment. This might be through the mood of a melody which can calm children, allowing them to self-regulate and develop a positive sense of well-being.

Movement Development

Dancing, marching, hopping, and stretching to music improves coordination, balance, and spatial awareness for young children. Providing children with opportunities to move helps them to gain control over their bodies providing readiness for other skills such as handwriting and self-care.

Structured activities, such as following instructions in a dance routine, develop gross motor skills and support children’s ability to concentrate. Props such as scarves, ribbons, and instruments can be introduced into the environment to enhance children’s imaginative play and support sensory needs.

Below are some ways to use movement in an Early Years setting to support children’s development:

Balancing

Supports children’s coordination and overall strength. Balancing beams using wooden construction planks, yoga, hopscotch, Twister and throwing and catching.

Locomotor Games

Providing opportunities for children to use space to run, hop, skip and gallop can support their coordination and spatial awareness. Also, creating obstacle courses and races are great open-ended activities for the outdoors.

Dance

Exploring different dance styles encourages children to move in a range of ways – Bhangra, Bollywood, contemporary dance and street dance. I use a large hand-made dice displaying different movements for children to select which style to practise.

Daily Routines

Finding safe ways of travelling through the indoor and outdoor spaces can allow children to use movement and develop their gross motor skills regularly.

Music and movement across other areas of the EYFS Curriculum:

Area of Development:	Skills:
Communication and Language	Singing and rhyming games promote talk and early Literacy skills.
Communication and Language	Counting songs and rhyming patterns - clapping in time to music and movement.
Communication and Language	Exploring music from different cultures to support children’s understanding of diversity in our world.
Communication and Language	Promotes creativity, imagination and expression through sound.