 Music can have endless benefits in everyday home life and in therapy! How can you incorporate more music into your daily life? Many articles support that singing and songs help with social, emotional, and cognitive development in children. This can also increase bonding within families and improve the parent-child connection. So let’s start with how to incorporate music into your child’s life. Walking on a Treadmill Some children may have difficulty coordinating steps while walking on the treadmill. The rhythm in music can help coordinate stepping so the child feels like they are walking down the hall or sidewalk instead of on a stationary treadmill. Spotify has a really unique option that you can sort your playlist by BPM (beats per minute) so you can decide how fast you want your child’s steps to be! Simply search “Sort my Playlist” and click the playlist you’d like to sort. You can pick all your kiddos favorite songs and make walking therapeutic and fun! http://sortyourmusic.playlistmachinery.com/  Calming Music is often used in the hospital intensive units for its calming effect it has on the children. It has been shown to reduce crying behaviors in infants and toddlers and improve concentration. In the home, try using music during nap times or other quiet times of the day. Not sure what music is right? Type into Google or your music app “calming music” and it’s that simple! Breaks If you feel like you need something to break up your daily tasks, try music! Dance breaks can be incorporated in the home to give kids a fun mental break and redirect emotions. You can also use music as a timer, “When the music stops, we are going to do our next activity!”  Singing When children are developing speech and language skills, singing songs can encourage this development! Music can be a great way to engage kids in tasks and promote more language. Dancing Dancing can be incorporated for rhythmic movement. Play the game red light, green light while dancing to improve your child’s attention. Try teaching dance routines to help them work on sequencing and memory, think about simple ones like “I’m a Little Teapot”. Freeze dance can also be a fun way to test kids’ balance! Music is a great engaging tool to use in both therapy and at home! These activities can help your child’s development in a fun and functional way. Have you tried other ways to use music in therapy or in everyday life? Comment below to share with us!  Blog written by: Erin Lemberger, Physical Therapy Student
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