Music can help children build confidence. Repetition of songs is a joy for very young children, and they thrive on being able to recognize familiar tunes and patterns. Learning a song and being able to sing independently is a source of pride to a preschooler. Music also gives young children another way to express themselves through activity and sound.
From birth, an infant's caregivers can interact musically with their child and help social interaction. Bouncing and tickling to songs help to build the infant's attention and social awareness. Toddlers and preschoolers benefit socially from musical interactions as well, but the sphere of influence then includes other children and teachers.
Music encourages children to be active. Young children love to dance and move expressively to music. Playing instruments can also aid in development of spatial reasoning, hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. There are percussion instruments for infants to experiment with, but children can be ready to play a melodic instrument as young as age three.
Singing and musical stories can help children with vocabulary and reading skills, understanding lyrics and word play. Exposure to a wide vocabulary through music can help children learn to communicate verbally and make learning to read more fun.