Music has been a big part of my life since I was really young. Growing up, my dad always played albums while my siblings and I sang and danced, banging spoons on pots alongside my dad playing on an actual drum set, jamming to one of his favorite bands. During the day you’d hear modern rock coming from our house- my dad’s music of choice, and in the evening, my mom would play her oldies while she cooked dinner. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of singing karaoke with my sisters while my brother played guitar or keyboard as we acted out scenes and sang songs from Grease 2.
If you follow me on snapchat or tune in to my Instagram stories, you know I’m the singer in the family. Whether in the car or around the house, I’m typically entertaining Narayan with one of his favorite Disney songs. Knowing that talking, reading and singing to your child has a profound impact on early child development and vocabulary, I was constantly singing to him during my pregnancy. From nursery rhymes, to some of my all-time favorite Lisa Loeb and Vanessa Carlton songs or anything 80’s- you name it, I sang it!
Now that he’s two and a half, connecting through music is how we usually spend most evenings before bath time, so I was excited to hear about Spotify teaming up with early childhood development experts from Too Small To Fail and Zero To Three to develop a new Kids and Family section that aims to strengthen the bond between families, while encouraging development and language skills through music. Each playlist within the new section includes a series of quick and easy brain-building activities, which have really come in handy during this stage of Narayan’s toddler development. On a typical evening at home, we set up our “dwums and mawacas” before jamming to our favorite playlist.
Thanks to Spotify for sponsoring this post.
TAGS: health tips, motherhood