No other activity, from chess to science training, provides such an IQ boost as music. This explains why children who learn music gain consistently higher school grades than children who don't, in every single academic subject.
9. Play the "Conductor Says" game
A game suitable for a preschoolers' or school-aged children's party, this musical learning game takes some inspiration from the ever-popular "Simon Says".
But it is not as simple as replacing the name "Simon" with the word "Conductor". The music educational element comes from the tasks that the Conductor will say. "Conductor says the beat 1, 2, 3, 4" means that everybody needs to start walking on the spot to the beat that was counted – and keep walking. The conductor can then give additional tasks, such as "Conductor says: Copy this" followed by a clap or a hum or a singsong.
A good additional task is "Conductor says: Quavers" after which everybody needs to jog on the spot twice as fast as they were walking to the beat – after all, in a standard 4/4 or 3/4 time, there are two quavers in each crotchet beat. The conductor may also change the time signature to 3/4, or count it again, changing the tempo to faster or slower.
As with the game "Simon says", you can up the difficulty level of the game by adding commands that do not begin with "Conductor says" and that thus are not meant to be followed!
10. Remember that your child is born musical
There is this prevailing myth that only some of us have musical talent. But this belief has been completely disproven by science. Over the past six years, when scientists have measured the reactions of newborn babies' brains to music with new brain imaging technology, it has been established that they are born with the ability for full musicality: understanding beats, rhythms, intervals, modes and whether a piece of music is in tune or out of tune.
We are all born musical, and the reason why so many older children and adults say they "don't have rhythm" or "cannot hold a tune to save their lives" is simply because they have not had enough practice. Another common reason is lack of confidence. Music is something so deeply personal to all of us that even one negative comment about one's singing voice or rhythmic ability can make a child "close off" from music making due to the humiliation. It has been found that this phenomenon, known as "musical restriction", impacts negatively upon people's lives even in their adulthood, as they cannot even join in to sing a birthday song or Christmas carol.
The best thing parents can do to prevent their children from musical restriction is simply to encourage the children to make music – even at the strange times that they may sometimes feel like singing, such as at the shops. A little singalong never hurt anyone, and a child's singing voice should put a bigger smile on anyone's face than any of those shopping centre jingles. If a child needs to be quiet, such as during night time or at the church, by all means tell them to keep quiet, but don't make the mistake of referring to their singing as "squalling" or "noise" which the child may take the wrong way.
Liisa Henriksson-Macaulay is the founder of the early music education programme Moosicology and author of bestselling parenting title The Music Miracle: The Scientific Secret to Unlocking Your Child's Full Potential available from Amazon.
For more information on how you can help your child thrive through music training, please go to Moosicology.