ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — There are many benefits to singing to babies, from music development to forming language skills. Music may also have a surprising effect on those spending time with little ones.
Clapping, snapping, and tapping can be a whole lot of fun, but it can also help babies bond with unfamiliar faces. Research psychologists in Canada observed 14-month-old infants as their parents held them in their laps. Then, the researchers either sang a song to the infant or stood quietly as the parent read to them. The researchers then had the kids participate in a series of helping tasks. They found the infants who were sung to helped more, especially if the song was familiar.
This suggests that infants are more likely to form a bond with people if they sing a familiar song to them. So, parents, if you are trying to get your child to bond with grandma, grandpa and all of the friends in between, having them sing a familiar tune can go a long way in building that relationship.
In a previous study, it was found that songs sung by parents had the most powerful effect. Infants were more likely to pay attention to an unfamiliar person if they sang a song that the infant’s parent had sung to them, rather than a song that was sung by someone over video chat or that was coming from a toy.
Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Supervising Producer; Milvionne Chery, News Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Produced by Child Trends News Service in partnership with Ivanhoe Broadcast News and funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Research cited from: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2059204318761622