Music Allows children to individually express themselves

Creating a summer music playlist is a fun way for a child to express their individuality.

According to most children, summer is a time for fun, friends and activities. If you are anything like me, you want to encourage as many “non screen” endeavors as possible.  Music lightens hearts and moods and creates a jovial atmosphere. For one of my summer activities, I bought a karaoke machine to bring our songs to life, in a very funny way.

Music is also a way for children to identify with how they feel about themselves and their world.  I always listened to 70’s soft rock and then would jump to classic rock tunes.  My husband is a solid lover of the 80’s and harder rock.  We ended up with two boys who love country. Honestly, I look at my older son and what he really wants in life, and I think it could be found in a country song; that genre fits him.

I found a way to incorporate music at birthday parties while solving a problem I had. I used  to anguish over birthday parties; I am not an event type of person.  When my boys were young, it was customary to give the kiddos that came to the party a little gift.  Usually this was a goodie bags of sweet treats.  Yeah, I was THAT mom who did not love added sugar.  Don’t get me wrong, we had the amazing cake and ice cream, but I wanted something else as a “giveaway” gift.

I stumbled upon one of the best ideas ever.  It meant a lot to my boys and the party goers truly enjoyed it as well.  Each year, I had the boys tell me 10 of their favorite songs for the year.  I then purchased these songs on one of the platforms.  We created CD’s (yeah, this was awhile ago) and made a really cute CD label like Alec’s Tubular Tenth and gave them out.  The other moms told me their children insisted on playing those CD’s all of the time in the car.  The kids were singing at the top of their lungs and they were…laughing.

My sons loved to create their own “playlist.” They would then look back over the years and see what they were listening to when they were 7 or 14.  It is like a musical diary of their individuality.

Obviously, things are different now.  I love Spotify. If you have this or some kind of music service, each of your children can create their own music playlist. They can even create their own mood music, for example, Alec, my younger son, could have a different playlist for driving, studying, chill and ‘shut out the world.’ That last playlist would be after a hard day at work.

Research has been done on the power of music.

Benefits included:

• expression of personal inner states and feelings
• positive effects of those who engage with music
• physical, social and educational benefits
• positive affects to cognitive and emotional well being
• enhance an individual’s sense of social inclusion
• can be related to better reading skills
• can help adolescents in their context of individuality and emotional well-being
• playing an instrument can help with dexterity
• music therapy has been used for PTSD and traumatic brain injury successfully

The article is only “re-capping” 22 other articles, however they all state very strongly that playing music as well as listening to it has great benefits for all ages.

It is important to note, there is a “dark side”  of music, it can sustain a mood, including a negative one. This was of particular concern with our teens, who are often going through times of great happiness or low levels of depression on what may seem like a daily basis.

I recommend children’s movies soundtracks.  I know that sounds kind of odd, but if the movie is “G” rated usually the songs are too.  I did bump into a bit of a problem with this when I started paying attention to the lyrics in “Big and Chunky” from Madagascar. Fortunately, none of the kids really noticed AND pretty much all of them had seen the movie, so they were thinking of the scene in the movie.

As my children grew older, they had started listening to regular songs on the “radio.”  They would use those as their favorites, but since the radio only has the “clean” versions, so did our birthday CD.

I created a playlist on Spotify titled Songs at Kids Events. I used to be a “vendor”  at many booths and events and have events like rock painting for children.  I wanted to create a playlist that was upbeat and “clean” that many children would know the songs.  The songs are not by the original artists, but by various artists.  They are good enough that as an adult I don’t mind listening to them. As in, no Alvin and the Chipmunks are singing.

Playlist songs:

“Eye of the Tiger” (Big Hero)
“Heartbreak Hotel” (Lilo and Stitch)
“You’re My Best Friend” (The Secret Life of Pets)
“Hound Dog” (Lilo and Stitch)
“I Wan’na Be Like You” (The Jungle Book)
“Accidentally in Love” (Shrek 2)
“Hit Me Up” (Happy Feet)
“The Bare Necessities” (Jungle  Book)
“Funkytown” (Shrek 2)
“Stayin’ Alive” (Madagascar)
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (Chicken Little)
“Bad” (Megamind)
“Car Wash” (Shark Tale)
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (WALL-E)
“I’m a Believer” (Shrek)
“All Star” (Shrek)
“Hit Me with Your Best Shot” (Shrek Forever After)
“Life is a Highway” (Megamind)
“Get Ready for This” (Lego Movie)
“Sweet Home Alabama” (Despicable Me)
‘Happy” (Despicable Me 2)
“In the Summertime” (Despicable Me 2)

We want our children to learn to express their emotions. Social emotional learning is a hot topic, especially in light of where the world finds itself in recent times. It is much easier for a child to choose songs that represent how they feel or choose songs to help them feel something they want to feel, like happiness, light-heartedness, etc than it is to talk about it. Teach your child how to choose, name and save playlists of music to help them express and guide their emotions.

“Never underestimate the power of music.”

~Coco