Every sensory activity we do in Kindermusik classes has been carefully put together to help develop your whole child. To demonstrate our focus on sensory activities (and to give you a free song!) I thought I would examine one activity – Head and Shoulders – to show you just how much your child can gain from the Kindermusik approach!

Click here to download the track and have a listen!

Sensory activity – learning body parts

You may recognise this song as a variation on the childhood classic, Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes so as you sing, move your hands to the appropriate area of your body. The most obvious benefit to doing the actions with this song is for your child to learn their own body parts. This works by giving your child a multi-sensory opportunity to:

  • hear the words for the body part which in turn will increase their vocabulary
  • watch other people touch their body parts (you!)
  • mimic and touch their own body parts – this moving, touching and doing—sometimes called TPR (Total Physical Response) – boosts learning and development.

Sensory activities are most successful with repetition, repetition, repetition!

Learning domain MusicThe best thing you can then do for your child is to repeat this sensory activity over and over again! However, you may have to pause the recording and sing the song slowly on your own initially for your little one to watch and coordinate their own movements in time.

If you’re feeling a little self-conscious about your own singing then don’t be! To your child, your voice is the best thing there is – really – and singing together is a great way to connect! By repeating this song over and over again, your child will start to do the following for themselves too: 

  • say and label body parts
  • sing the song for themselves
  • gain self confidence as they bond with you and recognise self-improvement
  • become more coordinated with their physical (gross-motor) actions. If your child uses both hands to touch their body parts, they will be using both sides of their brain equally too!

Predicting what comes next

Learning domain movementThrough repetition, your child will also develop their sequencing skills as they begin to predict which actions come next. To embellish the sensory activity you could try singing the song without the track and leave out some words for your child to fill in – can they remember what is missing? Older children may like to create their own verses with slightly more detailed body parts – ‘Lips and teeth, lips and teeth children one, two three!”

Every time you repeat, you could add an extra dimension to the song. Perhaps you could discuss what their body parts can do? Why do we have knees? What do we use our ears for?

Of course, as the track suggests, you can also vary the song musically too. Why not sing it faster or slower, louder or quieter or find an instrument and tap the body parts as you sing? So many possibilities!

Learning numbers

Learning domain Math logicFinally, this song has an added bonus of including the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Whilst most children will not develop one-to-one correspondence (linking a number with an object) until they are at preschool, hearing numbers and maybe adding an extra action related to the body part whilst you sing 1, 2, 3 such as jumping feet, clapping hands or smacking lips will help to develop this correspondence. Hearing numbers in the correct sequence and learning by rote provides a good mathematical start! 

Unlock your child’s potential with sensory activities

So, from one simple song activity, you can hopefully see how your child can learn so much without even realising it. Every Kindermusik class is packed full of activities such as this to help you unlock your child’s potential so why not book your introductory class today and discover more!