It may sound easy, you open your mouth and let sounds and words come out, but children aren't magically born with this ability. Babies start to imitate sounds and match pitches at around three months old, which is so intelligent! By 12 months old, they can sing short phrases; by 15 months old, they can imitate the melodies you sing!
Your toddler will start to sing small parts of songs they hear around age two and a half, and by age 5 and 6, you can listen to your little bundle of joy carry a tune!
Sing-along books encourage singing through songs and nursery rhymes (you can even do that with these free ones).
Let’s explore the wonderful world of singing along as a family! Take a closer look at what makes singing especially useful for toddlers, and find the best singalong books for you to enjoy together.
Why is Singing Along Useful for Toddlers?
Singing along to your favorite songs may seem like simple fun, but it is also vital for your toddler's development. With the help of playful singalong sessions, they will:
- Develop attention span: singing takes focus, which helps develop attention spans. Even adults discover that singing along increases their attention spans and helps reduce anxiety. Calm kids are happy kids!
- Develop language skills: singing allows time to imitate and practice new words. The constant feedback loop between hearing a word and singing it along deepens language skills at an early age.
- Boost self-confidence: your toddler can tell when they're doing a great job singing along for their parents and grandparents, which makes their confidence shine as bright as that twinkling little star.
Additionally, it lets you spend more quality time with your kids. Singing along together is fun, meaningful, and a great bonding activity for kids of all ages!
What is the Easiest Song to Sing for Kids?
If you like to belt out some tunes in the car, you'll probably have your littles ones imitating the sounds, but big compound words aren't the easiest for a kid to come to grips with and may cause them to miss out on those developmental opportunities.
The alphabet song is my favorite singalong song that gives you the best of entertainment and education. It's a classic for a reason!
Our Sing the Alphabet book is packed to the brim with easy first words coupled with a well-known tune. The ideal introduction to your ABCs.
Nursery rhymes are also a fantastic choice because they're easy enough for a child to sing along to while also letting you pass on some beloved childhood memories to the next generation (and beyond).
What are the Best Sing Along Books for Toddlers?
Are you on the lookout for books you can enjoy singing along with as a family? We've created a singalong bundle that combines new songs and classic nursery rhymes. The perfect starter pack to get your children to start singing and engaging with books in a meaningful way.
This bundle includes favorite books such as:
- Sing the Alphabet: my previously mentioned favorite singalong book had to be part of this collection.
- Love Nursery Rhymes: so much of raising children is all about love. This collection combines six nursery rhymes to celebrate the magic of love.
- Dinosaur Alphabet: perfect for little learners, this sound book makes exploring letters a blast. Watch babies listen in awe and toddlers belt out tunes. A must-have for sparking early language skills and joy in every flip.
- Colors: this interactive sound book brings colors to life with six catchy sing-along songs. From vibrant red to pretty pink, every page turn is a fun new discovery.
- Shapes: this engaging sound book introduces babies and toddlers to the joy of shapes. Bright illustrations make learning about circles, hearts, triangles, and rectangles a vibrant adventure.
- Count: with this sound book your child will dive into numbers in the most entertaining way. Perfect for fun-filled learning, it's another must-have for young explorers.
And plenty of engaging illustrations, musical fun, and lyrics to enhance your toddler's language, comprehension, and motor skills. Picture books are a fantastic way to connect visual understanding with verbal skills. These musical books are just the ticket for valuable toddler singalong time.
When your child presses the sound button found on every page, 15 seconds of charming music will ring out with simple enough lyrics for families to sing together.
What Else Can You Sing Along To?
Admittedly, I sing along with the sound the washing machine makes to let me know it's done. This type of echolalia is often also seen in kids coming to terms with learning to talk!
You can sing along to just about anything with your children, whether it's a movie soundtrack or a radio hit. Don't expect to be able to get your kiddo rapping along with Lafayette's rap battle from Hamilton anytime soon, though.
Singing along with complex lyrics may still be too challenging for your toddler until they reach double digits. That's completely normal! Sticking to having singalong time focused around more accessible songs helps build that all-important confidence. You have to learn to walk before you can run, right?
Let's Get Singing
Now that we are ready to get singing with our little one, how do you actually do it? Remember that your child doesn't care if you sound like Adele or not - they just want to have fun with you! So, here is 5 steps to turn your living room into a tiny concert hall:
- Keep it simple! Start with songs that repeat like a broken record. "The Wheels on the Bus" might be driving you crazy already, but your little one will be all smiles.
- Go wild with those facial expressions! The sillier you look, the more your toddler will giggle and want to join in.
- Encourage participation! If your kiddo is making any noise that vaguely resembles singing, you're winning!
- Slow and steady wins the race. If you notice your little one struggling to keep up, slow it down. There's no rush – you've got approximately 5,000 more renditions of "Baby Shark" in your future.
- Add some moves to your tunes. Believe us, nothing beats the sight of your toddler trying to dance to their favorite song.
Summary
To summarize, sound books and dedicated sing-along time are great ways to engage your kids with books and music while boosting their language and attention skills!
I'm off to spend quality time with some books and my family now. Happy singing along to you and your little ones!