**Singing is good for both baby and you!**

At Rainbow Songs we hear from lots of parents that they love our classes as much as their children. Parents love the guitar-led classes, the beautiful voices of our teachers and our engaging curriculum. They also express how much fun they have in their music class. Parents say that the also enjoy singing our songs with their children at home.

Singing to you baby is good for you and your child!

These experiences reinforce what we know to be true: music is a great learning tool for your baby, but it also has many benefits for adults!

Here is our Top Five list of benefits of singing for both baby and you:

Benefits of singing for your baby

Teaches listening: Singing helps babies learn how to distinguish sounds and identify repeated words. Infants recognize the melody, rhythm and meter of a song before they understand the words.
An Expression of Love: a parent’s voice is recognized and loved by a child. Singing is a calming, nurturing and bonding experience.
Lots of Learning: Kids’ songs will teach your baby about the world around them -body parts, days of the week, colours, numbers, opposites, language, family, people. As well, music and songs are connected to all many developmental milestones – cognitive (language, math), movement (sign language, actions, tying words to objects), emotional and social (bonding with Mom, Dad, grandparents, siblings, everyone!)
Falling asleep more easily: Your baby loves your voice more than any other sound. Singing lullabies to them is a great way to surround your child with love and comfort. Having a bedtime song as part of your nightly routine is an effective and gentle way to signal to your child that it’s time to sleep.
Cause and Effect: Songs with progression (counting, different words added every verse) help babies to know what is coming next.

It’s so much fun music making together!

Benefits of singing for you

It feels good! Singing releases dopamine (the feel-good hormone), which improves one’s mood and reduces stress levels & anxiety
Improves sleep Singing increases lung capacity and therefore gets oxygen flowing through the body. This helps promote deeper and more restful sleep – especially important for parents of newborns experiencing sleep interruption.
Good for your body: Singing slows down your heart rate, decreases blood pressure and helps you to relax
Tools to get through the day: The days are long but the years are short! Using transition songs to signal the start or end of everyday activities (time to clean up, time for a bath, songs about food) helps ease your child through your routine and makes parenting easier
Bonding with your child: Singing together as a family brings everyone closer. Whether it is siblings, parents, grandparents or other loved ones, making music together is a fun and intimate way to interact.

We hope you continue to enjoy singing with your little one at Rainbow Songs and at home!