Let's Play

Play is fun! But play is also a whole lot more.

Humans have played since earliest times, and philosophers and scholars have thought about it for centuries. More than 2,000 years ago, Plato suggested, “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

Play is essential for learning and human development.

Play:

Sharpens our minds

Helps us grow

Keeps us healthy

Boosts our creativity

When children play, they learn to:

Solve problems

Make decisions

Express themselves and communicate with others

Recognize boundaries

Children who play do better in school and become more successful adults.

When we don’t play, we are:
Less creative and productive
More sedentary, more easily fatigued, more susceptible to obesity
More likely to encounter social problems and emotional stress

Play also helps us understand history and culture. The way we play shows:
Who we are
What we value
How we regard others
Change over time
Future possibilities


Excellent website with information about toys, education and fun; and the information for this post is from:  http://www.museumofplay.org/about_play/index.html

Children need spinach, so we put it in icecream!

As the original music and movement program for children, we understand that children learn best when they can see it, hear it, touch it, and then express it in their own creative ways. Each week in class, Angie Janson, licensed Kindermusik educator leads families through research-proven and giggle-approved activities using music as the vehicle for learning.

You will find your child making new friends and learning to say letters and words confidently in a fun, safe, child-focused environment, that helps you the parent, learn how to teach your child at home. Our daily class routine, the circle dances and instrument play times will help your child learn to work together with others in a group. Our story time will introduce your child to the sounds of letters, rhyming words, musical phrases, fluency, and the love of reading. Our focus on listening will help your child attend or put his or her attention on a sound and imitate it to understand its meaning. Weekly listening practice in class and daily listening practice at home will help your child's attention span to increase, her level of interest to expand, and he or she will be ready to listen and learn everyday at school!

The learning continues throughout the week with the home materials, including a CD, storybooks, Family Activity Guide, instruments, and more. Plus, we provide you with weekly parent education and resources, including developmental emails and in-class tips so that youknow how each activity contributes to your child's overall growth and development.

Contact us to set up a free preview and to learn about our payment plans.
Classes start at $15 per week









Please comment or send a tweet @Angelmusik!

Jump on board at the Imagination Station!

Jump on board at the Imagination Station!
Reprinted from: Studio3Music's Notes.

Young children do not learn as grownups do. In order to comprehend they must pretend. Ever wonder why your child re-enacts recent events when they come home? It is their way of building their memories of what they have experienced. Benefits of pretend play include:

■Vocabulary development
■Social skill development (sharing, turn taking, and conversing)
■Differentiation between reality and fantasy
■Emotional support (by re-enacting episodes that involve disappointment, fear, anger or jealousy, children come to manage and understand those feelings)
■Creativity
■Resiliency (pretend play can offer a release of stress for a child)

Here are some fun ways to foster that pretend play in and out of your home.

■If your child is playing the role of a character, then play along without instructing, questioning or intruding. Let them be the leader and you can have fun on the ride!

■Blanket forts can be an easy way to transform an ordinary kitchen table or a couple of chairs into a castle or pirate ship. Don’t be in a rush to take it down; those can be great learning/teaching moments.

■Friends that are about the same age are a great way to encourage interactive pretend play.

■If your child needs to stay in character, don’t be in a rush to change clothes for the store. My son went to the store often in his Buzz Lightyear costume and people would just smile and nod.

■Imaginary friends are great way for a child to express themselves when they might not be able to do it otherwise. Of course if this gets a bit out of hand, you can always redirect and remind your child that “the friend” is pretend and your child needs to take responsibilities for their own actions.

To help support and encourage their creativity all you need is a few household items. It is easy to supply them with props! For example: save cereal boxes, bags, and cleaned out juice cartons for a “trip” to the grocery store. Use ace bandages, band aids and tongue depressors for Doctor’s office. Paper, crayons, a calculator and some envelopes are all you need to make a home office or school…..add some stuffed animals or dolls to these activities for even more fun! Don’t forget boxes of all sizes, empty paper towel rolls, and blankets can transform a room into a jungle, castle or whatever your child can come up with!

So climb on and enjoy the ride!