“What is more beneficial for a child’s brain development?” is a question that many parents have when deciding on what kind of activities to pick for their kids. Sports tend to be the first choice of a large amount of parents due to its fitness benefits. What is unknown to many is the fact that music lessons have a long lasting positive effect in cognitive development in early childhood.
In many aspects of childhood development sports and music present similar benefits. When comparing the benefits of football to music lessons, writer and education activist John Gerdy points out that “[t]here are several areas—student engagement; development of positive character traits such as self-discipline, teamwork, and personal responsibility; and capacity to bring people together to build community—in which both football and music have similar positive impacts.”
There’s no question that sports have an array of benefits for kids, however art and music classes have a much higher impact in early education, since it stimulates creativity, critical thinking, motor skills and self expression. Gerdy also explains that the financial investment return is much higher in music than football, if taken into consideration the impacts of both activities on education over a long period of time.
Some of benefits of music classes mentioned by Gerdy include: “the capacity to be a lifelong participatory-learning activity (football, for all but a select few, ends after high school); the fact that music is a universal language, its gender inclusiveness; a far lower cost-per-student ratio; the potential it offers as an essential platform for international and interdisciplinary studies; and its effectiveness in strengthening the brain’s neural activity and development.”
On the topic of gender inclusiveness, it’s important to highlight that by providing your child with gender neutral activities/classes, you avoid putting them into little boxes and reinforcing stereotypes. Studies have shown that children who attend gender neutral pre-schools are more likely to succeed.
Another point often brought up by authors has to with what kids learn from the two different kinds of activities and what their end goals entail. For instance, according to Gerdy, “the effectiveness of sports as an educational tool has been steadily diminishing as athletic programs have become more about the end result—winning—and less about the process (learning).” Art and music programs have a less competitive character and a more learning and creative focus instead.
At Hive, we commit to guiding your child through a path of self discovery and expression from birth to tween years. Our comfortable and friendly environment encourages children to express themselves and interact with others through music and movement or through the creative arts. Your child will learn core music skills, start to think like an artist, or grow in confidence on the stage. Classes are offered in Music & Movement, Music Tuition, Drama, Art, Spanish, Private Music Lessons, and more. Enrolment is open year round!