BABY DOLL CIRCLE TIME!
We had so much fun today singing and caregiving with one of our very favorite musical activities--baby doll circle time! We have been singing with baby dolls for a very long time at Joyful Noise, however, in the last three or four years, we have gotten even more specific and intentional with this fun and very wonderful developmental activity due to the awesome research and guidance of one of our favorite psychologists, Dr. Becky Bailey. You might recognize her name as the founder of Conscious Discipline, the discipline and loving guidance model that Joyful Noise uses at school every day! Here's what Dr. Bailey says about baby doll circle time and the young brain:
How does it work? Well, in music class each week, the kiddos enjoy singing and spending one on one time with teachers as they bounce in laps, rock, hold hands, dance and hug! When the children reenact these motions, songs, fingerplays and games with baby dolls, those same areas of the limbic, temporal, and frontal lobes of the brains are lighting up like Christmas, re-living positive experiences and drawing connections. This is such a wonderful thing for cognitive and emotional/social development!
Today, the kids enjoyed taking care of the babies by rocking them, playing with them, singing to them, wrapping them up in "blankie" handkerchiefs and even wiping their faces and putting them to bed. They also enjoyed telling me what they know about babies--what babies need, what they are capable of, and if they remembered being a baby themselves.
It was such a popular activity that the children asked to do it again next week! Though I typically plan ahead for the entire month, I always try to leave some "wiggle room" for extended learning, and I think we will repeat some of our baby doll activities throughout the month!
See the extender questions below to engage your child in even MORE social and emotional learning!
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD:
1) What do you know about babies?
2) Do you remember being a baby?
3) Let me tell you about something funny you did when YOU were a baby!
