Five Types of Calming Songs to Sing

Story songs, sensory songs, nurturing nursery rhymes, lullabies and laments—these are the five types of calming songs to sing. We need them in our resource bank, or better still, in our memory bank, so that we can offer a balanced program throughout the week, month and year. When we pair these calming songs with the right activities (not just singing), we create moments of peace where children can reset, de-stress, and let their brains relax into the default mode necessary for well-being.

In this post, I’ll add to previous blogs on ‘what to write in your program’ by suggesting five types of calming activities that you can implement in your sessions for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. You might not do all of these activities in one session; however, I suggest you aim to cover all of them in the course of one month.

What Ages are you working with?

As in the previous two posts on program writing, think about the ages of the children in your sessions. All ages need calming songs. Here’s a general guide to age groups, but there are many cultural variations. Please check with your local authorities. You also need to consider disability or developmental delay as a factor in the types of activities you offer. Each child is unique.

1.1. Babies

In an early childhood service, you could find babies/infants from six weeks to thirteen months old.

In your community-based parent/carer and child classes, you could invite the parent/carer to bring the baby as early as they wish, especially as a social support for a new parent. The wide range is 0-13 months.

1.2 Toddlers

Think in terms of the ability to walk unaided or ‘toddle’. Alternatively, 1-3 years old is a rough guide for these typically very active children.

1.3 Preschool and Kindergarten

Imagine talkative, somewhat independent, imaginative children who still need emotional support and possibly help with toileting. In Australia, the age range of 3-5 years is the guide, because children usually go to kindergarten at age four and start school at age five. Check with your region, e.g., your kindergarten year may be for 5-6 year-olds.

2. What Types of Activities Make Up a Program?

Researchers tell us that the two main types of activities in early childhood focus on either lullabies or play songs*.

Lullabies calm and soothe children, while play songs engage and excite. When we sing play-songs, the children are interactive/performing. When we sing or play recordings of lullabies, children tend to be passive/receptive.

2.1 Programming with both types: Calming songs to sing & engaging activities for play

As discussed in other articles, most of my programming is devoted to finding the most suitable play songs from many cultures. These songs and pieces of dance music immediately engage the children, mainly because the children get to do something active!

But now, we turn towards the lesser-known types of songs— lullabies and calming songs to sing. When I design programs for babies and toddlers, I include lullabies. In preschool programming for three and four-year-olds, I rarely use lullabies per se, because a child of this age is often sensitive to being treated like a baby.

However, 3-5-year-olds also need times of calm and rest. For these older children, I sing a story song at the end of each session. It often has a calming or “lulling” effect. It mesmerises the children by blending visual images with storytelling, the shape of the melody, and the driving force of the pulse and rhythmic patterns. But there are a few more types of calming activities you can add to your programming toolbox.

2.2.  Programming with calming songs and lullabies

To help me diversify my programs, I divide the category of calming/soothing songs into these five sub-types:

1. Story songs with books or visual media
2. Sensory songs (often with props or soothing touch)
3. Nursery rhymes with books, picture cards or digital media
4. Lullabies (sung and hummed)
5. Social convention: Wistful goodbye songs

What follows is a short description of each one and its application.

TIP 1.  Sing story songs with books

These quieter activities for the older children allow for focused time. We access rich parcels of language that develop vocabulary and prosody—the rhythm of the vocal patterns in a language. Stories in song form fulfil the growing need for narrative structure as children develop awareness of people, time, events and places and the ways these elements interact to make a good story. For the duration of the song, they are passive but still engaged.

• Gather everyone to sit on the floor at your knees while you show each picture in your story book as you sing the song
• Get everyone comfortable so that they can see the images and hear you singing

TIP 2.  Sing sensory songs with games/props^#

Some sensory songs are intended for entertainment, but others are for soothing, especially with babies and toddlers. Most sensory games are designed to amuse the child and so begin later in life than lullabies, as the child spends more time awake and alert. A parent typically starts playing with their child around four weeks, once they have figured out what makes the baby smile.

A key piece of evidence** is that singing songs to infants keeps them in a neutral or happy state for a longer period than simply talking to them. When it comes to sensory games, we can look for signs of the child initiating the games we have taught them.

• Sing their favourite songs and play the touch, tickle, toy, prop, water, sand, mud, plant, food, light projection, and bubble games they love, over and over, until they let us know it’s time for something new

TIP 3. Sing nursery rhymes with books or other media

Illustrated nursery rhyme books often contain 50 or more rhymes, many of them with well-known tunes. Enjoying nursery thyme books together is a wonderfully calming activity.

• Sit with a child or a group, choosing which rhymes to chant or sing as the child points to their favourite illustrations
• The child learns to turn the pages with care and thus gains respect for books
• You can also show them picture cards or digital images, but make sure to sing live

TIP 4. Sing lullabies with or without patting or rocking

Singing lullabies is universally practised by parents and carers. Lullabies do not always contain the song lyrics we would expect. Any song can be a lullaby if it has the desired effect of calming a child. Some relaxing activities include:

• Swing the child in a hammock or a large piece of fabric (requiring two adults)
• Pat or rock them as they lie in your arms or on a blanket across your lap
• Sing your lullaby as you go about your chores and allow them to settle and soothe themselves in any way they prefer

TIP 5.  Sing social convention songs with gestures

We can achieve soothing transitions by including ‘Goodbye’ songs. This is a kind of lament, feeling sad that your time together is over. Musical Child’s ‘Goodbye’ song is much slower than the ‘Hello’ song, and it has a different key, tempo and rhythm.

• Incorporate a hand wave into your ‘Goodbye’ song, and maybe kiss your fingertips and blow it to your friends who are leaving

# A Note on Senses

• sound — hearing/audition
• touch — tactile/somatosensory
• taste — gustation
• smell — olfaction
• sight — vision
• body position — proprioception
• balance /movement /gravity — vestibular
• internal body states — interoception

3. Conclusion

That’s it — I’ve outlined a range of activities to cover much of the music learning your children gain from activities focused on the much underrated lullabies and relaxing songs.

I hope you have enjoyed exploring ‘Calming songs to sing: 5 tips for writing music programs’.

What’s Next?

In the next post, I’ll write about learning program examples. Meanwhile, to see some written activities and hear some Lullabies and Sensory Songs, you can download a free product sample from our Music for Babies Curriculum Writing Course. Click on the link to get yours:

(It should be free, but if there’s a price, use the coupon code zero4free)

Guide to the Series ZERO Music for Babies 0-13 Months