Helping your kids to develop their sense of steady beat early on can help lay a great foundation for all of their musical experiences, especially with the element of rhythm. You may often hear people say, “Oh, that song has a good beat to it,” or “I like the beat of that song.” What they actually mean is that they like the rhythmic patterns of that piece of music.

Steady Beat and Rhythm – What’s the Difference?

You can think of the steady beat as the pulse of music. While the beat can be slow or fast, depending on the music’s tempo (speed), the occurrence of each beat is steady. Rhythm, on the other hand, can be described as the varying durations of each sound (i.e. long or short). While labeling the words steady beat and rhythm is helpful to kids later on, it is more important for younger children to experience these elements in varied ways.

Here are some easy and fun ways to help your child experience steady beat!

1. Help them feel the beat. As you’re listening to a piece of music or singing to your child, you can tap the beat lightly on their tiny little knee or shoulder, or even help them clap their little hands.
2. Play an instrument. So you helped your kid make a homemade drum or shaker, or perhaps you got them a little instrument pack, complete with that noisy tambourine and all! Now what? Turn on some music or sing a song, and play the steady beat on an instrument with your child. Some kids are content with just tapping on a drum the whole time, while others like some variation. Rhythm sticks (or two pencils, two markers, two straws, etc.) may not seem exciting at first, but there actually many different ways to play them with steady beat (like tap, scrape, or drum). You can start by modeling to your kids the different ways to show the beat, but once they’re masters at it, have them take the lead!
3. Move! Movement is not only a powerful tool, but an essential one when it comes to helping children develop different aspects of their musicality. There are SO MANY easy ways to incorporate meaningful movement when helping kids develop their sense of beat. Kids can pat on their knees or hop around the room to the beat. And similar to playing an instrument, you can have your kids switch up the movements as the piece of music is playing. I’ll be sharing a fun game that I like to play with my daughter in a future post!
4. Use visuals. This can be as simple as drawing a row of hearts on a piece of paper and having your child tap each picture along with the beat of the music. To add another tactile dimension, they could also tap objects (like blocks, stuffed animals, or plastic cups) that are placed in a row. Make sure to use this type of activity with shorter songs or excerpts of longer pieces, that way, your child won’t get bored 🙂

Here is a song I wrote that I hope you and your kids will enjoy as you experience steady beat together! You can try any of the activities mentioned above with this song. If you do, feel free to let me know or tag me on Instagram! That would make my day!

Walking 'round the block,
Round just like a clock.
Do you see the little old tree,
Waving his branches merrily?
"Hello, little one,
Hello, hello!"

Hopping 'round the block,
Round just like a clock.
Do you hear the chirping birds,
Sweetest song you ever heard?
"Hello, little one,
Hello, hello!"

Marching 'round the block,
Round just like a clock.
Do you feel the warm sunshine,
Brightest light you'll ever find?
"Helo, little one,
Hello, hello!"

Crayons and Melodies © 2020

Happy music-making and crafting!

– Hannah