Rhythm guides your lives. From the steady rhythm of the heart pulsing life-giving blood, to the breathing in and out of oxygen necessary for survival to the simple left-right-left-right marching pace as you walk along your path, rhythm governs each second that tick, tick, ticks away.

It is no wonder that rhythm has been proven to affect the human body in a variety of physiological, psychological, and emotional ways from infancy to adulthood:

1. Infants find rhythms and song comforting, often internalizing the rhythms of familiar nursery rhymes. Mimicking rhythm through movement and vocalization increase language development, even at this young age. [5]
2. The ideal window for learning rhythm and music in a child occurs up to six years of age, when the child learns the bulk of the rhythm and movement skills she will have for the rest of her life.[4]
3. Use of rhythmic drumming therapy with low income students reduces stress, improves mood, and improves social-emotional skills across diverse cultures.[1]
4. Dealing with rhythms, identifying patterns, and practicing musical instruments use both sides of the brain, resulting in a “total brain workout” which improves performance in both the arts and the sciences. [6]

Get started with rhythm here, and then increase the use of rhythm in your home or classroom with the following fun music activities:

Rhyme Time

Add rhyming to your life, whether it’s reading some Dr. Seuss to your children, listening to urban rhyme on the radio, or attending a poetry jam at the local coffee shop. Sing along with the radio and enjoy coming up with silly rhyming games with your kids on long car trips.

You can work on language and reading skills and have fun, too! Stumped on what rhymes with purple or yesterday? Check out iRhyme for the iPhone, a songwriter’s dictionary that can find a rhyming word for almost any word! The websites Rhyme Zone and Rhymer.com are great online alternatives.

Virtual Drumming Fun

Don’t have room for a drum set or want to practice some rhythms on the road? Then check out some of these virtual drumming websites which offer a fun way to practice your rhythm even if you don’t own a drumstick!
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