Tiny Dancer: Music and Movement Activity

Get baby's dancing moves off on the right foot (baa-boom-ching).

Submitted by
Kayla Chong

Put on some of your favorite tunes and get baby moving. Even tiny babies enjoy music. Calm music soothes infants while upbeat music makes babies alert and energetic. In other words, listen to Kenny G (or Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow or Celine Dion) at night and save the Pink album for the morning.

Dancer:
Your baby.
Choreographer:
You.
Your favorite music:
Put on some music you enjoy. Save the Barney CDs for the days when your child refuses to listen to anything else.

Pop in your favorite CD.
Settle in somewhere comfortable with your baby.
Tap baby's feet together to the beat. You can narrate what you are doing to familiarize baby with his body parts.
Then wave his arms and clap his hands to the music. (Do try to avoid "raising the roof." Despite what you might think, nobody's really done that for a decade.)
If you got a full three hours of uninterrupted sleep last night (wow!) and you're feeling filled with a surge of extra energy, you can haul your butt up off the couch and sway to the music with baby. This is a great way to sneak in some cardio. Plus your baby will love the soothing motion and may even fall asleep and give you a chance to catch another hour of shut-eye!