Sing-Song: Music Makes Kids Smarter
By Paul A. Paterson
November 1, 2002

Jumbo Musical Box by Neurosmith

In 1993, UC Irvine researchers documented an improvement in spatial and sequential memory and communication skills when subjects received musical training. Neurobiologists suggest the brain centers governing math and music are close together, so stimulating one might stimulate the other.

Students with a music background scored significantly better on the College Entrance Exam tests than those without musical training, according to one study by the CEE Board Service.

Dubbed the Mozart Effect, the findings drove demand for a selection of toys that encourage children to make music. In 2001, consumers spent an estimated $81 million on musical instruments.

Nobody is exactly sure why music enhances brain function. The secret might be in the child-parent interaction, according to Diane Paul-Brown, Director of Clinical Issue in Speech-Language Pathology with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, but she says music's melodic nature may also be related.

"It could be that the music is helping develop prosody of language, the singing quality of speech," she also notes. "What leads to interest is the musical toy leads to an action. They develop the cause and effect. The child pushes a button, it creates a song, and they start to dance."

There is now wide selection of musical toys available for infants and toddlers.
"A majority of our products focus around music and the research that has shown how music helps develop the mind," said Milli Wang Public Relations Specialist for Neurosmith, a company specializing in high-tech, musically enhanced toys. Neurosmith works with an advisory panel of cognitive neuroscientists, psychologists, linguists, music educators, and child development experts to develop their products.

"We work with our academic advisory panel to incorporate the latest research on how children learn into each of our products," she explains.

"Then we test our products with children in our play lab to make sure we've created a compelling play experience for children, because if it isn't fun, they're not going to play with it."

RELATED LINKS:

Industry Overview: Music and Toys
Product Summary:
   Musical CD's, Cassettes, Videos and DVD's for the Younger Set
   Musical Toys Spotlight
   Nothing Like The Real Thing, Baby
What the Experts Say: PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM