By entering kindergarten, children start to expand their social circle,developing new ways of communication, empathy, and forming new social interactions. To learn social skills, children need adults, and socializing with peers also significantly influences their social development. Musical activities, such as singing, playing instruments, creating, listening to music and musical didactic games support musical development and social interactions. Through these activities children form contacts, develop empathy, communicate, coordinate, cooperate, and connect with each other (Ilari, 2016) as well as develop a sense of community and friendship(Laird, 2015). The following contribution is part of a larger study aiming to determine the effects of musical activities on social development in the preschool period. The study focuses on whether the children made contact with each other during the musical activities. We were interested in what these interactions were like, which musical activities encouraged children to establish contacts, and whether children made new friendships. The study, taking place from September 2018 to February 2019, was based on quantitative and qualitative methods. A group of nineteen 3- to 4-year-oldsparticipated, but we observed 10 children in detail. Musical activities were carried out once a week for 45 minutes in two research cycles. The results were obtained through the triangulation of data sources from external observers, kindergarten teachers, and the performer of the musical activities. The study results showed that children began to establish social contact with their peers during the musical activities. Non-verbal communication prevailed while verbal communication also increased during the study. External stimuli most often led to the formation of mutual contacts, whereas the musical didactic games were the most encouraging activity leading to mutual connections. The results also showed that some children formed new friendships during musical activities.
Musical activities in the earliest period of life and their effects on social development
Sara Smrekar
