Welcome

Welcome to Music in the Early Years!

At SIOW Music we believe that every child deserves the opportunity to experience the joy, creativity, and lifelong benefits of music from the very earliest stages of life. Our mission is to nurture curiosity, imagination, and emotional well-being by placing high-quality, inclusive, and inspiring musical experiences at the heart of early years education.

We are committed to working in partnership with families, early years settings, and community organisations to ensure that music is accessible, engaging, and meaningful for all children, regardless of background or ability. Through playful exploration, singing, movement, and instrumental discovery, we aim to foster key developmental skills — including communication, social connection, and confidence — while celebrating each child’s unique voice.

By embedding music into everyday learning and play, we hope to lay strong foundations for a lifelong love of the arts, supporting happier, healthier, and more expressive futures for our youngest generation.

For settings working with children aged 3-4, you will find more information here about our CPD sessions and resource boxes. These sessions will inspire you with ways to grow musical skills from songs and provide you with the skills and resources to take immediately back to your setting to get singing with your children.
Our theme resources will support teachers in school to plan for class sessions each week and continuous provision. The resource is set out according to the four 'Aspects of Musical learning and Development’ as set out in MDM, These are: Vocalising and Singing, Moving and Dancing, Hearing and Listening and Exploring and Playing. The resources allow you to plan your own learning journey to best suit the needs of your children.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or require any support.

Early Years Resources

MDM Framework

Imagine Musical Development Matters as a friendly guidebook for early years teachers, kind of like a map for a musical journey with young children.

The Big Idea

The main point of this guide is to show how children's understanding of music grows and changes from the moment they're born until they're about five years old. It breaks down this journey into smaller steps so you can see what to expect at each stage and how to support children's musical development through fun activities.

Four Key Areas

Think of musical development like a house with four rooms. Each room represents a different way children interact with music:

Hearing and Listening: This is like the foundation of the house. It's about how children start by paying attention to sounds and music around them, from the soft lullaby you sing to the birds chirping outside.
Vocalising and Singing: This room is all about using their voices. It starts with babbling and cooing and gradually leads to singing songs and making up their own tunes.
Moving and Dancing: This is where the fun really kicks in! It's about how children respond to music with their bodies, whether it's swaying gently or jumping around with energy.
Exploring and Playing: Think of this as the workshop to spark curiosity and creativity. It's about children experimenting with instruments and other objects to make sounds, exploring different rhythms and melodies, and expressing themselves through music.

Musical Development Matters takes you through each of these rooms, showing how children's skills develop in each area from birth to five.

Practical Tips and Inspiration

The best part is that this guidebook doesn't just tell you what to expect, it also gives you loads of ideas for activities to support children’s musical development at each stage. You'll find suggestions for songs to sing, instruments to play, and movement activities to try, all designed to support children’s musical development in each area.

Why it Matters

Nurturing joy and self-expression: Music brings happiness and helps children express themselves creatively.
Supporting brain development: Music supports language development, coordination, and early maths skills.
Fostering inclusivity: Everyone can participate in music, regardless of their abilities.

So, Musical Development Matters is your toolkit for creating a rich and exciting musical environment in your early years setting. It helps you understand how children learn about music and gives you the confidence to support their musical journey every step of the way.

Explore the website: https://network.youthmusic.org.uk/musical-development-matter