ROCK-a-bye: Exploring the Guitar with Baby

Welcome to the "Music Fun for Your Little One" series brought to you by House of Burke and And Next Comes L, where we will be featuring a variety of activities perfect for introducing music to young children.

Kingston is a rocker baby for sure. He was born to have a mohawk! It just works. We were able to start spiking his hair up around 4 months, but now at 8 months old he sports a full on serious mohawk! It's adorable, and he rocks it. He has tons of clothing showcasing skulls, baby aviators, motorcycle boots, a leather jacket .. he is the real deal people! When we started this music series, I couldn't wait to introduce him to the guitar and watch him rock out. He has never seen or played with a guitar, so I couldn't wait to see what his reaction was. 

This morning, sporting his guitar pajamas (sticking with the theme of course!) and a tall red mohawk, he was ready to see what was on the agenda for today. The day before while K was napping, I ducked into a Barnes and Noble (which I don't frequent often .. I'm more of an Amazon girl) and was overwhelmed with the awesome selection of fun board books. We've been over the fact that I have a bit of a children's book obsession before, haven't we? One particular selection caught my eye, and it couldn't have been more perfect.

   

Baby Loves to Rock! by Wednesday Kirwan is an adorable board book about a baby who loves to rock out! He even sports a little bit of a mohawk. This is a great book for both parent and child. Not only are the pages vibrant and showcase funny animals, but the animal puns such as "The weasel likes pop." with a weasel in a Michael Jackson costume, are entertaining for the parent as well! I snatched this right up and bought it home in anticipation for today.

Before I introduced Kingston to any of the guitars, we sat and read this book. He was drawn to the bright colors. The book really kept his focus. He touched each picture as we read.

After we read, I set up a little "Invitation to Rock", an invitation to play with the three baby guitars we have. I set them up largest to smallest (the smallest being a lucky find yesterday in the clearance section of Hobby Lobby, with little strings and everything!) and allowed K to come over and explore at his leisure.

His interest was peaked as soon as he saw me putting new toys out. He crawled right over to see what was going on. (On a side not, MY BIG BOY IS CRAWLING!) 

He picked the largest one up first and started pressing all of the buttons. Now I know that two of the three toys are not actual guitars, but my goal for today was to introduce Kingston to the basic concept and shape of guitar, point out the different parts, and teach him how to strum. I let him explore everything before I jumped in to model how to hold the guitar. 

When he got to the smallest guitar, I let him check it out. Then, I pointed out the strings and showed him how to strum. He was very intrigued by the noise, and was eager to try it out himself. I was so proud of my little rockstar for being able to pick it up quickly. This was such a great exercise for his fine motor skills. He used his thumb at first to pluck away, and then tried his other fingers. 

Earlier, I had made a homemade guitar for him using a loaf pan and some rainbow elastics. (Please use heavy supervision while baby is playing with elastic bands. They are a choking hazard. Kingston was heavily supervised during use!) I really wanted to take the concept of the guitar and blow it up to a larger size. This made it easier for Kingston to practice strumming and really get a good feel for the guitar. 

When he was done playing with the mini guitar, I set this one out. He crawled right over to it and put it in his lap. It was so affirming for me, when he immediately began strumming. I was so amazed at how quickly he had picked it up. These babies are like sponges! The sound the homemade guitar made was so similar to a real one, that I couldn't resist playing it as well. We played the guitar together and sang "Old Mcdonald" and a handful of other songs.

This is my favorite picture of the day. His serious concentration is precious! Not to mention those little hands.

Later in the day, Glam*Ma and Grumpy stopped by and Kingston played some guitar for them. Glammy even gave him a little show while he was eating his dinner. His favorite of all four guitars was the homemade one. I love how easy it is to take a few simple household items and make something fabulous for your baby to enjoy!

Don't forget to join us all week for more "Music Fun for Your Little One" activities! Or check out the other posts in this series: 

Music Themed Sensory Bin (And Next Comes L)

Creating a Musical Environment for Baby (House of Burke)

Piano Quiet Book Page (And Next Comes L)

Instrument Exploration with Baby: Piano (House of Burke)

Giant Chalk Keyboard (And Next Comes L)

Musical Hide and Seek (And Next Comes L) 

Instrument Exploration with Baby: Drums (House of Burke)

Homemade Rainbow Xylophone (And Next Comes L)

Exploring Percussion with Baby and a Musical Sensory Shaker Bottle (House of Burke)

Four Music Games for Toddlers (And Next Comes L)