North Carolina Early Learning and Development Progressions: Birth to Five

Domain: NC Foundations for Early Learning: Cognitive Development (CD)

Subdomain: Creative Expression

Goal: Children demonstrate self-expression and creativity in a variety of forms and contexts, including play, visual arts, music, drama, and dance.

Skill Progression: Music/dance

Age: 21-24 Months

Click here to go to all skills for ages 21-24 Months.

Rocks and sings to dolls

Situations for Observation of Skill

Have a small rocking chair or a low seat for the child to sit on. Have a baby doll and familiar music in the play area.

Elicitation Strategy

The child may not spontaneously include music in the dramatic play, but the adult can suggest it. “Oh, no. The baby is crying. I think she wants you to rock her and sing her to sleep.”

Behavior Observed

See if the child attempts to produce a part of a song with a melody.

Routines-based Intervention (Embedded Instruction)

Children are now creating music, not just listening. Encourage parents to sing children’s songs and learn finger plays as well. Children may not be able to remember them and demonstrate the gestures accurately, but they are learning another form of representation along with music.

 North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 2015

©2015 by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.