On this unit I learned that what is music play and the important of music play in activities. Danette Littleton states that musical play consists of activities that allow children to explore, improvise, and create with sound. She suggests that functional musical play might include exploring vocal, instrumental, and environmental sounds, as well as the way in which these sounds are made (in the hypothetical example from Mrs. Anderson's class, the hand-drum tone color experiences of Tyler and Josh may be seen as functional musical play.

Why Is Musical Play Important?

In Young Children, Sandra Stone suggests that “play provides the natural and experiential learning that supports the child’s construction of his own knowledge of the world and his place in it. It significantly affects the development of the whole child.”8 It is believed that play can benefit the child In several ways. First, play enhances the cognitive development of the child. If, for example, a child is building a tower of blocks, he or she explores many ways to keep the tower from falling.