Music ignites all areas of child development and skills for school readiness including intellectual, social-emotional , motor, language, and overall literacy. It helps the body and the mind work together. Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words. Music brings joy to the learners and makes the class more exciting. 

Life Skills: Practicing Music builds the skills to Achieve Goals. Music lessons also teach students that you must practice to achieve results. Practice and consistency is an important life skill when learning music because they will see and hear the results of their practice week after week.

Mathematics: Learning music improves math skills because, at some level, all music is math. Performing music, therefore, reinforces parts of the brain used when doing math. Studies even show that children who play instruments are able to complete complex mathematical problems better than peers who do not play instruments.

Language: The most obvious connection between language and music is that music can be used to help us remember words. It has been convincingly shown that words are better recalled when they are learned as a song rather than speech - in particular conditions. Melody is what is important. Rhythm is obviously part of that. 

Music education improves and develops language skills in children. Music stimulates the brain, and with its varied sounds and lyrics, students are exposed to a large amount of vocabulary in a short amount of time.

Play is prominent in various African cultures and the general African context, where we often find elements of play when people engage with music and dance activities. We have three three types of playing in children's culture, namely: tradition, open and original play. Traditional play it is more fixed kind of play where by kids need to follow rules. Open play is a kind of improvisation, although it is ruled, these rules may be changed according to the needs of children while playing.Original play is creative and based on curiosity. Original play is mostly an individual game where the individual amuses themselves with objects, actions and sounds.

The purpose and importance of play with regards to holistic development in the foundation phase

When foundation phase learners get involve  in teaching and learning activities which include principles of play, they are able to develop holistically through engagement in authentic and meaningful activities. Through play, foundation phase learners develop cognitively by developing their problem solving skills and learn about cause and effect while also experiencing cognitive growth.

Elements of play.

1. 1. 1. Play involves a state of mind and disposition: In order to play, one must imagine, be playful, wonder, experiment and explore your physical and emotional surroundings.
      2. Play contains elements of surprise and challenge: To surprise someone or to be surprised contributes to a sense of playfulness.
      3. Play involves a process, attitude, and structure: Play is not chaotic. There are certain rules and regulations which need to be followed to play.
      4. Play is voluntary and unifying, forming part of the socializing process: No one is forced to play along. Out of free will you accept the rules and play along.
      5. Play involves aesthetic quality judgment by participants: How people play is important. Everyone enjoys good playing. Through play, children are taught how to behave appropriately. How do they react when they are eliminated or not chosen?
      6. Play creates informal space for socio-historical comment: Play blurs the lines between young/old; rich/poor; strong/weak.

      7. Play reinforces societal roles: In play, social roles and responsibilities are emphasized.

Musical Play in foundation phase makes class more enjoyable and contribute towards learners to feel the sense of belonging. ​​​​​​​Play facilitates a creative spirit, imagination, and the ability to relate to self and to others. In play children develop a range of performance competencies: musical competencies, dancing, drama and  increasing physical strength. Musical play can be included in a classroom through games, by songs, story telling, dancing and drama. 

Arts Integration is an approach  to teaching  in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form .Students engage in a creative process which connect  an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both. Arts integration has been proven to contribute towards higher motivation levels among learners and supports academic achievement and socialisation among learners.

Ways to integrate art in classroom

1. Use of visual art in the class 
2. Encourage speaking, listening, and vocabulary development skills.
3. Clarify thoughts, ideas, and feelings by drawing and labelling.
4. DRAMA.
5. Encourage role playing.
6. Take turns in the "hot seat" to understand character

Benefits of an integrative approach

• An integrative approach to teaching, for example, connects visualization with reading comprehension, contextualizes math, or brings an experiential context to the science or social studies classroom.
• Focus and concentration can be developed through an appreciation and application of different learning styles, such as linguistic, visual or kinesthetic thinking
• Through the integration of perception into cognition, and expression into reflection, students perform at a significantly higher level.

Play is prominent in different African cultures and the over-all African context, where we frequently discover elements of play when people engage with music and dance activities. There are three types of play in children’s culture, namely tradition, open and original play. It is very important for learners to engage in teaching and learning activities which include principles of play because they are able to develop holistically through engagement in authentic, meaningful activities. Through play, foundation phase learners develop cognitively by developing their problem-solving skills and learn about cause and effect while also experiencing cognitive growth.

Characteristics of musical play

• Play is personally motivated
• Play is active
• Play is often nonliteral
• Play has no extrinsic goals
• Players supply meaning to the play
• Play has no extrinsic rules

Play in the classroom has several important contributions:

• A sense of belonging and cohesion are enforced
• Group and individual discipline are created in a “friendly” playful environment
• Group and individual discipline are created in a “friendly” playful environment
• Musical play gives the child the opportunity to undergo an imaginative transformation
• Play provides an emotional outlet within the sense of communal belonging.

Seven elements of play

1. Play involves a state of mind and disposition
2. Play contains elements of surprise and challenge
3. Play involves a process, attitude, and structure
4. Play is voluntary and unifying, forming part of the socialising process
5. Play involves aesthetic quality judgement by participants
6. Play creates informal space for socio-historical comment
7. Play reinforces societal roles

Learning and Playing music emphasis:

Passion music inspires children to express themselves more undoubtedly by allowing them to link with their feelings.

Determination being able to perfect a tricky piece of music gives learners a sense of achievement and encourages them to take more difficult tests.

Increased coordination playing and dancing to music helps children develop their motor skills.

Social skills making music with others assists children develop social and emotional abilities.