Providing a prop for every child is an effective way to stimulate rhythm and tonal babble. Inexpensive or homemade props give each child the opportunity to “practice” music in context. Children willingly participate with individual props, “practicing” singing along or chanting along, delivering the resting tone, macro and micro beats, or whatever they might otherwise not be ready to deliver in one-on-one response. When lost in the music and in their prop, most young children, even those younger than two years old, will attempt to chant in your chosen meter, sing in your chosen tonality, or sing the resting tone with an effective “musical instrument” in hand.

This opportunity to “practice” provides for greater immersion and stimulates rhythm and tonal babble. It further prepares each child for one-on-one response, while creating an opportunity for you to hear how and what they are “practicing.” Those who won’t yet babble audibly are babbling in audiation if the musical narrative dominates the activity. Children develop comfort by “practicing” music as a group, each engaged with his own “instrument.” Moving from such comfort to one-on-one musical interaction with the teacher assures far more willing one-on-on interaction than a direct attempt to elicit individual response.