Play is a natural and important part of human development. What do children learn from play? First they learn to explore and experiment. Experimentation is an important skill that is at the core of development. Humans are often in the process of experimenting. When human are born, they experiment by scanning the world with their eyes. They test out different types of cries and looking patterns as they experiment with caregivers. Infants cry differently depending on their basic needs, whether they want to be held or fed. Babies’ cries also contain complex musical properties (1). It is no wonder that infants have a natural sense of rhythm. Sometimes infants cry as a way to communicate because they simply want to play with others. Play begins early whether we are signing to infants with a playful voice or teasing them with a toy.
Wermke, K., & Mende, W. (2009). Musical elements in human infants’ cries: In the beginning is the melody. Musicae Scientiae, 13(2_suppl), 151–175.
