You may know the song Happy Birthday very well. But do you know about its writer? It was written by an American girl. And she became very rich after that.

When she was a child, she was poor. Once, she was invited to her friend’s birthday party. She was pleased but sad because she didn’t have enough money to buy a gift for her. “The party is coming soon, but now I have little money.” Tears ran down her face.

Later that night she was in bed, thinking about the gift when the door opened and her grandma came in. “What happened?” her grandma asked. Hearing the girl’s story, she said. “Don’t worry. I think I can help you. How about singing a song together? Happy birthday to…” What a beautiful song! They sang and sang. Suddenly she woke up. It was a dream! She decided to write it down at once and sing it to her friends at the party.

When she sang the song at the party the next day, her friends were very happy. “How wonderfully you sing! I haven’t heard such a beautiful song before. Thank you for giving me the special gift,” said her friend. And they learned to sing it together. Later the girl became well-known in America.

Why is music so important to children? Here are some of my thoughts on the subject.

Music has a positive (积极的) effect on young children's development!

New research shows that music has a good influence on young children's cognitive (认知的) skills, such as spatial reasoning (空间推理) and memory. Research also shows that offering children an interesting environment can support children’s healthy growth and development.

Young children enjoy making music with others! Making music with others gives children a wonderful feeling of belonging to the group. Children might have difficulty joining in activities with others because they are shy, have limited language ability or special needs, but they can freely take part in a music activity.

Music makes young children happy!

Children seem to experience much pleasure and joy when listening to music, making music and dancing to music. Whether they are singing along to a cD, playing an instrument or dancing to music around the classroom, most children seem to thoroughly (彻底地) enjoy participating in a music activity. How wonderful it is to offer children the chance to do some activities about music!