We Love Songs!

As we reach the end of June, we wrap up the We Love Songs! pilot, a 4-week group program where young children and families in Darebin worked alongside musicians to sing and create their own songs.

We Love Songs! was a short-term pilot project implemented by Your Community Health’s Community Programs team, designed to meet the needs and experiences of culturally diverse families in Darebin. The overall aim was to support children’s language development in the very early years, by providing families with support and opportunities to spark ‘musical’ conversations with their children. The project was inspired by Banyule Community Health’s innovative We Love Stories, and funded by North East Healthy Communities.

Young children and families sang and danced together, sharing stories and songs passed down in their family. Working alongside musicians, families composed their very own songs to help with everyday parenting such as ‘Time to Get Dressed’ and ‘New Foods on Your Plate Today’. By exploring and discovering the secret powers of song, children have opportunities to take part in ‘musical’ conversations which contributes to their learning to understand, use and enjoy language – laying the foundation for learning to read and write – a critical area of children’s development.