Use of Indigenous Musical Games and Songs in Developing the Total Well Being of the Child

The total well being of the child in the school setting is undoubtedly an important role of the teacher and the rearing environment, including musical rearing environment. The teacher is responsible to design activities geared towards developing the strength, speed and precision in the use of the child’s arms, legs, other bodily muscles, the mind and the heart. The penchant for singing and musical games in the early childhood is an opportunity to optimally develop the capacity of the children using the appropriate musical games and the accompanying songs because children are more fun experimenting with songs they have heard and games they have learnt. This study explores from an intervention perspective the use of musical games as a vehicle for large proportion of the child’s social contact and his/her ways of learning and co-operation with others. The study charts on assisting teachers to use the appropriate musical games to enhance the total development of the child in terms of cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. The implication is that appropriate musical games can be used as an efficient complementary educational approach to facilitate the total well being of the child in the classroom.

Keywords: songs, musical games, Abetifi, cognitive, psychomotor, affective