Rhymes and songs can be comforting and allay fears in child

I was about to start storytelling to a group of kids at Bukit Batok Community library when a boy about 5 years old came in with his grandfather. He was very reluctant to join in but after some 'pushing' by his grandfather,he did come into the storytelling room but he sat a distance away from the group of kids just next to the door (I guessed the door would be his 'escape route' if he deciced to leave).

At this point, I was going through a song with the kids and this song was part of the story I was to tell shortly. I nodded to him, signalling that it is OK. The grandfather left the room. As all the kids repeated the lyrics of the song and its catchy tune, the boy listened attentively but kept his distance.

After a while , I began to tell the story. The story title was "The Singing Chick" by Victoria Stenmanrk. The story tells about a newly hatched chick skipping, dancing and singing through the forest as he felf so happy to see the world for the first time. The earth was so breathtakingly beautiful as the chick admired the captivating blue sky, the yellow sun and the green trees. He came out with a song:
The sky is so blue
The Sun is so yellow
The trees are so green
And I'm a happy fellow
Peepeep, peepeep, peepeep, peep, peep!

While singing and dancing through the forest, the chick bumped into a fox who said "Hello lunch" when he responded to the chick's greetings. He swalowed the chick in one BIG gulp. Then, he felt funny and found himself dancing and singing the song. He did not understand why he felt so happy. But one thing he realised that he can't stop singing and dancing even if he wanted to.

The fox bumped into a wolf who bumped into a bear. Each animal could not stop feeling very happy, dancing and singing until they were swallowed by the bigger animal. So the story goes.

So you see, the song was repeated through the story and the kids sang along. By the time we sang the song for the 3rd time, the boy who was afraid and reluctant came forward and joined the group and even sang along. When the storytelling session ended, he was the last to leave the room.

The incident above illustrated how songs can be very comforting and allay fears in a child. Mothers always sings lullaby to comfort their babies and it ususally works.

Hence, songs and rhymes has their special place in children.