Mixed-Age Music Classes
for Babies, Toddlers & Preschoolers

One Class, Every Stage from Birth Through Five​

 

For 45 minutes each week, the room fills with music—and families making it together.

Music Together® Mixed-Age classes bring babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and the grownups who love them® together in one joyful class that is full of kid-fun and musically interesting enough for you to genuinely enjoy, too.

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There’s a lot happening while you’re stomping like elephants and rocking out with egg shakers. Children and grownups are listening, moving, watching, singing, experimenting with sound, connecting with other people, and taking it all in through their whole bodies. That’s a workout for both brain and body.

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Why Does Music Together Mix Ages?​

 

Parents are sometimes surprised to see that Music Together doesn’t separate one-year-olds from four-year-olds. After all, the children are in very different stages—worlds apart, developmentally!

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Some parents of three- and four-year-old children, in particular, wonder whether their child is too old to be in a group with babies and toddlers. Will the activities be too basic for them? Will they regress?

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Beyond the convenience of bringing siblings to the same class, there are compelling educational reasons. Children benefit from observing many different models of musical expression, and a mixed-age setting creates opportunities for social-emotional learning that simply don’t happen in the same way when everyone is the same age.

Music Together pioneered the mixed-age early childhood music class more than 40 years ago, drawing on a family-style model of learning that educators have long recognized as valuable for young children.

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Babies​

 

We all see the babies in our classes rock, kick, and stare wide-eyed. We celebrate the moment when we hear a baby respond to the music by cooing on the resting tone of a song we are singing.

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While their parent or caregiver is their favorite model, babies are also mesmerized by the toddlers moving around and making sounds, showing them how to bop up and down and crawl. And watching the toddlers get their own egg shakers is very inspiring!

 

Toddlers​

 

Toddlers discover, experiment, imitate, and explore the space. They just learned to climb and run, so sitting still is not for them. They watch while they wander, and often that wandering becomes related to the beat of the tune, or they decide to tap it out on the wall.

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They proudly sing bits and pieces of songs, usually the ends of phrases, and fingerplays are fascinating to them.

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The preschoolers in the room also capture their interest—they can do so many things, and they sure know a lot of words! When the preschoolers decide to show off their skills, whether it’s a well-timed lip buzz or leading a pack of toddler horses galloping around in a ring, the toddlers are won over and want to try whatever the older children are doing. And the preschoolers love all that admiration!

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Preschoolers

 

​Some of the things our bigger kids like to do are rolling the drums up to the table after the drum song, turning out the lights, and helping the teacher with anything and everything.

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Preschoolers exercise their creativity by suggesting lyrics, sounds, and movements. As they take on leadership roles, sing full songs, dance for the babies, and share their ideas, their self-confidence blossoms.

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Being in class with babies and toddlers also gives preschoolers opportunities to develop empathy and awareness of others. They learn to touch babies gently and to be patient while toddlers put their own instruments away. If a baby or toddler cries, they are concerned and want to know why.

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Sometimes being around babies gives an older child an opportunity to revisit what it is like to be a baby. They may want extra cuddles or ask to be carried like a baby. Revisiting the feel of being younger is a healthy part of development, and a mixed-age class is a natural place for it.

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Different Ages, Stages, and Ways of Learning​

 

Children have different developmental timelines. In a mixed-age class, they are free to respond and participate in their own way and on their own time. That freedom also makes the environment naturally inclusive for children with developmental differences. Same-age settings can sometimes invite unhelpful comparisons, while a mixed-age, mixed-stage environment makes differences expected.

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It’s a little like a multigenerational extended family: everyone has a different role, everyone contributes something, and everyone is valued for who they are.

That mix creates a safe, lively space where children can learn from one another, build confidence and empathy, and feel the freedom to be themselves. Music becomes a shared adventure that brings people closer—opening doors to laughter, learning, friendship, and lasting memories.

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