The Major Way Your Kid Benefits From Playing An Instrument

Oh, music lessons, I've had my fair share of them. I had a few piano lessons with a private teacher because my pediatrician told my mom that my long fingers were destined to play the grand instrument. I proved that theory wrong.

In grade school all students were forced to learn the recorder, and it was fun but it didn't go anywhere. Then I tried singing and I embarrassingly auditioned to get in my middle school's chorus with no success so I called it quits. So, is it fair to say that all the attempts to get me to break into music were a waste of time? According to a child psychiatrists, even though I wasn't a natural I should have probably stuck with it or at least moved onto another instrument.

A University of Vermont College of Medicine child psychiatry team says that if you could afford to put your kid through music lessons then you should go for it. When a child learns to play an instrument they are also lengthening their attention spans, improving emotional control and lowering anxiety.

Well, this explains my inability to stay on one web page for more than a minute.

This psychiatry team came to this conclusion after administering brain scans on 232 children between the ages 6 to 18. They found that kids who were more musically inclined had brains with enhanced motor control areas.

So, if you notice your kids need some fine tuning in these areas you should probably get them some lessons, but of course that doesn't have to be the only reason to do it.

Who doesn't like the bragging rights you get for having a kid who can play an instrument? Sure, the whole bettering the development of your child is all nice and dandy, but seeing the look on that insufferable mom's face that you hate when she sees your kid shut it down with a beautiful musical performance at the school's talent show would also be pretty cool.

Just make sure you don't turn into a total stage mom about it. It could really be a slippery slope.

Do your kids already play an instrument? Let us know in the comment section below!