Kindness and empathy is a major theme in my life. I express it to the children I teach, to my own kids at home, or to perfect strangers! It sometimes feels like I refrence kindness to my 2 and 4 year old 100 times a day!

"Be Kind!" "Don't forget about Kindness" "How do you think that makes her feel?" 

It can sometimes feel like I am talking to wall or that the only one who is hearing me is Mickey Mouse.

But this is a huge concept...Way bigger than washing hands after using the potty. 

Kind: "of a good or benevolent nature or disposition, as a person"

Empathy: "the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another"

The psychological identification with feelings, thoughts or attitudes of another... That's quite a lot to ask of a 4 year old, much less a 2 year old. So why do we even bother? Recent studies show that the more empathy a child displays, the less likely they are to engage in bullying, online and in real life. Empathic children and adolescents are more likely to engage in positive social behaviors, like sharing and helping others. They’re also less likely to be antisocial and exhibit uncontrolled aggressive behaviors. As a music therapist I am blessed to be the cool teacher! The one who comes into the classroom where kids are chanting her name. I feel like a rockstar most of the day! Music is fun. It's full of energy and life- and kids LOVE MUSIC. Therefore, kids love me. (Yay! Life is good!) A wise man once said "With great power comes great responsibility". I truly feel it is my responsibility to use music to help children with social/emotional concepts like kindness and empathy. 

This week I introduced a new song called "You get what you give" to preschool classes at Care-A-Lot Childcare. In one of the many conversations on kindness with my daughter and her cousin I explained "If you give a lot of kindness, you get a lot of kindness. If you give a lot of love, you get a lot of love". We chanted this rhythmically over and over again until a song was born. After I taught this concept in preschool I passed out instruments for the next activity. One kiddo accepted his instrument but looked very clearly upset. When I asked him what was bothering him he said "I really wanted the yellow sticks". I shook my head and acknowledged this as I watched the little girl next to him who was holding yellow sticks. The wheels started turning. She looked at his face. She looked at her sticks. She looked at his face again....and BAM! She reached out and gave him her sticks with a huge smile on her face. He looked at her stunned and smiled! This was a great moment. I told her how kind that was, and asked her how she felt. She said "happy" and seemed to be shaking with pure joy. If you give a lot of love, you get a lot of love. If you give a lot of kindness you get a lot of kindness. Giving love makes your heart feel happy. The great thing about that experience was the domino effect. Kids began turning to one another and seeing if they wanted the color they had. They wanted to feel that joy of giving kindness and love. Once again music taught something bigger and was applied to every day life. Below is an excerpt from the chorus of "You get what you give". Enjoy!

"You get what you give in this world. You get what you give to each other. You get what you give in this world. So, give a lot of love, and give a lot of kindness. It will come right back to you"

-Megan Coltoniak