Dancing stimulates special nerve endings called vestibular receptors. The vestibular system is centered in the inner ear, and almost any movement will stimulate the brain through these nerve endings. A well-modulated vestibular system is an essential building block for any learning experience. Every time you dance with your child, the vestibular/balance sensors in the ear send messages to the brain about their location—up, down, side, front, back, or center. This vestibular stimulation is essential for the development of good balance, coordination and posture.

The stimulation your child receives while dancing also helps develop muscle tone, space and body awareness, vision, hearing and touch as your child moves smoothly in different positions. Dance helps your child develop a good sense of rhythm, form, timing and flow. Your baby in her arms will learn rhythmic movements and continue to develop an understanding of the steady rhythm, the basic, unchanging, repetitive steady pulse she heard during pregnancy.

When you dance with your baby in your arms, you are recreating the vestibular stimulation that he would have experienced in the womb – swaying and swaying. It helps to calm your child, helps them feel safe, and provides many great opportunities for parent-child communication.