The Power of Song in Teaching Children to Memorize Emergency Information

My kids have amazing memories when it comes to remembering song lyrics. Mr. 7 year old picked up many of the Hamilton song lyrics before we even saw the musical on Disney+ by listening to a friend sing, and both boys have impressively learned the elements of the periodic table this way.

So, when I wanted to teach Mr. 4 year old and Mr. 7 year old my cell phone number, I needed a song. I turned to 867-5309/Jenny. It has largely worked! Mr. 7 year old picked it up in a day, and he apparently has already shared my phone number with friends so I can schedule him for future playdates! Ha! Mr. 4 year old is really close to getting it right consistently too.

And then it recently came to my attention that my children don’t yet know how to spell their last name. Whoops! I mean, it is a bit long, but it’s manageable. I went in search of another song and found that the Mickey Mouse song works perfectly. This Preschool Express site has a bunch of song options, depending on what name you’re looking to spell.

As an instructional designer and someone who creates educational products, I’ve long known that learning tricks like this are effective, but it never gets old to see it work in practice.

Photo by Eric Ayon on Unsplash