Playing calming music for children experiencing stress or anxiety can have many calming benefits. Here's what the experts say about it, and some soothing tunes to try.
If you're raising an anxious kid, you're going to be aware of the subtle ways your child expresses anxiety, and stressors they find triggering. Sometimes, it's more difficult to see - you might be concerned about your children's mental health because you have a feeling something is wrong, but they aren't opening up to you. If you believe your child is anxious or stressed, listening to music can be a great way to calm them down.
We spoke to our resident expert and child development expert, Dr Amanda Gummer about her opinion on using music as a calming influence. She tells us "Music has a unique ability to influence our emotions and it’s no different for children. Listening to soothing music is able to reduce their stress levels and can help with anxiety by slowing down their heart rate and breathing.
This can be really useful if you have a child that struggles with regulating their emotions, or just needs a practical way to wind down and decompress after a stimulating or busy day. Different types of music can help relax a child in different ways. Lullabies and gentle classical music are great choices for younger children, and for older children, other genres like smooth jazz or ambient and nature sounds work really well to create a tranquil environment."
We share the evidence outlining just how music works to make your child relaxed, and where you can find the best soothing playlists online.
Calming music for kids: how can it help?
Research shows listening to music reduces anxiety by calming the nervous system and lowering cortisol levels. In turn, reduced cortisol lowers stress and anxiety effectively, and can cause an uplift in mood. Music can provide distraction from anxious thoughts, focussing a child's mind on something more positive while eliciting profound emotional and cognitive responses.
It's not only the ability to lower cortisol that makes music such a key tool to use for calming children, further studies show it engages a diverse network of brain regions and circuits. This can cause structural brain changes that positively affect social bonding, cognitive abilities, and language processing.
A major benefit to using music as therapy is that it can be used in any setting and can manage stress problems across multiple age groups with minimal side effects and a small budget. Slower-tempo music has been found to be optimal to quiet the mind and relax muscles, when you're searching for an effective stress-management tool.
Dr Gummer shares "You can introduce music for relaxation at any age. Lullabies will help with bonding for infants and for toddlers and older children, it’s worth trying out different types of music to explore what they respond well to. I love music as a great way of promoting well-being and bringing siblings together - for older children it’s worth encouraging them to build their own playlists and tunes to encourage some down time and relaxation."
Where to find calming music for children
Spotify
Spotify is bursting with calming albums and playlists for kids, and has everything from ADHD specific music and music to fall asleep to, along with birdsong to ocean sounds. It's all about finding the right one for you and your family.
We love the 'Calm Kids' playlist that has 90 songs from a huge range of artists. There's even relaxing versions of old classics parents will recognise and might want to listen to themselves.
You can also search for the artist, 'Children Music Academy' - here, you'll find another selection of great choices. Choose from deep relaxation playlists to soothing music specifically for calming babies.
YouTube
YouTube is an incredible resource for all sorts of music, and the choice of calming music for kids does not disappoint. The 'Relaxing Disney Piano Music' video by The Soul of Wind, is a good place to start. This compilation of Disney favourites from The Lion King to Frozen are played in a slower format on piano - while little ones will love recognising their favourite film songs, they won't get hyped up by the tempo.
One of the most highly viewed videos on the platform is the three-hour Morning Relaxation Music - Positive Background Music for Kids, by OCB Relax Music. It's got a slightly more whimsical, fun feel to it, whilst still being calming and soothing to keep your children engaged. Having racked up a whopping 26million views, this is certainly a popular playlist to let your kids try for themselves.
More appealing for younger children, the channel KIDZEN has relaxing music playlists to choose from. There's everything from Christmas-themed music to background music, and playlists specific to falling asleep. If they're watching as well as listening, the videos come with adorable animal animation that adds an extra layer of entertainment if they're having a little screen time with their down time.
Some parents on YouTube have shared their little ones' love for the Aquarium Coral Reef Collection. This has relaxing music set to a video of fishing swimming in an aquarium. Many gathered in the comments to share just well the playlist works for their children, and also for themselves.
Tweens and teens might enjoy Mood Melodies' Instrumental Pop Music collection. This is two hours of pop classics like you've never heard them before - in fantastic relaxation mode. Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Ariana Grande and Harry Styles all feature on this diverse list.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music has a great choice of relaxing songs and playlists for little ones. There's something for everyone - helping to get babies to sleep, calming background music for kids, and music to meditate to for older children. There's also sound bath soundtracks and albums that indicate other benefits such as pain relief and releasing blockages.
Podcasts
There are a huge amount of educational and fun podcasts out there for kids, but did you know there are also plenty for relaxing too?
The 'Be Calm on Ahway Island' podcast tells a calming, meditative like story, is highly recommended. The Story Time podcast, which also shares 10-15 minute stories reading by soothing narrator, is also a great bet.
On Apple Podcasts you'll find Kids Meditation & Sleep Stories. This includes guided meditation for kids, and a variety of sleep stories for little ones. If they prefer something with a mixture of soothing sounds and spoken word, these are a great option.
Practical tips for introducing music to children
Dr Gummer shares her top tips for introducing music to your children as a calming tool, and times during he day it could be most useful.
- At bedtime - playing soft music during bedtime can signal to children that it's time to wind down and prepare for sleep.
- Rest time: Music can help children relax and can be particularly useful after a busy day
- Moments of stress or anxiety: If a child is feeling upset, playing their favourite calming music can help make them feel more secure
- Background Music: Keeping soft music playing as background sound can create a peaceful environment and you can do this whilst they are doing their homework or enjoying other tasks such as crafting, baking or colouring in.
- Meet them where they’re at - Another fun hack I love is when you want the kids to calm down, try playing music with fast rhythm and gradually switch down to more and more relaxing tunes - this way you meet them where they’re at and help them get to where you want them to go. This can also work with a distressed baby too - try dancing around to upbeat pop music whilst holding a crying baby to gradually reducing the pace and beat of the music to something soothing and slower.
You might want to try toys to support your child's mental health and wellbeing, or try gratitude journals and positivity planners to help them process their emotions. Aiming to teach kids emotional intelligence is another positive way to help them navigate their mental health.
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