Implementing a Musical Program to Promote Preschool Children’s Vocabulary Development

In light of the correlation between musical and linguistic skills, a program of musical activities was designed to promote discrimination of rhythmic and melodic elements and the association of auditory stimuli with visual stimuli and motor activities. The effects of the program on the vocabulary of preschool children were evaluated and compared with the vocabulary of children participating in the curricular subject of "Ritmos, Cantos y Juegos" [Rhythm, Songs, and Games] and that of children who were not exposed to either of the two programs. The results showed significant increases in receptive vocabulary only for the group exposed to the program with musical activities. The processes that caused the increase are discussed, as well as the possible use of the program that was implemented as a resource for preschool language stimulation.