Music-therapy and the development of emotional intelligence in children.

Abstract

In this study, we have designed and developed sessions for children who were aged 6 through 8, based on existing studies on music therapy and emotional intelligence in the young ones. The main objective of the interventions was to promote children's emotional intelligence through music. The sessions have been designed to teach children how to express and identify their feelings and recognize those of the others. Through dynamic group activities, the participants in the study have been able to share their emotions and develop empathy and the 6 basic emotions: joy, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and anger. The children succeeded in identifying, expressing, and transmitting their emotions with the others. Self-observation and observation of the others in the group has been a fundamental axis of the activities and has allowed to promote the development of the empathy of the participants of the study. Although there is a growing number of projects in this area, this study illustrates the necessity to work more on the emotional intelligence, both in schools and in extracurricular activities. Music is an extraordinary tool to this end.