Celebrating First Songs: Stories, Songs & Early Learning

First Songs – A Lullaby Project is a celebration of the songs we first sing to children — lullabies that carry rhythm, comfort, and early language. As a child’s first experience of sound and storytelling, lullabies are a powerful foundation for language development and emotional bonding.

To mark the launch of the First Songs microsite — a growing archive of over 100 lullabies in 13 languages collected from families across India — we hosted a special online event that brought together educators, researchers, musicians, and storytellers.

Highlights include: 🎤 A panel discussion with Dr. Rukmini Banerji (CEO, Pratham; Yidan Prize laureate, 2021) and Brij Kothari (Founder, Billion Readers) 🧠 Research insights from Prof. Usha Goswami (Yidan Prize laureate, 2019; University of Cambridge) on how rhythm and sound support early learning 🎶 A live lullaby-learning session with Gurupriya Atreya & Vedanth Bharadwaj (Sing A Lullaby) 🌐 A guided tour of the new First Songs archive

This event recording , held on May 14, 2025 , is now available to watch and share.

We invite you to explore, sing along, and celebrate the joy of childhood.

Bachpan Manao, Loriya Sunao. Let’s sing. Let’s celebrate childhood.