Clapping, snapping and tapping can be fun, and can also help form bonds with unfamiliar faces.
A study in Canada looked at 14-month-old infants and what it took for them to form bonds. Parents held their 14-month-old babies as researchers either sang to them or stood quietly as parents read to them.
Then the kids were asked to help with tasks.
The infants who were sung to helped more. This suggested that infants were more likely to bond with a stranger if they sang a familiar song.
If parents want a child to bond more with their grandparents, distant relatives or family friends, they should sing familiar songs to the baby.