Over the weekend, I took a short trip to sunny Florida, and I couldn’t help but get excited about the warmer weather coming our way. Although higher temperatures aren’t here yet, the few days I spent in my sandals and sunglasses inspired this week’s beach-themed post!
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These dreary wintry days have me longing for spring and all of its colors, so I’ve taken that inspiration into my music therapy sessions and music classes with a few colorfully themed songs.
Identifying colors is an important developmental skill for young children, so it’s only natural to practice that skill in a musical context. In this post, I’ve featured two songs that creatively address color identification while targeting some additional goals as well!
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Those of us who work with young children know how essential movement is to a successful music therapy session or music class. Although movement is necessary, sometimes when all of the kiddos get up to move, chaos can break out and spread like wildfire!
As a young music therapist, it was hard to manage gross motor movement songs effectively; it always seemed like my clients and students would become dysregulated, run around, and have difficulty following along. As the years go on, I’ve gotten a little bit wiser, and have learned to work smarter and not harder when it comes to movement interventions.
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Sometimes I hear a song on the radio, and I think to myself, “Okay, how can I bring this into my music therapy sessions or music classes?” I’m sure that’s what was going through Rachel’s mind when she decided to use this 50-year-old song in her classes and sessions!
Today, I’d like to explain all the ways I’ve been using this song to reach the goals and objectives my clients and students are striving for in music therapy and music enrichment classes.
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Although I’m not a huge fan of the weather in February, I am a massive fan of Valentine’s Day! I just love LOVE! The sweet heart-shaped decorations, watching children exchange Valentine’s cards, and getting a lovely bouquet of flowers from my man…I love it all.
Valentine’s Day presents a great opportunity to sing about love, and to discuss other emotions as well. Emotions can be such a challenging topic for many children, but set some memorable lyrics to a catchy melody, and talking about feelings can actually be fun! Read on to learn about two such songs for addressing emotions.
(more…)Hot chocolate is the #1 most requested treat at my house during the winter months. My kids love the entire process, from helping stir in the chocolate, to adding marshmallows (and sprinkles), and then of course, drinking it.
They were my inspiration for writing this song, and we’ve been singing it nonstop for the last couple of weeks! It has been an instant hit with my students, as well. The repetitive, catchy melody is super singable, and it’s so much fun to pair with shakers as we act out the process of making hot chocolate.
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