April showers bring May flowers, along with lots of opportunities to sing about the rain! Although I am not a big fan of rain showers, I do love singing about them. One of my favorite memories from elementary school was when the whole school created the sound of a rainstorm with body percussion.

Those kind of memories remind me of the power of music, and why I love being a music therapist! I can bring musical experiences like a body percussion rainstorm into my music therapy sessions and music classes, and with a little adaptation, they are perfectly suitable for children of all abilities.

With the change of the season, I’ve been exploring the Spring Song Pack to inspire my music therapy sessions and music classes. This week, I’ll be highlighting two of the spring songs that are flower-themed, but target completely different goals!

Spring is officially single digits away! SINGLE DIGITS! I am so ready to put winter behind me and welcome the spring weather, and that has been my inspiration for my music therapy sessions and classes this week!

I don’t know if it’s all the green or the Irish music, but St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun holiday to celebrate!

In the spring, when holidays are a little more spread out, I take any opportunity I can to add some variety to my repertoire as I continue to target my students’ and clients’ goals in an appropriate way.

Now that February has drawn to a close and March is officially here, that means spring is right around the corner! March brings St. Patrick’s Day, blooming leaves, flowers, and sunny days to come, which adds an extra pep in the step of those like me who revel in the warmer weather!

Below are two songs all about March that will surely remind us all why it is a month worth celebrating.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.