May is in full swing, which means the school year is winding down, flowers are blooming all around us, and there’s a new monthly session plan in use! I just love the monthly session plans offered here at Listen & Learn Music. They always inspire my sessions, and I’m able to learn new repertoire to introduce to my clients and students so we can continue working towards their goals.
While I was browsing the May session plan, I noticed that several of the songs feature things we see in our world. Spring is an ideal time to discuss vision and what we see, especially with all of the spring colors popping up all around.
Below, I’ve highlighted two songs from the May session plan that focus on what our clients and students can see in their environments.
Some of the goals addressed in these songs:
- Improve color identification
- Improve object identification
- Improve knowledge related to nature
- Improve fine motor skills
- Improve creative thinking
- Improve turn-taking
“Colors in the Morning” is a great introduction to all of the colors we see in nature, and it comes with visual aides that match each verse. The visuals paired with the lyrics make this song ideal for children to identify the natural colors of our world.
Because of the moderate tempo and simple lyrics of “Colors in the Morning”, sign language can be paired with key words from the verses as well. Alternatively, scarves can be used; I encourage participants to listen to the lyrics and choose the color scarf that matches.
It’s always fun to bring creative thinking into music therapy sessions and music classes, which is why I just love the song “Riding in the Car”. Kids always come up with the most creative things, and I love hearing their outside-the-box ideas!
With nature blooming all around, there is so much to see while riding in the car, which encourages children to survey their changing surroundings. But it can also be fun to get super silly with a song like “Riding in the Car”. Creative thinking and humor are such challenging skills, as are memory recall, and with multiple ways to use this song, those more difficult skills can be targeted.
Of course, visual aides can also be paired with “Riding in the Car”, and to target the same goals as “Colors in the Morning”, the same visual aides could even be used so that participants have multiple opportunities to identify colors and objects.
Both of these songs are great conversation starters with young children. I know the kiddos I work with are more than happy to tell me every detail of their car rides and trips to the park. And although we don’t always have the opportunity to discuss it in music classes and music therapy sessions, these songs give children the perfect opportunity to share about the world, and make social connections with others who see the same things as them in an appropriate way — all through the powerful tool that is music!
Let me know in the comments below: how have the monthly session plans inspired your music therapy sessions and music classes?
You can listen to all of these songs in their entirety right here. Lyrics, chords, mp3, and instrumental track for these original songs are available for download. As is the case for all Listen & Learn Music creations, we invite you to adapt these songs as needed to best serve your students and/or clients.
