So today I wanted to share how I’ve been celebrating Earth Day in the music therapy sessions I’ve facilitated this week:

We started off with a Mini Musical Bio/Guess Who Game to learn about our featured artist of the week: Jack Johnson (you can learn about this musical experience in the Virtual Music Therapy Session Planning Pack for Spring).

Next, we sang “The 3 R’s” (such a catchy song!) and discussed ways we can reduce, reuse, and recycle. I used the visuals below, and some additional ones that allowed students to drag pictures of recyclable items into a recycling bin:

Then, we listened to the beautiful song “My Own Two Hands” by Ben Harper & Jack Johnson, and discussed the ways we can help our Earth. Again, I had interactive visuals where students could drag pictures of the things they can do the help the Earth (pick up trash, turn off lights, plant seeds, etc.) onto a picture of two large, open hands.

Following that, we sang “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands,” but changed the lyrics to “We’ve got the whole world in our hands.” For each of the following verses, we added our favorite animals and things in nature that we want to protect. For example, “We’ve got the trees and the flowers in our hands.”

To end the session on an upbeat note, we danced to “Wake Up America” by Miley Cyrus.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself – I got to play Jack Johnson songs all week AND help my students learn how to care for our Earth through music – I truly have the best job in the world.

The post Earth Day Music Therapy Session Ideas appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

The holidays are upon us, and here at Wholesome Harmonies we are still providing a mix of both in-person and virtual programming.

Many of the music therapists on our team are following CDC guidelines and providing in-home, individual music therapy sessions and lessons across South Florida.

And many (myself included!) are continuing to offer group and individual sessions and lessons virtually.

One of our upcoming virtual programs, which is presented by the Miami-Dade Public Library System, is called Holidays with Wholesome Harmonies: A free virtual sing-a-long for young children and their families.

We will be singing a variety of holiday tunes, both in English and Spanish. Festive attire is welcomed!

The program will take place via Zoom on Monday, December 21, 2020 from 5:00-5:30pm.

The program is free, but you must call the Northeast-Dade Aventura Branch to register.

I can’t wait to see you there!

The post Virtual Holiday Sing-a-Long with Wholesome Harmonies appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Christmas is right around the corner (do you even need me to tell you that?) and our holiday sessions are in full swing!

We’re jingling bells, ho-ho-ho-ing on the kazoo, and playing Holiday Musical Pictionary.

I recently started working at a preschool in Miami, where I provide music therapy for the 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old classes.

Tomorrow is their Holiday Show and I wanted to showcase something very special for the parents and families.

With preschoolers in the past, I’ve done a Holiday Spectacular that featured multicultural songs and a performance of the Nutcracker (complete with original choreography, music, and set design).

This year, the preschool children will be performing “The First Noel” on hand bells.

I wanted to share this because it’s a great choice for a holiday performance for a few reasons:

• First, if the children are playing the melody, it uses all eight bells. I love doing songs like “Jingle Bells,” but the chorus only uses five of the hand bells.
• Second, for the majority of the song, it moves in stepwise motion. There aren’t many leaps in the melody, which makes it easy for the children to anticipate when it’s their turn to play.
• Third, the melody repeats itself twice. This makes it easy for you as the teacher, because you don’t need to juggle multiple sheets of music. This also makes it easy for the children, because they’ve become very familiar with the melody due to its repetition.

I’m looking forward to our Holiday Show tomorrow!

We’ll be singing lots of holidays carols, but I’m most looking forward to the parents watching their children read real music notation and play the hand bells.

The post Hand Bells For The Holidays appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Valentine’s Day is just around the bend.

With that theme in mind I’ve been incorporating lots of “love”- and friendship-themed songs into my sessions: “Love Story” by Taylor Swift, “Rhythm of Love” by the Plain White T’s and “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars.

Although I’ll be the first to admit that it’s fun to plan a themed-session, as music therapists we have to remember to always keep our clients’ therapeutic goals at the forefront of our minds.

Many of my school-age clients are working on auditory perception goals in our sessions. This means I’m engaging them in musical activities that target listening skills and direction following (skills that translate directly into the classroom setting!)

Here is one example of how I’m combining the Valentine’s theme + auditory perception goals this week.

I pass out a variety of instruments to the students (maracas, bells, rhythm sticks, etc.) I instruct them that I’m going to play the song “Rhythm of Love.” Every time they hear the word “love,” they should switch instruments with the person next to them.

This is a great way to work on:

• listening skills
• direction following
• selective attention (they need to tune out distractions and focus on listening for the word “love”)
• and, social communication skills (when they switch instruments)

This musical experience can be used with any song, at any time of the year. Just choose a word or phrase (or even musical element!) that you would like the students to listen for. Then give them the cue for what to do when they hear that word or phrase.

I love this musical experience because it’s versatile and can be tailored to the unique needs and musical preferences of our clients.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day and if you need more holiday inspiration, hop on over to the Session Planning Page.

The post Need to Target Auditory Perception Skills? Add One Instruction To Your Instrument Songs. appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Although I have a storehouse of session ideas (especially when it comes to Fall!), I always like to keep things fresh and bring in new musical experiences for my clients.

My mom recently sent a book in the mail for my daughters (who are ages 2 and 4) and they love it, but as soon as I saw it (and read it) I knew it would be PERFECT for my music therapy sessions.

The book is called “The Leaves Are Falling One By One” by Steve Metzger.

You can sing the book to the tune of “The Ants Go Marching One By One.”

This singable book is great for working on the following goals:

• Expressive language (sing “Hurrah! Hurrah!” or the entire song)
• Math skills (counting 1-10)
• Motor skills (wiggle fingers and move arms up then slowly down to simulate leaves falling; or use scarves!)

You can also bring in leaves (real or fake) and use them for counting throughout the story. I think your clients will enjoy this singable book as much as mine have!

BTW – will I see you at conference in Dallas next week? I hope so!

The post The Leaves Are Falling One By One appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I prepared a spooky music listening session for my school-age kiddos this week and I’m EXCITED about it!

My goals for the students in these classes are:

• To improve auditory perception skills (ie. listening skills)
• To improve sustained attention
• And, to practice using adjectives (one of the goals shared by their teachers)

These goals, paired with the fact that Halloween is coming up, led me to create a spooky music listening session for the students.

We started off with The Halloween Rhythm Repeat (you can get a PDF of this musical experience sent straight to your inbox!) as a warm up to work on listening skills and sustained attention.

Following that, we listened to three pieces of music, took part in some listening activities, and filled out a listening sheet that I created. Out of all the spooky sounding classical music out there (and there is a LOT), I narrowed it down to three pieces:

Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” (you know it from Fantasia)

Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in d minor” (think creepy organ music)

Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre” (the students knew it from Mickey’s Halloween)

Here’s the plan for each musical selection:

1. Listen to the music – no writing, no watching, just listening.
2. Listening Activity – Examples include: True or False (where I shared four statements about the piece or composer and the students told me if they thought those statements were true or false) and Let’s Vote (where I paused the music to see if they could identify the instrument being played).
3. Watch video of a live performance of the piece. Each classroom has a laptop and Promethean board so I pulled the music up on YouTube. This was especially neat for “Toccata and Fugue,” as the students were VERY intrigued by the organ!
4. Listening Sheet – Finally, each student answered questions on their Listening Sheet. The last question prompted them to circle the musical elements that make a piece sound “spooky” (minor mode, sudden dynamic changes, etc.) and compared them with the musical elements that make a piece sound “happy.”

Have you ever done a music listening activity for Halloween? I would love to hear what music you used and how you facilitated the activity. Leave a comment below to let us know!

The post Spooky Music Listening for School-Age Students appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I’ve been on a session planning kick lately.

Even though I have almost thirteen years (!!) of session plans saved up I still love coming up with new ideas, writing new songs and thinking of more creative ways to help my clients meet their goals.

Lately, my three-year-old daughter has been really into the Nutcracker. She’s been requesting we play the music to the ballet so she can dance in her ballerina costume. This inspired me to see how I can use the music of the Nutcracker to work on the attention and auditory perception goals I have for my school-age clients.

Coming up with the session ideas was easy. Coming up with ways to make them cool? Not quite as easy.

Here are some of the best ideas I came up with that were well received by my students:

Listening sheets:
Since my main goals are to improve attention and auditory perception skills, I thought focused listening would be a great way to start. After discussing nutcrackers and a bit about the storyline, I passed out listening sheets.

The first day we listened to: the Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance and Russian Dance. Students were instructed to answer questions about the tempo of the song, the mood of the song, and other questions that required them to listen carefully to the music. I was surprised how many students said they liked the pieces we listened to!

The second day we listened to: “March,” “Battle Between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” and “the Christmas Tree.” Since many of the students are learning about parts of speech, I provided them with different adjectives to describe the pieces and prompted them to circle the ones that fit.

If you’d like a copy of my Nutcracker Listening Guides so you can use them with your students and clients, click below:

Movement:
There are so many ways to incorporate movement in a Nutcracker-themed session plan. The ballet has pieces of varying tempo and style, each with a different feel to it. I had younger students march to the “March” and move scarves to the “Finale Waltz.” I had older students move the parachute with pre-set choreography to “The Russian Dance.” And completely unprompted, I had many students (male and female!) stand up and pretend to be ballerinas when we listened to the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.”

These activities were designed to work on gross and fine motor skills and give students to opportunity for creative expression.

Instrument Exploration:
Students and teachers alike were intrigued by the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. I showed them the dance on YouTube and they were captivated. Following that, I showed them a picture of a tuba and celesta and took a poll to see how many students could guess the instrument that was playing. Then we watched a video of someone playing the celesta so the students could see exactly what it looked like.

Following that, I created a sheet with the rhythm for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and each student played it on the triangle along with the song. These activities definitely sustained their attention.

Nutrocker:
Finally, we ended with the “Nutrocker” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra (truly the best way to make the Nutcracker seem “cool” for school-age students). Since one of my main goals for the students is to work on auditory perception skills, I told them that we’d be playing air keyboard and air electric guitar as we listened to the piece. Every time they heard keyboard, they were to pretend to play air keys. Every time they heard electric guitar, they were to pretend to play guitar. Not only did they have to listen to the instrument changes in the song, but they got to rock out and really have fun with it.

I was pleasantly surprised by how many students told me they liked the music of the Nutcracker. It may not be JT or Bruno Mars, but they were open to it, and that is the most important thing!

If you’re looking for even more creative ideas for working with teens, school age clients or adults, I’d love for you to check out the E-Course I created, Tune In To Teens. It’s approved by CBMT for 5 continuing education credits and is packed with creative session ideas and strategies for working with teen clients:

The post How to Make the Nutcracker Cool appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

If you follow my blog (and E-Book series), you know I love a good musical game.

As soon as I mention we’re playing a “game” at the start of a session, I immediately have my clients hooked and excited. Musical games are great in that you can sneak in work on lots of different goal areas while clients are engaged in playing the game.

Now that the holiday season is in full swing, I’ve created two musical games inspired by the Game Show Network. Here’s how they go ~

Holiday Pictionary:
Create a list of holiday songs that have titles which evoke imagery (email subscribers were sent an email with the list of songs I use!) For example, “Oh Christmas Tree” might make you picture a tall pine tree covered in snow. Or, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” might make you picture people boogying around a Christmas tree (or mannequins if you’re into Home Alone!) Write each song title on a separate index card and laminate the cards. Include a sample picture under the song title if your clients need a visual guide.

In the session, divide your group into two teams. One client from Team 1 takes a card and draws a picture of the song title without giving any verbal cues. Team 1 must then try to guess the song title based on the picture. Once the song has been guessed, lead the entire group in singing that song. Following that, Team 2 takes a card and follows the same instructions. This musical experience targets self-expression, group cohesion, and expressive language skills.

{If you’re not already on the email list, hop on here. I shared the complete list of songs I use for Holiday Pictionary with my email list and will be sending out more goodies soon!} 

Holiday Name That Tune:
This musical experience is just like it sounds. Play the opening melody line to familiar Christmas songs and have clients guess the songs. Perfect for addressing auditory perception and listening skills. You can also work on group cohesion and communication skills by splitting the group into two teams and instructing them to choose a group leader who will ring a jingle bell when their team knows the correct answer.

BONUS if you use your primary instrument, which will engage clients and motivate them to participate. I use my clarinet and it’s always a hit!

If you’re looking for even more creative ideas for working with teens, school age clients or adults, I’d love for you to check out the E-Course I created, Tune In To Teens. It’s approved by CBMT for 5 continuing education credits and is packed with creative session ideas and strategies for working with teen clients:

The post Game Show Network-Inspired Musical Games for the Holidays appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Halloween is right around the corner!

I’ve been using The Costume Rap in my sessions this month and it’s been a hit.

I use this musical experience to work on verbal and non-verbal communication skills with my tween and teen clients.

Many of you have mentioned that it’s tough to come up with musical experiences for groups of clients with mixed abilities. The Costume Rap meets many needs in that clients can use words or a voice output device to participate. Plus, it’s a rap which will up the “cool factor!”

Now, onto another session idea I created for tweens and teens. I call it Halloween Rhythm Combos.

This musical experience involves rhythm sticks, imitation and Halloween phrases.

I’m using this musical experience to give my clients the chance to work on verbal communication, articulation, attention, impulse control, and motor skills. It works well with a group or in an individual session. AND, it has multiple levels of participation, so if you have groups with clients of mixed abilities it will be perfect for you.

Sounds like something you’d be interested in?

Click here to grab a PDF of how to facilitate the Halloween Rhythm Combos musical experience and put it into practice this week:

The post Halloween Rhythm Combos {for tweens & teens} appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Halloween is right around the corner and there is a hint of Fall in the air (yipee!). Here in Miami that just means the humidity has dropped slightly, but I’ll take it!

Come on over and grab some free Halloween intervention ideas here and then check out this new idea I came up with:

It’s called the Costume Rap. Here’s how it goes:

Lyrics:
On Halloween, I’m gonna dress real cool,
Gonna wear a costume, so don’t be fooled!
On Halloween, I’m gonna dress as ____________.

Here’s how I implemented this intervention:

1. Set a hip hop beat (or rap track as I love to call them!) to play on your iPod.
2. Go around to each group member and prompt them to fill in the blank: “On Halloween I’m gonna dress as ______________.” Use a microphone if available! For clients who don’t use words to communicate, record their answer on a voice output device and prompt them to activate it on their turn.
3. Variation: If you don’t have the equipment to play a hip hop beat, simply set a beat on your keyboard OR use a drum to create your own beat!

This is a simple intervention, but the tweens and teens in my groups loved it!

The main goal is to work on expressive communication skills and the clients loved sharing about their costume and why it was important to them. (Let me tell you, I learned a LOT about Spiderman, Batman and minions!)

As I mentioned in the instructions, this intervention is also a great way to work on non-verbal communication skills through use of a voice output device.

Many of you have mentioned the challenge of coming up with interventions for teen clients towards the severe end of the autism spectrum or for groups with clients of mixed abilities. For my groups, we were able to use this intervention so that all clients could participate and feel successful!

If you want to learn more about creating meaningful and engaging interventions that your teen clients will LOVE, check out Tune In To Teens: Creative Ideas for Connection & Music Therapy Session Planning.

Check out everything the course has to offer right here:

The post The Costume Rap {for tweens & teens} appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.