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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Is it hot where you are? It's always hot here in Miami, but recently it's been reeeeeeally hot. So hot that my kiddos don't even want to play outside in water. So inside with the AC it is! Since we've been spending more time indoors, I've had the chance to take a look at some [...]
One of the most classic music therapy interventions is Musical Jeopardy. It's familiar, inviting, engaging and fun. Perfect for a practicum student, intern or seasoned clinician to facilitate. Every year I come up with a new version of this game and use it as I'm getting to know my new groups and clients, and assess [...]
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 [...]
I've been watching the weather and I see that in other parts of the country it's snowing and there were sub-zero temperatures last night! It's hard to believe that winter is going on in other parts of the country and world, because here in Miami it's 75 and sunny. (To be fair, we endure a [...]
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 [...]
Did you have a chance to try out any of the Moana-themed session ideas I shared in last week's blog post? If not, check out the post to see how you can use rainbow bells and the song "How Far I'll Go" to address attention goals. As I was brainstorming more ways to use "How [...]
I don't know about you but I was a little bit relieved when Moana came out and we could finally put the music for Frozen away! There's only so many times you can sing "Let it Go" in a lesson or session, am I right? Because Moana is so popular, I did some brainstorming to [...]
