While this is an exciting time for our students, it can also be confusing for them.

Schedules and routines change, things are different.

So, I wrote a song called “See You Soon” to remind my students that we may be on break and our schedules may feel strange, but we’ll be back to our normal routine soon (and we’ll miss them when we’re gone!)

Here is a video where you can listen to and learn the song, and share it with your students.

The post “See You Soon” – A Holiday Break Song for Students appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. 

In fact, I’ve been enjoying facilitating Thanksgiving-themed musical experiences all month (and yes, I’m still 100% VIRTUAL, as are my kiddos!)

Today, I’ll be sharing some of the ideas I’ve been using, in hopes that they might be beneficial to you and your clients:

“Thankful, I Am Thankful” – We sing this original song I wrote that gives clients the opportunity to share what they are thankful for. This song, sheet music, and MP3 are included in the Tune In To Teens E-Course.

Native American Music and Rainstick Exploration – We spend time listening to traditional Native American music, reading poetry, learning about the rainstick, and making rain with body percussion. 

Holiday Traditions Mini Rap – We chant this rap over a looped hip hop beat (if you think you can’t rap, YOU CAN). Clients have the opportunity to share what their holiday traditions are. This mini rap can be used for any holiday throughout the year. Here are the lyrics:

Holiday. Holiday.
Holiday traditions.
They bring us together,
And make us feel close.
Holiday traditions.

Holiday. Holiday.
Holiday traditions.
They bring us together,
And make us feel close.
What’s your holiday tradition?

Those who are on our mailing list will get the MP3 to use in their sessions!

Country Line Dancing and Hoedown – Are you ready for this? We danced to “Cotton Eyed Joe” (you know the one I’m talking about – the remix from the 90s) and “Hoedown Throwdown” by Miley Cyrus. These songs were surprisingly well-received by my school-age, teen, AND adult clients.

Relaxation – We wound down at the end of the session to “Simple Gifts” by Yo-Yo Ma and Allison Krauss. I found a nice video on YouTube where my clients could listen to the song and watch some beautiful nature scenes.

For more Thanksgiving-themed ideas, read this post, this post about my favorite Fall singable story, and this post with some Fall sensory ideas.

The post Thanksgiving Music Therapy Ideas for Middle & High Schoolers 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!

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Sensory sessions based on a theme are my absolute fave. Right now, it’s all about Fall ya’ll.

Although it never truly feels like Fall here in Miami (high today of 83!) I still try to get into the spirit of the season in my sessions. Using Fall and all the goodness that goes along with it as a framework for coming up with musical experiences helps get my creative juices flowing.

Here are some of the sensory experiences I’m using in my sessions this month:

• Fall scented candles: Apple cinnamon, pumpkin pie and pecan…mmmmm!
• Pumpkins and gourds: Bumpy ones, smooth ones, short ones, tall ones. You name it, I’ve got it.
• Leaves: Feel the crunchy leaves and smooth ones, and look at the variety of bright colors.
• Cinnamon  broom: Smell the cinnamon scent and feel the prickly bristles.
• Turkey gobbler: Work on auditory perception skills and localization by playing the gobbler in various locations around the room.

I’ve also brought these items into my elementary classes that don’t necessarily have sensory goals. We’ve used these items to work on expressive communication – using a complete sentence with adjectives to describe what they’re seeing, hearing and smelling. These experiences are also a great way to work on expanding their vocabulary as they describe various Fall items.

I LOVE Fall and will continue to bring as much of ‘it’ into my sessions as I can each year!

The post The Sights & Smells of Fall appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

I intended to write this blog post last week (ie. before Thanksgiving), but sometimes when you’re working from home with a 1 1/2 year old, things don’t always go as planned, am I right?

So here we are a few days post-Turkey day and I want to share some of the songs and musical experiences I’ve been doing this month.

I started my “It’s Fall Ya’ll” theme in September by sharing my apple-themed session ideas and continued in October with my pumpkin & Halloween-themed session ideas.

For today’s blog post, the final one in the “It’s Fall Ya’ll” series, I’ll be sharing my Thanksgiving and turkey-themed ideas.

All are goal-oriented music experiences and I find that having a theme really helps spark my creativity!

– Fall Harvest Book: I wrote  a song to the book “From Seed to Pumpkin” by Wendy Pfeffer. This is a wonderful book about how a seed goes from being planted in the ground to growing into a pumpkin. I created my own lyrics (rather than using the words in the book) and added movements for each of the steps: planting the seed, the rain coming down, the sun shining, the leaves growing and the pumpkins growing. This was a crowd favorite for sure!

– Turkey Songs. Lots of Turkey Songs: We danced like turkeys, gobbled like turkeys, flapped our wings like turkeys and did everything you can think of that was turkey-related. The children also had the opportunity to play the turkey-gobbler, canary stick and duck quacker (from West Music), which all created very authentic turkey sounds.

– Thankful Songs: We sang a song where each child filled in a line about what they’re thankful for. I brought in pictures (of family, pets, siblings, toys, teachers, etc.) so children who were nonverbal could point to what they were thankful for. Next year I would love to have each child bring in pictures of their own family, friends, pets or teachers to show who and what they are thankful for!

– Native American Drumming: I brought in Native American drumming music and passed around a drum so each child could play along with the music.

– Thanksgiving Food Song: I couldn’t get away with not including a song about favorite Thanksgiving foods! The children loved to share their favorite foods and desserts that they were looking forward to eating on Thanksgiving.

And that’s about it!

I love Thanksgiving and really enjoyed facilitating sessions for children who are just starting to understand the concept of being “thankful” and “grateful” for the things in their lives.

They also looked super cute flapping around and gobbling like a turkeys!

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