Summer is here! This month, our team has compiled experiences surrounding the theme of summer to integrate into our music therapy sessions. What’s better than using music to beat the heat? We hope you find these useful as this season continues, while having some summer fun along the way!
Rainbow Round Me
The song “Rainbow Round Me” includes imagery about different things we see in nature, while describing them with a color. This experience can address color identification, creativity, sequencing, and much more! Using scarves corresponding with each color and creating your own lyrics about colors you see outside are also great additions to this experience, as well as drawing your favorite things in nature to coincide with each verse!
What A Wonderful World
In similar fashion to “Rainbow Round Me”, use the classic, “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong as a songwriting or lyric substitution experience, including different things we see in our world. This can also lead to a music discussion regarding nature, thoughts surrounding this season, and feelings associated with things we see, while also allowing for reminiscence.
Wacky Weather
Wacky Weather by Creative Therapy Umbrella is a chant about different types of weather and how it’s not the most predictable at times! This experience can address social skills, sensory regulation and input, and can be adapted for a variety of movement needs. It allows for instrument exploration and can also include different elements to portray different weather patterns, adding on to the sensory components of the experience. While this experience is based around drums, it can easily be used as a movement experience, breaking away from instruments, as well as a music and creative arts experience, doing drum painting for different weather elements, bringing a fun tangible component into the experience.
Takin’ A Walk
Takin a walk is a sound story by Randy Sauer that includes instruments to portray different sounds that you may hear if you’re taking a walk in your neighborhood. Use a Guiro or Ratchet to sound like you’re building a shed, jingle bells for a dog’s tag, a woodblock for a hammer and so much more! This provides opportunities for creative collaboration and choice making for each verse, while being structured with a repetitive chorus section. Use the original melody, your own, or improvise for a different twist.
Watermelon, Watermelon — Music For Kiddos
This super fun summer song by Stephanie Leavell is all about a yummy seasonal food! This song is sung a cappella and includes many opportunities for body percussion and movements, and it is very catchy due to its repetitive nature. This song is perfect when addressing body awareness, social skills, academic skills, creativity and much more!
