New Room, Who This?

This session took place in a new playroom, different from the front room we normally use. It was quite spacious, and had lots of colourful mats for the kids to sit on. There were some toys in the room that did distract some kids, but they found there way to and from the circle in their own time, while their parents remained engaged and encouraging of their kids to participate without any fuss. This time, we had a nice balance of parents and kids, and all of the kids were in a similar age range. There was a very joyous energy in the room, and we had a fantastic jam where I could see parents light up as some of the youngest babies held and shook maracas for the first time. A delightful class!

Keeping it Classic

Today’s class at Yorktown was ideal: the kids were all smiles, the grownups were engaging with the songs, and it felt like lots of family connection was being made. Early in the class, as some of the parents were chatting, I made a point of encouraging them to participate in the songs a little bit extra, because the more they put in the more the kids will get out of the music, and they seemed very receptive to that. Sometimes parents can check out when their little ones are running around in circles (as was occasionally the case today), but today they kept making an effort to get the kids engaged with the songs without getting frustrated, and it helped keep the energy of the whole class playful and positive :)

Special Visitor and the Months of the Year

This week we had a special visitor, board member Natasha, and the children loved having her in the class! We also sang a new song I learned that goes as follows, "apples, peaches, pears and plums, stand up when your birthday comes." We learned about the months of the year as well as when everyone's birthday was! The group was really in to it. We ended with this group's favourite tradition, dancing under the parachute to Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me.

Big Energy, Big Volume

There was quite a boom of energy in the room today at Robertson house. One of the staff members informed me that there were quite a few new kids to the building, so that made for a class in which the bulk of the kids were much older than the small handful of babies who showed up, which made things a bit difficult at times. The older kids brought lots of excitement, but also some rowdiness, and quite a bit of volume (especially during Sticky Sticky Bubblegum and our final jam), which led to some of the babies needing to have a break from the class. The kids who stayed seemed to be having a good time though, and were quite participatory with songs like The Hokey Pokey, If You're Happy, and Five Little Monkeys (basically anything with lots of movement). We had a short but lively jam, and once the parachute came out I think it made quite a few of the kids' days. Not without some challenges, but also not without great rewards!

Rhythm Games!

Another lovely class with very eager parents! I saw a couple of new faces in the room, and have been quite thrilled with the grown ups' willingness to join into the songs with clapping and actions, and helping their kids clap as well. They're still a bit shy on singing, but tend to join in on the more classic nursery rhymes. Most of the kids were full of happiness and excitement, but one of the older kids seemed to be having a bit of a crying episode. Her dad was loving and encouraging throughout the class, and towards the end she started to crack smiles here and there. She seemed to be having the best time as I brought out the rhythm sticks for some rhythm games and songs, followed by a nice extended jam. Not all parts of the classes click with everyone, but with enough variation in songs and activities, there can always be something to reach everyone!

That's a Big Stew!

We continued where we left off at Arise last week, expanding on the song I'm a Clever Cook, in which we exercised our brains to sing in the right order all of the many ingredients we added to our stew. We also brought back the thunder tubes and added in a rainstick to make it sound like a thunderstorm. The whole group also had fun with The Hokey Pokey, Sleeping Bunnies, and more Taylor Swift parachute time (a fan favourite right now!).

Spooky Sounds

Today's music therapy group was themed around Halloween! The group began with a musical game involving halloween themed words and phrases. Group members learned short rhythmic phrases that corresponded with spooky lyrics. The group played their phrases in a call and response fashion one by one.

We then moved into creating a spooky soundscape. The group went around the circle and took turns creating a spooky or scary sound on their instruments. Participants made sounds like footsteps, creaking doors and door knocking. The group then created a group improvisation with different spooky soundscapes.

We then moved into an opposite emotional landscape, the group brainstormed what a target emotion may be when experiencing fear. Words included calm, relaxed, peaceful, soothed, confident, free and capable. The group then created a second improvisation inspired by these words. One group member sang along and freestyled lyrics about the theme of facing fears and triumphing.

We then moved into our main Halloween activity, Halloween Bingo. Each group member was given a bingo card with a variety of spooky sounds like a thunderstorm, black cat, footsteps, whispers, a howling wolf etc. The music therapist played these sound effects and the group marked them off on their sheets. Group members shouted Boo! or Bingo to signal that they had completed a full line of sound effects.

We then closed with the requested song share activity. Group members shared a song of meaning with the group, discussed how they related to the song and listened with everybody.

Full Family Fun

It was so wonderful to see father's joining in the circle alongside the moms this week, as it made for much more grownup participation, and more wholesome musical engagement for the kids. Some of the kids were running around and exploring the architecture of the room, so we did lots of circle songs where we could walk around the pillar in the middle of the room, and the kids had a great time playing hide and seek and peek-a-boo around it. Speaking of which, we had a great round of 5 Little Pumpkins, followed by 5 Little Monkeys, and the kids were very enthusiastic counters! I loved the energy of this class, and hope the same number of grownups show up next week!

Halloween/Autumn Celebration

We had a fun class last week celebrating Halloween and the ever-changing fall season. We sang I'm a Clever Cook and made a pretend autumn stew (or witch's brew), did the Monster Mash, and made some scary sounds with the thunder tubes. This particular group also consists of Taylor Swift fans, so we danced to You Belong With Me under the parachute (third week in a row) and had a blast!

Freedom in Music

The group began with a warm up to get acquainted with the different musical instruments and options. This was followed by some more structured exercises where group members were invited to create their own rhythmic phrases that the rest of the group would repeat back in a call and response fashion.

The group then began a melodic improvisation. Since the group was smaller, this gave us the opportunity to each play a melodic instrument, the ukulele, piano, guitar, kalimba and xylophone. Each melodic instrument had the C and E notes marked with a colourful sticker. The group improvisation consisted of two different sections; in section one participants were instructed to just play the two marked notes, in section two participants could then play freely and expand to all notes on their instrument. The group toggled between the two sections, any player could raise their hand to cue other players into the following section. The group laughed as the young baby raised her hand at one point to cue players.

In the verbal discussion that followed, group members shared their preference for section two where they had full freedom to play and express how they chose. The group then created a storm improvisation, where through using instruments they created the soundscape of a storm passing through.

Participants chose to finish with music listening and song sharing, each group member shared a song of meaning with the group and discussed its importance in their life and family.