Share your thoughts.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Share your thoughts with the board on how much stimulation is enough? How much stimulation is too much?

[Victoria Fansler]

The nice thing about children is that they tend not to hide their true feelings, positive or negative! I can see how age and developmental stage really play into the balance of how much stimulation to use. I have also seen children of similar ages respond quite differently to similar stimuli based on their personalities and baseline levels of arousal or hypervigilance. For example, I have one client who loves all types of stimulation, from tickles to pauses to whistles to accelerandos. I have another client who, despite being slightly older, needs extremely steady and predictable music choices to establish that sense of safety. These clients both make their feelings quite obvious in response to the music that appeals to them — and the music that doesn’t!

I love the ideas you have given to add elements of “expected surprise” to these songs, such as whistling, tempo changes, and pauses. These elements have been particularly helpful with some of my clients who are older (2-3 years old) but need some support in the Trust area to make up for some experiences when they were babies. These clients really benefit from bonding songs, but the songs can feel stale to them quickly without a little added pizzaz. However, once we add in a whistle or a moment of anticipation, their interest is piqued and they are right there with you!

[Tori Clark]

I think this is where being a music therapist is so helpful–we can manipulate the musical elements in songs, based on quick observation, to adjust the level of stimulation, child-to-child and group-to-group. When I think about the “right” amount of stimulation, I think about it in terms of sensory experiences. Aurally, using timbres which are pleasant (like the drums and even just the naked voice) are appropriate for this age group. Visually, using our affect to rev up or conversely, to reassure a child is helpful. And keeping flow and energy in mind in the overall structure of the session, is paramount.

[Anonymous]

These are great insights, thank you for sharing!

[Debrah Evans]

In my experience watching stimulation with young children is paramount to having a successful session. As a music therapist, we are trained to watch for signs of under and over stimulation in clinical settings, and it can happen very quickly with young children. As Beth and Meredith mentioned, it is very important to match their energy while maintaining that inner calm. In general I am a very high energy person which makes it easy to match the energy level of the children, but also can lead to problems with over-stimulation. I really liked what was said in the video about mapping out energy levels in a session and being able to come together and then break out to maintain that balance of stimulation.

Additionally, in past groups that I have done, I have found I tend to stay away from guitar because I have noticed that sometimes it can be too much aural stimulation (especially with new songs). The guitar can make so many sounds and has so many tones that I think it becomes too much to take in. Sometimes the guitar works well to keep that energy and hold that space, but if you aren’t conscious of the energy level of children and how the music is matching or amplifying it, sessions can quickly get out of hand, and so I’ve most resorted to using percussion (often body because I work with older kids) and voice to help ground kids. I did like the incorporation of the surprises though because they are really just a momentarily shift in the energy of the group which can really bring a group together!

[Courtney Kjaldgaard]

For this particular age group, I have found that using voice-based interventions (focusing on singing/producing vocalizations, sound effects – animal sounds, etc.), movement/body percussion songs and activities using small percussion instruments that do not have a wide range of volume, like plastic percussion instruments such as small maracas, bells and egg shakers, have been the best for maintaining a good amount of stimulation. These type of interventions are easier to control, in terms of volume and timbre, and can be adapted easily to match the energy and mood of the children in the group.

Interventions that involve electronic music devices (such as iPads, electronic keyboards, etc.) and activities that revolve around instruments that require a little more skill to use and can become quite loud, such as large drums, guitar and sensory instruments such as the ocean drum, are harder to control in this type of group environment and are more suitable for older children (in my opinion and from what I’ve observed in my work).

[Joanne Van Eycke]

It is important to meet the children where they are at and increase or decrease the stimulation through the music. I enjoyed when Beth discussed the “ins and outs.” How the children will want to explore and gain independence and then come back to their dyad for security. This security can provide a calming effect when you need less stimulation. Also interesting was the example of the children hitting the wall and channeling their energy with more stimulation. The amount stimulation to use for each group can depend on the needs of the group on that day and in that moment.

[Janet Buchanan]

I’ve always appreciated the fact that people will tell you when they are receiving too much or too little stimulation. You can see children becoming agitated if they’re getting too much, and off-task behavior if they aren’t stimulated enough. So it’s important to meet your group wherever they’re at that day and time, and you can gradually manipulate your music and your plan to get the group more energized or calm by the end of the session. In order to increase or decrease stimulation, I like to change up how I’m playing or singing. With the guitar you can make your strumming more or less complicated, fingerpick a simple pattern, or even totally drop the guitar out. Even with just your voice, you have a lot of flexibility in timbre–the tone you use for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is completely different than how you’d sing some country songs.

[Peggy Grace]

I think it goes without saying that every child is different, although there are general characteristics in the age groups. It becomes even more challenging when working with the special needs child. One child may need more stimulation through upbeat songs and lots of instruments, then some will require more soothing, soft songs. I agree with Tori that the music therapist can rely on their training to observe the children for signs of over or understimulation. Having structure is very important, but I have found that flexibility is also important so that you can adjust the music to meet the children at their level. Through the volume of our voices, tempo and volume of instruments, we can match the group and then gently re-direct them where to go from there.

[Megan Neil]

I think this is a really good question & I enjoyed reading everyone’s insights. I’m not sure that I feel confident in this area though and it is something I would like to work on. The think finding the balance between enough & too much is hard. Especially in a group setting where I have a few kids that need A LOT of stimulation and a few kids that are easily over stimulated. I also feel like there are many different areas of stimulation- visual, aural, tactile, etc. I think the concept of providing numerous instrument choices such as bells, maracas, egg shakers during a shaking activity is much better than just providing egg shakers. I find this to be true in one of my groups. I have one child that really needs the maraca stimulation while another prefers the eggs or the softer timbre bells. I try my best to gage moments in the group & adjust as needed. I noticed just last week (from one of Meredith & Beth’s tips) that I am very loud in group. I do this because I am the facilitator and feel a need to keep everything together. However in group this week I backed off, decreased my volume and everything was fine! If not better! I think my overbearing singing/playing was too much in general and the group felt more grounded when I wasn’t as overbearing.

[Anonymous]

Great insights everyone! Megan this was a great discovery. Beth had also shared, in the past, how the facilitator’s voice has an impact on the parent’s vocal participation. Once I paid attention to this in my Sprouting Melodies classes, I found the parents were singing more and louder.

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