[Karli Purscell]

With music for skill building, it is much more targeted for specific things. For example, a child working on fine motor skills may be asked to tap two finger cymbals together a specific number of times to develop pincer grasp. Music for development is much more generalized. Yes, there is a general goal of helping a child develop and learn skills, but this is much more focused on the full range of development and skills at once.

[Karli Purscell]

Here’s what I have:
Words
Adapting, Silly, Exploring, Moving, Processing
Sentences
* It’s okay if your child is moving away from the group, they need to explore a bit, but they’ll come back to you!
* You may hear me pause at random times in the songs, I’m just giving the children an opportunity to respond. Also, it’s a surprise which kids love at this age!
* Don’t be discouraged if you’re child doesn’t move their maraca like I tell them, this is all about making choices and any move is a choice!
* While your little one is on your lap, you can reach under their arms so that they can feel you moving and clapping.
* Your little one might start wanting to look around the room more or stand up. That’s great! We try to mix the amount of opportunities for your little one to connect with you as well as with peers.

Plan
Hello – “Hello my friends/bonjour mes amis” A simple song with only 3 words will be used. Guitar will be used for accompaniment. Pauses will be utilized repeatedly throughout the song to give the children an opportunity to respond.
Body Percussion – “Body Parts Warm-up” Tap a rhythm on each body part being warmed up. Encourage the parents to help by either tapping on their children, nearby children, or modelling on themselves.
Bonding Song – “Wiggly, Jiggly Car” Sing unaccompanied. Encourage parents to try the song with other children as the children move around the room.
Instrument Play – “Dancing in the Middle” use a drum in the middle of the group to encourage the children to come to play the center drum. Have smaller drums around the group for children and parents to play.
Movement – “Momma don’t allow” Accompanied by guitar. Use different types of movements for each verse. Add a mix of locomotor movements (walking, dancing, running) with other types of movement (waving, head patting).
Cool Down – “The Wind Blowing through the Air” Sing unaccompanied. Walk around the room while waving a scarf around the room. Wave it over or near each child’s head. Use very fluid movements and get quieter as the song progresses.
Goodbye – “It’s time to say bye bye” Sing unaccompanied while waving bye to each child and parent.

[Karli Purscell]

Karen, I really like your sentences! Those are great suggestions and ideas for caregivers.

[Karli Purscell]

Emily, I agree that mixing new songs with repeated songs to build familiarity and comfort is a great way to prevent over-stimulation. Melody, you raise a good point about paying close attention to the needs of your children. It also helps when you’ve built a relationship with the kids that you are working with so that you can better recognize when they are acting over-stimulated. Laura, that’s true that it can be such a tricky balancing act of creating enough stimulation without adding too much.

[Karli Purscell]

Well, after having walked through a bunch of different daycares, I can definitely talk about the too much stimulation part of that spectrum! I’ve seen some rooms of babies/toddlers where the teachers are constantly shouting, background music is played way too loudly, and nobody is considering what types of music might be engaging for the children. In those cases, I’ve seen kids throwing tantrums, crying constantly, screaming, running around all over the place, and startling. While I don’t think I’ll ever get to that level of too much stimulation in my music sessions, it has helped me be vigilant so I can prevent over-stimulation in the kids that I work with.

[Karli Purscell]

Right now, where I’ve had to provide my own instruments, I have steered clear of a lot of instrument-based activities as I’m just starting out with this population and am needing to build some financial stability before I go out and start purchasing a bunch of instruments. I do have some small maracas and egg shakers that I use with the kids that are at this level. I also have a frame drum that I’ve used for some group drumming experiences. I hope to do more so any ideas of the best instruments for the most affordable prices would be fantastic!

[Karli Purscell]

Karen, you make a great point that the greater community may not even be aware of all of the benefits of MT for early childhood. Sometimes just getting the word out is the first hurdle. That’s great that you are giving information to early learning programs so that they can use music more effectively!

[Karli Purscell]

I haven’t had a lot of professional experience with this age group. Most of the children at the daycare are over 6 months old as Canada has year-long maternity leave that most people take advantage of. A few younger ones occasionally come in off and on, but its rare. Although, I did have one child in my baby group that is younger and startled a lot during the session (in retrospect, I may have been unknowingly contributing with some of my music playing). The cool thing is that, over the last month or so, she has completely stopped startling and now she is really engaging in the music experiences!

[Karli Purscell]

Melody, that’s a good point! Even when we may not be creating goals and documenting them, there are still benefits that we can see happen over time in music therapy.

[Karli Purscell]

For me the social aspect and connection of music feed well into community based settings. I have worked in a lot residential centers that had open groups which was great for addressing the needs of the entire facility regardless of individual diagnoses. In some ways, I think community based music therapy can help draw in and support families and individuals who may not even be aware that they need support.

[Karli Purscell]

Laura, I really like the detail of your plan. It sounds like you’ve thought out a lot of what you want to do to really make these sessions age appropriate! Emily, I like your sentences, they are very supportive and help provide guidance to the parents!

[Karli Purscell]

Words
Simple, connecting, learning, bouncing, rocking

Sentences
* We’ll be singing some songs that you know today; please sing along as its such a good way for you to connect with your little one!
* While exploring the instruments, you’re little one might drop it after a few shakes. That’s okay, they are just discovering and learning new ways to play!
* It is so great to be here together! This is also a wonderful opportunity for you to really make time for connecting with your little one!
* It’s so good to be up close facing your baby while bouncing them in your lap. That way they see you better and react to you’re doing!
* Startling happens sometimes at this age. That’s okay, we’ll keep trying some things and see how he/she reacts after a while.

Plan
Hello song – very simple using 1 or two words, no guitar
Bonding song/lap ride – “Take Me Riding in the Car Car” (just the chorus), babies will be held on laps begin slow and speed up; “Way over the hills there are the trees” start sections slow, speed up and repeat each section several times, have parents rock and move baby to each section
Instrument song – familiar song for the parents, Use small maracas with the babies, soft playing with slow steady rhythm
Movement songs – familiar song for the parents, Use songs that involve moving babies around different planes
Slow down – “The wind blowing through the air” slow and gentle with lots of repetition with guitar accompaniment
Goodbye song – “Bye bye my friends”

[Karli Purscell]

I am in a unique part of the world as I live in a place that has implemented “universal daycare.” Basically, the province of Quebec does a lot to make childcare affordable and accessible to as many parents as possible. As a result, there are basically daycares all over the place. I have ended up spending time in a lot of different daycares because I work a side job where I support kids with disabilities in the classroom environment. I’ve noticed that a lot of the daycares often struggle with transitions, noise levels, and getting kids to attend. I think that those organizations might benefit from having more opportunities for teachers to connect with their students and developing better structured use of music (for example: less blasting the radio when they want the children to be quiet while eating lunch). At one of the daycares that I provide music therapy groups, I’ve noticed that many of the parents will stop me in the hall and tell me about the ways that they see their children react to music. I think that these parents could benefit from more opportunities to feel validated and supported in the things that they observe about their children.

[Karli Purscell]

Good point, Laura! We do bring a much deeper and more adaptive use of the music. Katherine, I agree. Our adaptability and flexibility really allow us to adjust to the needs of the families that we work with.

[Karli Purscell]

I think one unique thing that music therapy brings to families with young children is the fact that the music environment is very different compared to other types of educational or therapeutic experiences. People react differently when music (especially live music) is present than when it is absent. What I’ve learned from observing families is that sometimes issues and challenges that crop up keep repeating themselves until some outside factor shakes things up a bit. The beauty of music (especially music therapy tailored to the community’s needs) is that it provides such a unique and different way of experiencing the family relationship that it can help the parents and the children connect in a very different way.

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