Music Therapy with Preschoolers

Music Therapy with Preschoolers

In my time at MTC, I have had the educational and heart warming experience of running groups in a preschool setting. At this preschool, I lead two groups: a 2-3 year old group of 8-10 kids and a 3-4 year old group with 6-8 kids. The population of these clients are typically developing kids and medically fragile kids with varying diagnoses. Session planning with this age group was tough for me at first, but I quickly learned how to work off of a session ‘skeleton’ outline. Here is a typical skeleton outline for my preschool sessions with some examples that I use!

1. Hello
   1. I use ‘Ways to Say Hello’ from Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse and In Harmony which prompts clients to practice verbally and physically saying hello to their peers through waving, shaking hands, and giving high fives. I find that this is a great way to get clients engaged with both myself and the group members-plus they LOVE singing and doing the actions. 
2. Egg Shakers
   1. Shaker songs are a great way to target any sustained attention goals. Laurie Berkner is a staple in my group and lots of kiddos this age are familiar with her songs. I love using ‘I Know A Chicken’, prompting clients to shake their eggs fast/slow, high/low. Raffi is another favorite of mine and his song ‘Shake My Sillies Out’ is great! Not only fun, egg shakers are inexpensive so each child in the group has the chance to play their own instrument. 
3. Scarves
   1. Using scarves is a great way to engage clients, target motor planning and coordination and pretend play. Like egg shakers, they’re fun, colorful, and inexpensive so each child can have their own! Stephanie Leavell of Music for Kiddos has great themed scarf songs available on Spotify. Some of my favorites are ‘Blowing in the Wind’ and ‘Swirly Whirly Scarves’. 
4. Movement
   1. Laurie Berkner’s ‘The Goldfish Song’ and ‘We Are The Dinosaurs’ are group favorites. I love movement songs that are a little bit silly, engaging, and thematic. They also incorporate large body motor movements to get energy out and encourage creative play. 
5. Drumming/attention
   1. After movement, I have found that interventions with percussion instruments such as bells, shakers and/or drums are effective in keeping clients engaged. I have used ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ with drums and prompt clients to play loud/soft, fast/slow.
      1. Another way to target client attention is using visual paddles with pictures represent loud/soft, fast/slow.
6. Book
   1. Books are a great way to lower the energy level yet still keep them engaged. I have found that books set to songs and have interactive visual components for clients work best. Clients love ‘Pete the Cat’ books! 
   2. Interactive visuals with enough pieces for each client in the group have worked best for my groups! I like to have clients bring their visual component up to the front and match it to its corresponding picture. This keeps clients engaged throughout the book as they have to pay attention in order to match their visual, wait their turn, take turns with their peers, and practice fine motor skills!
7. Manipulatives
   1. Similar to books, interventions that require alternating attention are great for this population! For example, I like to use a farm scene with velcro farm animals for clients to use.  I pass out an  animal  to each client and prompt them to put  their animal on the farm scene while singing, ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’. 
8. Goodbye!

I learned that it is better to over-plan when it comes to preschool sessions, as it’s always good to have a couple of extra interventions on hand if things go awry (because they will)! Preschoolers can be unpredictable, and having “tried and true” or go-to fan favorite  interventions can refocus any session. Working with this population has been such a fun and educational experience for me. Happy new year and happy session planning!

-Mia Falcon