Are you looking for resources for the first weeks of school? This children’s book and the melody I created to go along with it can be a great addition to your back to school activities for preschool and kindergarten (although it’ll work for older students, too!) music class or music therapy sessions.
All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman is set in the early days of back-to-school that celebrates diversity and differences. Especially if you’re in a classroom, it is a great book that helps to reiterate your class values and offers encouragement to the kids you work with.
I love including music books in my preschool and kindergarten lesson plans (read about how I facilitate early childhood music groups + a bit of how I organize my lesson plans here.). Some of my favorite singable books for my music classes and music therapy sessions are Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton and and The Shy Little Monster (my book!). If you are familiar with these two books, you may already know that these two books are singable books and they have a melody “linked” to them. To make any other children’s book singable, I often create melodies for these books, inspired by the structure and rhythm of their words. Creating melodies for children’s books is truly one of my favorite things to do as a music therapist and music educator!
Some of the books I’ve created melodies for are:
The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
I Am Enough by Grace Byers
Nighttime Symphony by Timbaland
Most recently, I created a melody to go along the children’s book “All Are Welcome”, which you can listen to enjoy in the video below:
Need more music resources for back to school?
Using Lizzo's song "Special" as a transitional tool in the classroom! (also, a great song to practice positive affirmations)
