Do you also LOVE to use props in your music classes or music therapy sessions?
Today I’m sharing some of my favorite props to use in my music classes and I will also be sharing some uses of props in music education and music therapy.
What are props?
Let’s start with talking about what props are. Props is a familiar term in the theater or film realm. Props (also called, hand props) are those objects that an actor may handle or manipulate to fulfill the characteristics or actions of a character. Some examples of those items are cellphones, canes, candles, beverages, etc.
In music education and music therapy, props are those items that music therapists and music educators use as an aid to reinforce or support movements, concepts, skills, exploration, imagination and our student’s or client’s creativity in the music space.
Some examples of props we may utilize as music therapists and music educators are:
Bean bags
Scarves
A parachute
A stretchy band
Puppets
My favorite props to use in music classes & sessions
1. A clear, round container
Yes, a container! Especially in one-on-one music therapy, I cannot go without a really good container that can hold about 15 or 28 shakers and has a flip lid. The reason this is an incredible tool when you're working with kids is because there are many ways you can use them:
You can put things in it and use it with musical cues. In example, when an egg shaker drops into the big bucket, it makes this really satisfying sound that kids can anticipate and can be encouraging for kids to actually clean up and put things away.
You can take things out of it, or dump everything all at once (it can be really silly & fun 😊)
You can use it as a bowl for stirring (like pretending to making a soup!).
You can draw silly teeth or goggly eyes on the flip so that the container can actually “chomp up” or “eat” the eggs.
You can close the lid on it and use it as a giant shaker with all these other shakers inside of it.
2. Scarves & Streamers
I love scarves & streamers! I especially like that you can throw them in the washing machine on delicate, air-dry them and they're just like as good as new. My favorite streamers are from Bear Paw Creek, which is a website that specializes in creative movement props for music therapists and music educators.
What I like about scarves is that they're see-through. Specifically when using the song “Peekaboo” (which I share the lyrics with you at the bottom of this page), scarves provide a level of safety and comfort for most kids to be able to put something on their head and “hide” with it when they can also see through it.
You can do all kinds of things with scarves:
You can do peek-a-boo.
You can do movement songs.
You can do “copy-me” kind of movements.
You can throw them in the air and watch them float down.
You can have a sensory break where maybe you are dropping a bunch of scarves on a child
You can bring a very calming something with waving scarves, etc. (I recently wrote a song about ocean waves where we can pretend our scarves are the ocean).
Free download at the bottom of this page
A lot of my Music For Kiddos Community members really swear by this giant blue scarf that West Music sells. It's basically a giant blue, see-through scarf that everybody tells me it's far superior than a parachute because you can see through it and it's less stimulating.
3. Stuffed Animals
You can use stuffed animals as a way to communicate with kids in a really safe way. When I worked in the hospital, I would ask kids if I could meet their stuffed animals. I would often just talk to their stuffed animals instead of talking to the child if they were feeling shy while they saw that I was a safe person. This way, I gave children their space by not talking to them directly if they weren't ready for that. You can also use them for very, very silly things to get kids to laugh, like dancing stuffed animals, stuffed animals that play instruments, stuffed animals that hide under things, stuffed animals that get into trouble (fun, right?!).
4. Props from Games
Dice are really fun. Story cubes are really fun. Spinners are a blast. There are just such cool props that come with a lot of board games that many of us already have. Taking spinners as an example, maybe you have a little spinner that it's associated with a color, then maybe you have an instrument or a song assigned to that same color that was picked by the spinner that the child chose.
If you want a creative intervention idea using Jenga, I would recommend you download the free “Musical Jenga” session plan on Creative Therapy Umbrella’s website by Kate Shannon, LPC, MT-BC (P.S. she’s the creator of our course “Out of the Music Box”!)
5. Play Food or Play Dishes
There is something about pretend food that is really, really funny, fun and very engaging for kids. It immediately shows them that you are creative, that you like silly ideas and that you will run with their ideas.
Kids can make you some food and you can enjoy it and be silly with it. If you want to shake things up a little bit with kids, especially when working one-on-one with them, bring a tea set to music time, put your pinkies up, put on a silly & fancy hat and have a tea party as part of your music time that day.
I encourage you to bring out these props and see what kind of creative ideas kids bring to you. Creativity can be mirrored in many ways, especially with kids. Kids are so creative and they have so many good ideas and it's really refreshing for them to see adults have that creative energy also.
It just shows children that the creativity that they have and that they are using is so valuable and appreciated.
If you want to get more ideas to using props in your music classroom or therapy session, listen to episode 27 of the Music For Kiddos Podcast. AND if you use any of these props or ideas, share them with us on Instagram or Facebook and tag us so we can share it with everyone!
We have partnered with West Music (where you can get all of these props!) to offer free shipping on orders above $59.95 to Music For Kiddos Podcast’s listeners. Check out their incredible instruments and their incredible offerings at WestMusic.com or you can place your order at their customer service hotline at (800) 397-9378.
The code for free shipping is KIDDOS24. Make sure to check them out!
Download the chords + lyrics of the song “Peek-A-Boo”
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