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11 Music Activities to do With Your Family During Corona Virus Shut Down
This is a challenging time for many right now as businesses and schools are closing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus. There are millions of children that are having to stay home and one of the biggest concerns for parents is …
“What do I do with my children all day?”.
As a music therapist in the field for the past 15 years I have spent a lot of time helping families create and implement at home music programs from educational to a multitude of other therapeutic goals. As fear and worry surrounds us during this shutdown it is of utmost importance to also focus on optimum mental health. Music therapy has sown increase positive benefits over the years in multiple research studies that help reduce anxiety, depression, fear and worry. What a more important time right now to use music more than ever.
Here is a list of some of the musical activities that I suggest you share and implement with your family during this time. I highly suggest you to make it fun, make it educational and make it meaningful and memorable! These are times that children will remember most that during stress and chaos “my family came together through music and play”.
Enjoy sharing music with your family during this time!
1. Music Improvisation or Family Jam Session
Most music therapists use music improvisation (or jamming) as a way of connection, communication and helping clients redirect their energy and focus. You do NOT need to be a musician to improvise music. You can utilize instruments that you may already have at home or make it fun and creative and find objects around your home to use as instruments. For example: Pots and pans, buckets, keys, plastic containers, and much more can be fun improvisation instruments. You can also make a fun scavenger hunt for your family to see how many items they can find at home to turn into an instrument. Enjoy the creativity, sounds and rhythms you can make together as a family. Solos are also fun as well!
2. Song Play Lists
Music therapists often help clients collect songs to create various playlist to match their emotions or create memories of monumental moments. You can take some time where you and your family chooses an emotion and search for songs that they can place in each play list. Children can even do this on their own if you give them directions and access to YouTube to find songs that fit each category. Some category examples are:
Music to motivate me
Music that makes me happy
Music from my favorite movie
Music that clams me, etc.
Music family favorites
3. Music Dance Party
Music and movement is central to our bodies and can help us regulate our emotions and allow us to release tension. When music is played our whole bodies receive the therapeutic benefits of its vibration and sound. Mewsic moves (play on words intended) us to move and dance so why not create a list of your families favorite dance songs and move together and have fun.
4. Karaoke
Singing has been known to decrease anxiety and depression as well as a powerful tool in expressing our feelings. Find some family favorites and sing along together. Youtube has a lot of karaoke sing along versions of songs that could be fun for you and your family.
5. Song Rewriting
Music therapists utilize song rewriting activities in many sessions to help clients connect to their feelings or to express themselves. Song rewriting can be made easier by taking out various words from a familiar song for your family to fill in the blanks and to make the song their own.
For example: You are my sunshine can be rewritten as:
You are my ___?___, you make me ___?___, when skies are ___?___…
6. Music to Relax and Practice Mindfulness
Photo by Jyotirmoy Gupta on Unsplash
Music can have a therapeutic impact on helping us relax, practice mindfulness, focus on positivity and allow us to let go of negative/fearful thoughts. This can be a useful tool right now to help children (and parents) to practice relaxation, medication and practice focusing on gratitude and positivity in a time of uncertainty and worry.
You can take time to go through all your families favorite songs that help them to feel calm. I prefer to use music that has no lyrics to help focus on images or thoughts that come to mind when you sit, listen and focus on mindfulness.
7. Music and Art
Music and art is a powerful combination to help express, focus and share our thoughts and/or feelings. Music and art is also a therapeutic combination to help with expression, mindfulness and exploring creativity. You can have your children create art (such as painting, drawing or collaging) to match the music or their feelings.
8. Make Your Own Instruments
This has usually been a favorite in my sessions with the children that I work with. Make this activity fun and encourage your children to find things around the house that they can use to make their own instruments.
For example: empty prescription medication bottles can turn into a fun musical shaker if filled with rice or beans. Also, plastic containers can turn into a fun guitar or stringed instrument with elastic bands around it. Pots and pans are always a favorite with young children but not so much with parents! (I learned how to play the drums with my parents pots and pans set)
9. Music Trivia
This will take a little bit of research and time but can be a fun activity to learn more about music, lyrics and artists. For example:
How many songs can you list that has the word HAPPY in it?
Name 3 songs by Beyonce
Who sang Let it go?
10. Learn a New instrument
For those of you that may have an instrument at home this can be an ideal time to sit down and learn some of the basics of this instrument together. Youtube has many amazing videos on basic piano, guitar and ukulele strategies to name a few. I highly recommend ukulele as it is an affordable instrument as well as easier to learn than guitar, especially for younger children.
11. Educational Learning Through Music
Many music therapist utilize music to help children learn new educational material that they may have struggles with at school. Turn math, reading and social stories to a whole new level by creating a simple melody to make learning fun and easier to learn. How did most of us learn the alphabet? We sang it!! Make learning fun through music. For example:
Create math song melodies to learn addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and more.
Use rhythm and melody to help with spelling
I hope you find these 11 musical interventions helpful for you and your family during this time of being homebound and trying to fill the time. Also, please share any of your ideas or musical videos of you and your family creating music together as I’d love to see what you create together.
I welcome any additions to this list and love to share musical resources to help all families during this time. Please share in the comments below.
Mewsic Moves is also offering telemusictherapy sessions during this time for those that need additional mental health support in dealing with anxiety and depression or also those that want to continue individual music therapy sessions but are practicing social distancing.
For more information please reach out to us:
email: john@mewsicmoves.com
phone: (818) 877-6797
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Autism Parenting Magazine Lists Music Therapy/Mewsic Moves as a Resource!
I've had the privilege of writing multiple articles for the autism parenting magazine over the past few years. They have covered many great topics and have been an amazing resource for parents, educators and therapists over the years. Some of my articles they've published are:
Last year the Autism Magazine also awarded us with the Top Music Therapy Writer for their magazine in 2014!
Just last month they have created an online resource for parents and I am so excited to announce that Mewsic Moves has made the list! We are so grateful to the Autism Parenting Magazine for all they do for families across the country, online and around the world. Thank you for being such a great tool and resource for so many.
You can find the resource list by clicking HERE.
You can also get your FREE copy of the Autism Parenting Magazine by clicking HERE.
Please share this resource with families of children with special needs and others who may benefit from any of these resources.
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For FREE songs, videos and tips on how to support children with special needs through music click here.
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A Music Therapists Adaptation of "Leaves are Falling Down"
A music therapist will often be called upon to come up with a song in the spur of the moment to facilitate a positive therapeutic intervention. Over the years, I’ve built up quite a collection of these “on-the-spot” creations to help children with special needs relax and learn special skills. It occurred to me a while back that other music therapists might find these songs useful, so over the past year I recorded some and wrote out the musical score.
Jennifer Hezoucky, MT-BC, Jacobsburg, OH.
I recently I received a very touching email and newsletter from Jennifer, a music therapist in Jacobsburg, Ohio who bought my fall song, “Leaves are falling down.” She shared with me a beautiful video of how she used the song with young pre-school children. Here is what she wrote:
What's Happening this Fall!
“At Creative Learning Daycare my preschool music class has been singing songs about fall. What a great way to incorporate learning when you have a seasonal theme! I love searching for new songs to use with my groups and I came across a song written by John Mews who is a music therapist and owner of Mewsic Moves. His song is called "Leaves are Falling Down.” There are many ways to use this song but I chose to use my new NSL 30" drum and scarves. Instead of using the stand that the drum came with I chose to set it on the floor so that the children can sit around the drum and experience playing one instrument as a group. I placed colored scarves in the middle of the drum (preferably fall colors) and held up each scarf as we sang what color was picked up. This was a great activity to introduce group drumming and color recognition.”
Click on the video to the right to watch how Jennifer adapted this song on the gathering drums with pre-school aged children.
Watching her video with those beautiful children really warmed my heart. Seeing the wonderfully creative way Jennifer used my song to create that moment made me feel very glad that I’d recorded it.
I love your stories, and am so grateful when you share them with me! Thank you Jennifer for your amazing work and for sharing this beautiful video.
To view Jennifer’s webpage go to: http://lifesongtherapy.com
Now that you get a sense of how this song can be used in creative ways I would like to offer each reader a discount on this song!
Now you can get a 50% discount of “Leaves are Falling Down” through the end of November. (Offer expires November 30th)
Click on the "buy now!" button to the right and enter this code at checkout: LEAVES
For FREE songs and tips on how to support children with special needs through music Click Here!
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Mewsic Moves in the Media - The Acorn
Mewsic Moves in the Media - The Acorn
On August 13th, 2014, I had the opportunity to announce the Glee Choir in front of Calabasas City Council. I was honored to stand before the council members and share my passion and joy in providing music therapy programs for families of children with special needs, especially the Glee Choir program.
A few days after the meeting, I was thrilled to receive a request for an interview from Sylvie Belmond, who is a reporter for The Acorn newspaper.
Sylvie had lots of questions, and we talked for almost an hour. She wanted to know more about music therapy and the Glee Choir program that I had created. At the end of our interview, Sylvie said she felt it was important to let others know the importance of music therapy and how it is very different from music lessons. A few weeks later, Sylvie’s article appeared in the September 4, 2014 edition of The Acorn.
I am very grateful to Sylvie for writing such a wonderful article, and to The Acorn for publishing it. I also want to thank Debi Frankle, MFT/Owner of Calabasas Counseling and Grief Center, Calabasas and Ping Ho, Founder – UCLArts and Healing for contributing to the story.
Credits to: Sylvie Belmond – Reporter at The Acorn
Click here to read the article: http://www.theacorn.com/news/2014-09-04/Community/Glee_Choir_for_adults_with_special_needs.html
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For FREE songs, videos and tips on how to support children with special needs through music click here.
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net
Parents: This 5-Minute Ritual Can Change Your Life!
Parents of children with special needs usually adhere to a strict schedule of appointments that follow a set routine. But sometimes even the best-planned schedule will require last minute change ups, and when this happens, chaos often follows, which can last throughout the rest of the day.
Athletes use a visualizing process called, “mental rehearsal” to help them achieve their best performance. Have you ever tried visually planning your day first thing in the morning?
I promise you that if you practice this 5-minute ritual on a regular basis, you’ll find you're mentally better prepared for any eventuality, your general outlook improves, and you’ll feel much more grounded when things do go “off the rails.”
There are 5 simple steps to this ritual, one for each minute. I suggest you do this as soon as you wake up when your mind is in its most relaxed state. (This doesn’t work if you oversleep your alarm of course!)
First Minute:
Find a quiet place and breath deep. (Maybe play some slow classical music as background to help you relax) One of my favorite places to do this is in the shower.
Second Minute:
When you are feeling relaxed and calm, mentally start listing things for which you are grateful (e.g., I am grateful for my family, I am grateful for my health, etc.)
Third Minute:
Mentally forgive yourself and give yourself permission to make mistakes today. You can even visualize yourself in a stressful situation and guide yourself to a relaxing place of peace and resolution.
Fourth Minute:
Visualize your day's schedule and imagine that each item on your list is working out perfectly for you and your family.
Fifth Minute:
Acknowledge and appreciate that you are doing your best, your partner is doing their best, and your children are doing their best.
End with a deep breath and give thanks for the gift of Life.
Once you complete this morning ritual, you can go about your day knowing and trusting that things will work out for the best. You’ve given yourself some time and space to mentally plan as well as to guide your subconscious into planning and preparing your day to be a success.
Here are some books I recommend to parents who have children with special needs. These are great resources to help you find balance – taking time for yourself and your children to create a happier and healthier home life.
For FREE songs, videos and tips on how to support children with special needs through music click here.
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Image Courtesy of Stock Images/freedigitalphotos.net
FREE Christmas Song - Christmas is a Time
This is one of my favorite times of the year as I'm sure it is for many others as well.
The most favorite part of the season for me, is getting out the large selection of Christmas CD's I've collected over the years and playing them over and over. Somehow, I just never get tired of traditional Christmas tunes. They always tend to get me into the spirit of Christmas. It's kinda magical!
Speaking of getting into the spirit of Christmas, I was inspired to write an original song of my own. I began to reflect on all the things that Christmas mean to me, such as carols, giving gifts and playing in the snow (when I lived in Canada!). The song is called, Christmas is a Time.
In the spirit of giving I would love to share this song with you, your family and your child for FREE!!! I invite you to write your own lyrics to help your child refelct and create their own personal Christmas experiences within the song.
This FREE download includes:
- track - vocals
- track - instrumental (so you can make up your own lyrics)
- lyric and chord sheet
- sheet music
To download the song you can click on either image or click here.
I hope you and your family enjoy this song and in the spirit of giving, please share it with others! I'd also love to hear what Christmas traditions you and your family celebrate and use in the song.
Happy Holidays Everyone! And cheers to a prosperous and happy new year!
Musically,
John Mews, MA, MTA
Executive Director
Music Therapist
For FREE songs, videos and tips on how to support children with music click here.
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Top 10 Christmas Gifts For Children With Special Needs
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At this time of year, parents often ask for Christmas gift suggestions for their child with special needs. For these parents, it can be quite challenging to find the right gift - a gift that is fun, not over-stimulating, and has some therapeutic value.
So in time for the holidays season, I have created a top-10 list of my current favorites. I have also included its potential therapeutic value under each link so you can see which gift would be best suited for your child. (Click on each item to view its description)
1. Sounds Shapes
- Gross motor skills
- Impulse control
- Sensory input
2. Cabasa
- Fine motor skills
- Stimulation and sensory needs
3. Ocean Drum
- Relaxation
- Sensory needs
- Impulse control
4. Melodica
- Fine motor skills
- Oral and breath control
- Eye-hand coordination
5. Ukulele
- Fine motor skills
- Eye-hand coordination
- Gross motor skills
6. Kazoo
- Oral motor skills
- Breath control
7. Legos
- Fine motor skills
- Joint attention skills
- Task focus
- Sharing
- Turn-taking skills
- Problem-solving skills
8. Eggspressions
- Social skills
- Emotional awareness
- Emotional Development
9. Trampoline
- Sensory input/needs
- Gross motor skills
- Balance/coordination skills
10. Dizzy Disc
- Sensory input/needs
- Gross motor skills
- Balance/coordination skills
I hope you discovered something new and useful from this list. If you have any toys that you would like to add to this list, please add it in the comment section below.
Happy Holidays!
John Mews, MA, MTA
For FREE songs, videos and tips on how to support children with music click here.
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Why is it Important to Teach Your Child to be Thankful?
Does your child have a lot of expensive things, such as an iPad, Xbox, Nintendo DS, DSI, or an iPhone even?
If so, did they receive these gifts as a reward? Or have you been showering these expensive gifts on them simply because they are your child? And when they received these gifts, did they express their gratitude?
Over the years I have seen children with the most expensive shoes, gadgets, and clothes. Many of these children had severe behavioral problems, like acting out in school and/or showing disrespect for their parents and teachers. I asked the parents how they received these gifts, and I found that often these gifts were given for no particular reason - not even because it was their birthday or Christmas.
I believe that children who aren't taught to express gratitude will face many difficulties later in life. Positive psychology demonstrates that the more we are grateful, the happier and more fulfilled our lives will be. Betsy Brown Braun , a child development and behavior specialist, states that not only is it mannerly to say "thank-you," but that thankfulness is connected with living a happier, more resilient, empathic and self-fulfilled life.
I had the good fortune of being born into a very giving family. Yes, things were given to me when I didn't necessarily deserve them. But fortunately my parents also taught me to be grateful for the gifts I had received.
Teaching children to be thankful can be a challenge because as they naturally develop their sense-of-self, they tend to become self-centered. But, a child that has learned to be grateful will have better social skills, empathy and self worth.
As a music therapist I have taught children to be thankful through music. I was inspired by the season of Thanksgiving to write a song entitled, "I am Thankful." This song includes two tracks, one with vocals and one without so you can sing along and insert the things for which you and your child are thankful. The song also comes with a lyrics sheet and chords so you can play along if you are musically inclined. One mother told me she played this song to her two young boys and was excited to hear them going through the house singing about the things they were thankful for!
Here is an easy way to teach your child to be grateful. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am offering a 50% DISCOUNT on this song through the end of November. All you need to do is click on the picture to the right and type in this code when you place your order: THANKS
Get it soon as it is only available until November 30th! And share with as many people as you can!
Gratefully yours and Happy Thanksgiving!
John Mews, LMFT, MT
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Help Your Child With Autism by Changing Their Routine
Routines are important for most of us. We typically wake up at the same time, find the keys in the same place, and all the dishes are properly put away. We create routines and consistency in our lives to reduce stress and to keep things going smoothly.
This is particularly important for children with autism because they process information in a different way than most children. Keeping things predictable can help reduce stress, filter out distractions, and help them to focus on the task at hand.
But what happens if our keys go missing? Or we find our car has a dead battery? What would we do? Panic? Fortunately most of us have developed healthy coping skills to deal effectively in situations like this.
I’ve seen therapists as well as parents create strict routines for their children with autism, and they keep those routines going for far too long! I often ask, what happens if the school bus is late? What happens if the fire alarm goes off at school? What would your child learn from these strict routines about dealing with the unpredictable things in life?
Yes, I agree, whenever we start something new, we must first adhere to a strict schedule to eliminate distractions and keep the stress level down. But I do believe that once your child has learned this routine and can manage it without stress, then we need to start implementing changes to their routine.
For example, I begin and end each session with the exact same tune, but with different words (“Hello” and “Good-bye”). Depending on the child’s functioning level, I will slowly incorporate a few changes to the lyrics and sometimes the order of which the song is placed in the schedule to see if there is a response to this change. This can be a powerful tool in helping teach a child with autism how to cope when things don’t go exactly as they might expect. Then we explore options about what to do next, where we can go, how we can change things, what our options are and most importantly, how to manage the stress caused by the change.
How are you helping your child cope with changes in their routines or in everyday life? I hope you find this helpful and are encouraged to experiment by implementing subtle changes into your child’s routine. This will better equip them to deal with the realities of life. Every moment something changes and something is different. Their success in life depends upon how well are they able to cope with change.
I’d love to hear how you incorporate subtle changes into your child’s daily routine to help them cope with change. Please leave a comment below.
Here are some resources I recommend to help you and your child cope with change.
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net
5 Helpful Tips to Make Your Child's I.E.P Meeting More Tolerable Than Terrifying
For most parents, Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings are stressful and sometimes feel like a waste of time. Here are some helpful tips that should help you get the most out of your child’s IEP.
1. Focus on your child’s strengths
Rarely have I participated in an IEP that uses the child’s strengths as a focal point. I believe that it is critical to use the child’s strengths as one of the building block for success. Wouldn’t you find it demoralizing if someone only focused on your areas of weakness and was constantly trying to fix you?
2. Your child needs a break area/quiet place to go to
Most children need a break to avoid becoming over stimulated. Take time to familiarize yourself with the break/rest areas available in your child’s school, and see if they fit his/her needs. You may be surprised by some of the so-called “quiet” areas that schools consider to be the break/rest area. For example, one school I worked with used a noisy high-traffic lunchroom as their break room. Not a great idea, right?
3. I is for Individual! Your child’s IEP should be customized for your child’s individual needs
This should be common sense but many IEP’s can be hurriedly cut and pasted from another child’s IEP, or even from your child’s previous school year. Things change over time, and your child’s specific needs will change over time as well. Insist that the IEP be customized for your child’s current needs and learning capabilities.
4. Your child’s goals should be measurable!
How will anyone know if your child has achieved his or her goal(s) or not? Should the goals be re-evaluated? This is where measurement tools are very useful and important. Does your school have up-to-date tools to measure your child’s successes? If so, how and when are they being used? Be sure that your goals can be easily measured and observed. Otherwise, you will never know if your child is successfully achieving his or her goals or not. It may be as simple as asking your child’s teacher for a brief monthly progress report.
5. Be an ally! Your child needs you on the team!
Most IEP meetings I have been involved with started out as an emergency meeting. Schools and/or parents often wait until there is a serious problem, and then call an emergency meeting in an attempt to fix the problem. I’ve often sat uncomfortably witnessing both parents and teachers lashing out at each other in frustration. To avoid this, I believe it is very important that parents build a strong relationship with their child’s teacher and school administrators as early as possible. Keep in mind that teachers have an incredible amount of responsibility, and it’s tough to know and remember everything that is in your child’s IEP. Helping to educate them can be a great relationship builder and will go a long way toward ensuring your child’s success in school.
Here are some books I recommend.
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