Christmas is less than a week away, so of course we’ve got to jump into Christmas and holiday music. As a music therapist, or maybe even just a human, it is impossible to not be hearing or using Christmas music at this time of year. I thought I would do a quick dive into how I, as a music therapy intern, have used Christmas or holiday music in my sessions, these past couple of weeks.
Instrument Playing
Instrument playing is an intervention I often do with my clients that I see throughout the week. When playing instruments, clients work on fine and gross motor skills, range of motion, impulse control, following directions, and sustained attention. The last couple weeks I have used “Jingle Bells” played with jingle bells, an Listen and Learn rewrite of “Little Drummer Boy” called “Little Drummer Boys and Girls” played with lollypop drums, and shakers to Laurie Berkner’s winter song “I Live Inside A Snow Globe”.
Jingle bells are commonly associated with Christmas and the winter holidays, which makes it an easy choice to play along to any Christmas song. Clinicians can shout out directions, such “play up high” or “play fast” between verses or rewrite familiar tunes to imbed directions into the lyrics.
Movement
Similar to instrument playing, clients work on fine and gross motor skills, range of motion, following directions, sustained attention, decision making, and sequencing during different movement interventions. It is easy to adapt Christmas music to movement. Some songs that I have used are “Let It Go”, “Jingle Bell Rock”, and “I Live Inside A Snow Globe”. This week, students participated in body percussion to play along videos of “Let It Go” and “Jingle Bell Rock”. Younger students and toddlers in our Listen and Learn class held onto scarves and waved them in different directions. Another movement intervention is dancing. Dance moves can be choreographed to Christmas music by the facilitator or participants. This is also a fun way to work on sequencing.
Sing-Along
This is where I have been doing a majority of Christmas and holiday music. At contracts like Hope and Sparc spend time doing sing-along. At Hope, students make choices and express themselves by picking songs from visual sheet of songs during the last ten minutes of the session. Songs on this list include “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas”, “The Grinch”, and “Frosty The Snowman”. Group members at Sparc raise their hands and take turns verbally asking for a specific song. Both groups work on decision making and respecting others’ choices.
Sing-along songs can also be used for emotional regulation. Facilitators can use familiar Christmas music played at a slower tempo and finger picked to promote relaxation and help with high sensory stimulation. Cool down songs are often planned into our sessions at Hope. Over the past three weeks, I have used “Silver Bells” as a cool down if one is needed.
Songwriting
While not a session that I planned or facilitated, my supervisor, Emma planned a fill-in-the-blank songwriting intervention to “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” for one of the classes at Hope. Students participated, worked on sustained attention, self expression, and decision making. Mad-libs styled songwriting can be applied to many songs. In this holiday season, it is a way to incorporate songs of the season without having to do them verbatim. While I love Christmas music, even I get tired of “Jingle Bells” after the fiftieth time. Through songwriting, participants still get to interact with music they enjoy, but get to be creative, silly, and express themselves while still working on their goals.
Bingo
A huge hit everywhere I go, is music Bingo. I had never done it prior to my internship. It is a great way to incorporate recorded music in order to authentically play clients’ preferred music. I have used music Bingo in a variety of settings and with a variety of populations. In doing music bingo, participants work on sustained attention, impulse control, listening, and fine motor. There are so many types of Christmas related bingos you can create. This week, a Bingo we did was songs from Christmas movies. It also opens up an avenue for discussions. If done with older adults, who are stereotyped to love Bingo, a facilitator can easily move the conversation towards memories surrounding the song, Christmas traditions, and Christmases past.
Takeaway
Not everyone loves Christmas music, but it is commonly requested at this time of year. It is only natural to integrate it into our sessions. Therapy should have the magic of Christmas and every other winter holiday. I have learned from my supervisors how to use holiday music in ways I would have never thought of.
What is your favorite holiday song? How could you incorporate it into a session, beyond sing-along or Bingo?
Happy holidays,
GraceAnne
