9 Valentine’s Interventions
Happy Valentine's Day:
9 Interventions Our Music Therapists Love!
Looking for quick and easy Valentines interventions for your music therapy clients this week? Check out these ideas below!
I Love by Body by Mother Moon
This song is so simple lyrically and chordally yet packs a punch, mixing lyrical affirmations with a body positive message, body part vocabulary, and a catchy melody.
Potential applications for this song include:
- Communication
- Clients fill in the blank for each body part word using speech or AAC, including the words: body, head, toes, eyes, mouth, and nose.
- Body Part Awareness / Sensory Needs
- Clients receive sensory stimulation or address body awareness with a parent or therapist pointing to or touching each body part with the child. This could be appropriately paired with proprioceptive squeezes to provide sensory input as well!
- Emotional
- Ask a client to rewrite the song by choosing three body parts from a list of options to add to the song and create their own body positive affirmations!
All You Need Is Love (book)
Read (and sing, of course!) this book with young clients to address communication or cognitive goals!
- Practice reading short words together!
- Address attention and impulse control goals by asking a client to complete a task (like playing a drum or shakers) every time they hear the word “love”
- Use the opportunity to practice speech, especially with words at the end of each line! My client’s speech goals make it relevant to use the words “love,” “done,” “sung,” “play,” “time,” “need,” “be,” and I will also sometimes use words that connect to the book’s pictures as well, like “bird,” “bear,” or different color words.
Love, Love, Love (My Family) by Rachel Rambach
This sweet and sentimental song highlights the love children have for their families, and can be adapted to use in all sorts of family contexts. In her Youtube video (link here: "Love, Love, Love (My Family)" - Children's Song About Love), Rachel Rambach suggests using this song as a cool down song or in a session where a family member is present! Here are some other suggestions!
- Use AAC or speech to choose individual family members to add to the song in the lines, “Love, love, love / I love my _______ / and _____ loves me” to improve communication skills.
- Practice giving sensory or regulation support by modeling or encouraging the client to give themself a squeeze by hugging themselves and rocking back and forth while singing.
- Create a sequence of movements for the song (addressing sensory, motor, attention, or other goals), such as:
- “Love love love / I love my family” - hug yourself
- “And they love me” - point to self
- “Love, love, love” - hug yourself
- “It makes me want to share” - spread arms to the side
- “And show I care” - hands over heart
- “I say I love you even though I already know” - point to head
- “From the top of my head” - touch head with both hands
- “To my littlest toe” - touch toes
- “I love my family” - hug yourself
- “And they love me” - point to self
So Much That I Love (rewritten “So Sick by Ne-Yo”)
- Use a heart shaped template, or draw a heart on your paper!
- Then section off the heart in several sections (zentangle style).
- Fill in each section with things you love. You can prompt specific categories (food, activities, people) and even add drawings!
- Add each participant’s responses into your song lyrics (to the tune of “So Sick” by Ne-Yo)
Em C G D
There’s so much that I love like ______
Em C G D
I love ____ & ____, & ______
Em C G D
There’s so much that I love like _______
Em C G (D)
Oh, there’s so much that I love x2
Watch an example in the video below: Valentine's Songwriting Intervention
Roses Are Red by Bobby Vinton
This song about an iconic flower is perfect for Valentines week, with a chorus that is easy to learn or recall with lines like “roses are red” “violets are blue” and “sugar is sweet” that are perfect for older adults to fill in or join in on as a group!
One creative way to use this song is to talk about the symbolism of different rose colors. In my group this Monday, I started this intervention by asking, “What color of roses is your favorite (or would you most like to receive)?” and gave several options including red, pink, white, yellow, purple, and green. After choosing their color, I sang the chorus several times, sharing a different color rose and its symbolic meaning each time and stretching their cognitive skills by asking them to replace the word “red” with the colored rose we discussed. The meanings of the rose colors are listed below!
- Red - love / passion / romance
- Pink - gratitude / appreciation / feminine
- White - loyalty / purity / innocence / weddings
- Yellow - friendship / birthdays / symbolize jealousy
- Purple - love at first sight / fascination / admiration / royalty
- Green - hope / life / rejuvenation / cheerfulness
Lollipop Drums to Lollipop or Sugar Sugar
Use this activity with children or older adults while discussing sweets exchanged on Valentines Day and encourage lollipop drum play! Divide the song into chunks and use different ways of playing during each section (playing to the left or right and up or down), choose different speeds or volumes to play during the song, or use it as a motor based activity to work on motor planning or general engagement in upper extremity bilateral movement.
For a bonus, discuss the group or individual’s favorite sweets as a communication or reminiscence activity OR create rhythms to play based off of the syllabic pattern of their preferred candy!
Love Story by Taylor Swift
Pair this song with lyric discussion questions to address emotional goals or scramble the lyrics and challenge the client to re-order them as a cognitive and language activity!
Some discussion questions that could be relevant include:
- Describe a moment when you felt loved. (reflection on how to receive love)
- Who are the people in your life who make you feel loved? (support system)
- When you need to “escape” or take space from something in your life, what are some strategies you can use or could use? (support system and coping skills)
- Taylor Swift references visualization in the first verse (“I close my eyes and the flashback starts / I'm standin' there / On a balcony in summer air”). What peaceful place can you visualize when you are in a moment of stress or panic?
Or unscramble the lyrics by printing out each line separately and cutting the paper into strips. Split the song into the verse, chorus, and bridge, so that the client only unscrambles a few lines at a time, and lay each line from that section out where the client can read all the lines at once. If the client benefits from additional support, provide the melody or audible lyrics or the first word of the next line.
L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole
Songwrite about preferred instruments and activities in music using the following template:
[Verse ]
G Em7 Am7 D7
L is for the way I like to (play / dance / sing)
Am7 D7 G
O is for only playing the (favorite instrument) today
G7 C
V is when I play the (instrument) very nicely
A D
E is especially for how I enjoy playing the (instrument)
[Chorus]
G Em7 Am7 D7
We love to play and sing in music
Am7 D7 G
We love to write songs and to play games
G7 C
Together, we can make it, unite our hearts and keep the beat
G D G
Loving music was made for me and you!
OR Use this as a movement activity with older adults and encourage them to use their arms to make the shapes of the letters L-O-V-E in the song!
- L - one arm up, one arm to the side
- O - arms around the head in a circle
- V - both arms up and to the side in a diagonal line
- E - head and both arms to the same side
Love Song GAMES!
Check out these fun ways to meet goals with a competitive edge!
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- Name That Tune
- Especially nice with older adults for working on cognitive goals and memory recall, and one can incorporate another instrument aside from voice for an extra challenge (like keyboard or flute or violin).
- Can be used for working on reading or speech goals by asking the client to read or speak the song titles as part of the game!
- BINGO
- Create a BINGO board with 25 love songs from the age group you are working with (works well with teens, young adults, or older adults) and play as a group!
- Song Share
- Create 10-15 prompts for a song share activity including the word “Love,” see the following examples:
- Love the lyrics (of this song)
- Create 10-15 prompts for a song share activity including the word “Love,” see the following examples:
- Name That Tune
- Love the instrumentation (of this song)
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- Love the beat (of this song)
- Love the genre (of this song)
- Love to listen to this song with friends and family
- Love this artist
- Etc.
- Place all the prompts in an online or physical spinner ad randomly spin to choose a prompt.
- Listen to the song with the client and discuss what they “love” about the song and what stands out to them about it!
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