Supplemental Sunday: The Perks and Perils of Pinterest

I didn't make anything this weekend. It's a busy time of year around my house, so creativity has to be placed to the side, but I am still thinking about things to make for my clinic space to enhance the music therapy treatment of my clients. So, when I have a few minutes to think, I go to Pinterest and browse.

There are definitely good things about Pinterest, but there are many bad things as well. For me, looking at Pinterest gives me a place to get some inspiration, but it is also a time waster. It is amazing how long you can spend looking at pictures without actually accomplishing anything. I see lots of ideas, but I don't actually finish them - I just look.

I have a change in theme this week. We are no longer studying solids, penguins, months, and snowmen. Now we are studying new things, so there need to be some new visuals. One of the topics is liquids. That's an interesting thing to try to write music therapy experiences about, let me tell you. Another topic is fasteners. I can't remember the other two topics, but some of my TME ideas come easily. Others do not. I have two weeks per topic, so there are lots of opportunities to brainstorm TMEs and then make things to match.

I have some things already prepared for this month of February. One of the things I got in my last packet from Music Therapy Mailings was a set of foam hearts. I have the visuals for Valentine's Day ready to go, I just need to figure out how I want to use them with my clients. I also want to make some more so I can use them in several different ways with my large groups.

I tend to be most creative when I just let my mind wander, so here goes...

Here come the ideas - (some are Pinterest inspired, others are my own):

• Love song lyric matches - cut the hearts in half. Place part of a song lyric on one half and the rest on another. Clients have to find the matches and sing them. If they make sense, then the match is correct. If the song lyrics don't make sense, find the correct match.
• Button, Button, Who's Got the Button? - This is a game that my grandmother taught me and a bunch of my students, once upon a time. Everyone sits in a circle and you pass a small button around the room. Everyone acts like they are the ones with the button. There is a person in the middle of the circle who has to guess who has the button. I have a simple song that we sing as we pass the button. Even my students with limited awareness of games are able to play this one.
• I Just Called To Say I Love You - This is a song that I used with my clients many years ago, and I think it could come back. My clients probably don't know it as well as the ones from forever ago, but it's a pretty easy song. We could do a song and word replacement TME where they choose someone to think about and to sing to. We could change the lyrics as needed or just sing as written. I could make an old-fashioned telephone picture with numbers, so the clients who need the practice could punch out telephone numbers while we sing the song...
• 867-5309 - Another song with a telephone. We could work on number recognition for this one. Poor Jenny - it really was her phone number.
• President's Day is coming up. I have songs about Presidents that I will bring out and dust off. I also have a bunch of good Presidential visual aids (die-cuts of busts and portraits and coins) that I can bring out for various games and TMEs.

Whoo whoo! February plans are almost finished! Now, what types of supplementals/visuals do I need to make to flesh out these TMEs for my clients? I'm thinking some posters for the Presidents, a telephone or two, and some more things with the foam hearts that I have already - make some more so every person in my groups can have one - and then I am ready!

Time to go back to Pinterest (I have an hour for some time wasting that I can devote to nothing) for more ideas for things I can make...

Happy Sunday, everyone!