What's In The June Box?? Wait For It...

Since it is the beginning of the month, I went to my thematic boxes with anticipation to see what I had stashed in the box for the month of June. What forgotten materials and TME ideas and visual aids would await me to jumpstart my creativity and give me some sparks for my session strategizing??

Wait for it... 

That's it! That is all that was in June's box!! This is one of those months where I had not really thought much about what types of things I do in the month of June, and the box REALLY reflects this fact!

There are exactly THREE things in this box for use during the month - all of them are orange for some strange reason, and none of them have TMEs attached to them, so that's not going to work for me!

This month's "What's In the Box" post is going to be quite disappointing if I don't get to brainstorming and creating and thinking about what can go into that there red box!!

For me, June is a month of summer school sessions. We have four weeks of our Extended School Year happening, so I am not able to just sit back and enjoy my summer like some school based therapists that I know. My summer is filled with client interaction, and I probably wouldn't have it any other way - I don't know because I have never worked a 10-month school schedule. My job has always been a 12-month therapy job. So, having an empty box is just unacceptable to me! I have sessions during the month of June, so I MUST put things into this box for use in 2021 and beyond!

It's not like I do not have plenty of things to put into this box. I do. In fact, I have more than enough for any sort of theme that you can think of just sitting around in my house, so why is June so empty? 

The answer is that I am not sure why the June box is empty. I work in June, so I do things with clients that are related to the month...there is really no good answer except that I haven't filled it up.

Let's fix this, shall we? 

The first thing I did was print off my sing about mini 2020 and my sing about june 2021 books to put into the plastic envelope.

Bam!

I now have the TMEs for Boom Chicka Boom (not the book, but the camp song), Breathe In. Breathe Out, Chip and Dip Tray Sorting, I Feel So Bad, Lummi Sticks, and Orff Sandwich Improvisations. The second TME collection includes TMEs to Move It From Small to Large, Bowling for Boomwhackers, Come On and Sing With Me, Conducting the Band, Find the Musical Order, Kansas City, Lonesome Traveler, and There's a Pickle on My Head. I also have several suggested playlists and upcoming July holidays to find materials for to include in my box!

(If you would like your own copies of my sing about mini editions, let me know. Back copies are available for the low price of $10 USD. Subscriptions are available for $27 USD for a three month subscription. Each edition comes out three months in advance on the 5th of the month and is sent digitally straight to your inbox!)

The second thing I did was print off the materials that I used a couple of summers ago when I did a seven-week theme on the Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens. This is included in a file folder rather than as a bound book because it is the master copies of a coloring book. It is easier to make copies with unbound pages.

After all the printing and binding, it was time to go through my visual aids to find things to supplement the TMEs that are listed in the sing about mini editions!

My storage boxes aren't big enough for a full classroom set of lummi sticks or the chip and dip trays for sorting, so many of the materials that I do keep in my monthly boxes are the go-withs that make the lummi stick TME (and all the other TMEs, of course) work. I want to find my America Portfolio which includes patriotic facts about the American flag (it is probably in July's box...stay tuned). I have printed off my original song, Thirteen Stripes, to include for a possible discussion about Flag Day. I just threw away a flag picture that I have kept for many years because "I haven't used this ever, so why is it taking up space??" Now I know the answer to that question - because I had never taken it to the June box where it could be used! Sigh. I will make another one. I have a set of letters for attaching to bottles for Bowling for Boomwhackers. I have my conducting pattern cards ready to go into the box. I want to make a classroom set of pickles, but that may have to wait until I can do some heavy duty printing and laminating time. Pop in the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner and finish up a summer rhythm match game, and I will have another full box!

I now have so much more for my box! It is amazing what you can find to include when you are looking for things. I have a list of things to finish up, laminate, and put into my box now. I'll post new pictures once everything is camera ready! For now, though, I am ready to move into my June sessions with confidence that I have more than enough to engage my clients in all sorts of interactions, learning, and therapeutic intervention!

I am not sure what I will do with the rubber duck tiger, the orange top, and the orange spring yet, but there will be uses for them before long!

Happy June, everyone!

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