Thursday Thoughts: Six Things Rule

As I have been going through boxes and bags of things as a result of my recent water emergency, I have been finding all sorts of things that I have purchased and then packed away. These are things that I had been able to justify purchasing at the time, but that I have not actually used yet. So, as a result, it is time to start working on my Six Things Rule again.

Just to refresh your memory (or introduce you to this rule that I have created for myself because I tend to hoard things and keep buying more and more things to use), I have established a "Six Things Rule" to help me figure out if I can purchase things for my music therapy clinic. This rule helps me a bit when it comes to impulse buys, but not much because I can think up six things to do with just about anything when motivated. Right now, though, I need to decide if I can keep these things that are taking over my very being and all my space.

These bulletin board pieces, for example. I bought some paw print calendar number cards, some plane cut-outs, and some banners to go behind the planes. I am sure that I purchased these at an educational supply store that I love to go to when I visit my sister - she's a teacher, and I love going to the supply stores to find things that I can use in my music therapy sessions. They have been safely put away in my boxes for the past four years, at least.

Now, I can come up with six different TMEs for the number paw prints, but I do not have six different things for the planes or the banners at the moment. It is time to start my brainstorming process to see if I can get to my threshold of six things...

Okay. The first step is always to look at the materials themselves. There are six different plane colors - so, color identification is one category of TMEs where these could fit. Half of the planes face to the right and the other half to the left - I could do something with directions, I guess. Perhaps a "follow the plane" song?? Write that idea down for my idea book. What songs do I know about planes? Junior Birdmen. There's a song about flying machines that I could adapt - if I learn it to begin with. Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. Here's a link to a YouTube version of this song. There was a movie as well which I remember watching at one point. There are three things.

Of course, I could use these for their original purpose - bulletin board decoration - but I do not have a bulletin board in my music therapy room, and that seems just too easy to include in my six things. So, three discrete things to use these visuals for at the moment. I know that I can come up with several different songs to fit under all of these categories, but I want to come up with three more categories of things in my music therapy sessions so I can justify the time, energy, and cost of laminating the pictures.

We could use this in a motor skill TME in conjunction with the paw prints. We select an airplane with a motor skill indicated on it, we draw a number card, and then we have to complete the skill the number of times indicated on the number card. Other than the planes having nothing to do with paw prints, this idea would work as well. Each person could select a plane and then collect banners with the indicated movements. Another idea!!

There are four ways to use these visuals. I will continue my brainstorming process for the rest of the day. Hopefully, I will come up with two more ideas pretty soon. If not, I will either give them away or pack them up again.

Time to get going for my appointment and movie day today. See you tomorrow for some Fun Friday type things as I mourn the end of my break. (Crying in the corner... you get the drift.) I think I might go see a movie tomorrow as well as today. We'll see how today goes first.