Fun Friday: Thematic Programming

Yesterday, I enlisted the assistance of my mom and my sister to start with my new project for the next year - sing about themes. I am planning on releasing these thematic packets every month this year to supplement music therapy programming for clients of all ages and goal foci. These thematic packets will come with 4-6 therapeutic music experiences (TMEs), ideas for adaptations to all TMEs for various populations, and a couple of digital files to make visual aids for clients to use during sessions.

The first theme is one that is dear to my heart and will be kept a secret for a bit of time, but rest assured that I will be sharing it as soon as I can.

The fun for me comes in collaboration with my creative relatives. We are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to creating. I've told you about my mom's current creative force - Barbie furniture and houses, but my sister is also very creative - she channels her creativity into specific projects one thing at a time rather than full-bore like Mom.

One of my Christmas presents this year was a sister created artwork. His name is Reynaldo, and he is going to be the first thing people see when they enter my home through the front door. I will get a picture of him soon so you can see his magnificence! Sister is currently stuck in the middle of a project that she has designed for me - she doesn't think that it is finished yet, but she cannot figure out what she needs to finish it up! I have seen it, and I know that it will be perfect in my star room, but she is not ready to release it yet. I will wait until it is done.

When the three of us get together to brainstorm, we generate ideas fast and furiously. My aunt decided to visit us a while back, and she wanted to incorporate a theme into her high school math classroom. She had seen a paper fish that my Mom had made and started to envision some fish on her walls. We came up with about 30 fish puns for her bulletin boards that had to do with math and fish. That took up about five minutes of our conversation. I don't know if she ever used all the things we created for her, but we sure had fun in the process.

I enjoy the thought of thematic programming, and I feel that it has a place in the music therapy profession. That place is not necessarily the place where I work, but that doesn't stop me from thinking of themed TMEs and putting together these packets! I like having a center concept to help me plan, so I put together things like sing about songs and then share them with other music therapists.

I am also striving to be a budget-minded music therapist, especially when promoting my creations to the music therapy world, so everything is pretty inexpensive when you are buying files from my TPT store. That is purposeful on my end. I want ideas to circulate in the world, but I also want a bit of financial compensation for my work and creative output.

As I head into this new project, I am excited to generate new ways of doing music therapy things. It is fun for me to think about all the TMEs that I already have and making more to supplement various themes. I have an inexhaustible list of themes already, and there is no limit to what I can get done! That is just fun, and I hope that other music therapists out there will find my contributions valuable and something that they can use in their practices with their clients. Be on the lookout for my new sing about songs around January 15, 2025.

Time for some more fun. Enjoy your Friday!!