Post by Alexa Rosenbaum, Toneworks intern

My time as an intern at Toneworks is soon coming to a close, and while I have gained incredible amounts of experience and insight, I have also acquired a lot of fun new toys and tools to use in my music therapy sessions.  For this Friday Roundup, I decided to list some of the wonderful, and more importantly, affordable things that I have gotten in the past 6 months that have added some extra fun and ease into my sessions.

1) Whiteboard crayons

Every kid loves coloring, and these Crayola whiteboard crayons are perfect because they aren’t messy and they don’t dry out and stop working like the markers always do.  Plus they come with an erasing cloth that actually clears off the board pretty easily (not always an easy task).  I carry these and a little whiteboard around with me everywhere, and use them for lots of different activities and songs.  And if all else fails, I let clients draw while we sing songs together so they are still working on some self-regulation and musical goals!

2) Toy microphone

This may seem like a simple and obvious choice, but during my internship I have discovered how far a little novelty and silliness can go!  I grabbed one of these at the dollar store, an I have found that I am able to incorporate it into so many different activities.  It’s fun to change it up every once in a while and use this for the hello song, especially when you have a particularly chatty and attention-seeking bunch.  I also like to use it for clients who tend to speak or sing very quietly because it encourages them to be a little bit louder without having to use as much verbal prompting.

3)Pick holder

As a traveling music therapist, I find myself leaving guitar picks wherever I go. The amount of picks that we we’re losing and replacing started getting ridiculous, so we decided to get these handy pick holders that stick right on to your guitar.  They only cost a couple of dollars and the money you will save buying new picks make it well worth it.  I love being able to just reach down to take my pick out and put it away, and it’s fun for kids to get to choose one from the holder as well!

4)Toca band

If you would have asked me what this was a couple weeks ago I would have had no idea, but this app is seriously addicting.  It costs $2.99 to buy as an app for your iPad or phone, and is super accessible and fun for clients of all ages.  All you have to do is drag characters from the bottom onto different platforms, and you can form a band!  I bust this one out to work on turn taking in classrooms or just to have as a backup plan if things are getting hectic during a session.

5) Beanie Baby animals

Once I realized I wasn’t going to make millions of dollars selling them, I went through and got rid of a majority of my Beanie Babies a couple of years ago.  Luckily my brother hadn’t been so quick to declutter, so I raided through his collection a couple of weeks ago and found some amazing underwater and jungle animals.  I use these animals all the time with the parachute for various songs (In the Jungle, All the Fish, Slippery Fish) and recently used them for this activity that I posted on the blog a couple of weeks ago.  If you don’t have any of these left from your childhood, chances are that you can find them secondhand for pretty cheap.

What are your MT must-haves that I should add to my list? Comment below and let me know!