Beach Day! An Intervention to Shake Your Wiggles Out!

Are your little ones full of energy? Do they need to shake and wiggle their sillies out? Here is a perfect intervention that accomplishes just that and it uses a stretchy band, a novel tool we like to take out every once in awhile. The stretchy band we use is from Bear Paw Creek and their stretchy bands are great for small or even large groups. They offer products that range in size from personal to xtra large – we use stretchy bands that are large enough for each individual to have their colored section. Our inspiration for this intervention is the beach! We use multiple animals and characteristics of the beach to help wiggle our sillies out! This intervention is to the tune of “Wheels on the Bus” and can be done sitting down or standing up. Read below to see how it’s done!

Step by Step

1. Have the group form in a circle, you will need about half of foot between each individual. This is a great opportunity to teach personal space. As mentioned above, have each individual hold onto their own colored section of the stretchy band

2. Have participants start bouncing the stretchy up and down

3. Start singing, “The waves at the beach go up and down, up and down, up and down, the waves at the beach go up and down, all day long.”

4. Next, you will move the stretchy band side to side, left to right. Sing, “The crabs at the beach crawl side to side, side to side, side to side, the crabs at the beach crawl side to side, all day long.”

5. Next, have participants hold the stretchy band, hands parallel to the floor and move hands out and then in. Creating an open and shut movement. Sing, “The clams at the beach go open and shut, open and shut, open and shut, the clams at the beach go open and shut, all day long.”

6. With hands still parallel to the floor, you will now move your hands up and down, opposite of each other, creating a diagonal line with the stretchy band. Sing, “The jelly fish at the beach go wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, the jelly fish at the beach go wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, all day long.”

7. Repeat any of these verses as many times as needed.

If you need more of a challenge, here are some more actions you can do with groups.

• The sharks at the beach go snap, snap, snap. Clap hands with the stretchy band.
• Beachballs at the beach go roll, roll, roll. Moving towards the middle of the circle, make big circles.
• We take the sand and rub, rub, rub. Rub hands together with the stretchy band.

Use this intervention when your group needs to shake and wiggle out some sillies, if you have a beach theme, or if you need a change from your regular stretchy band interventions. Create fun visuals of all the animals and waves to make it more concrete for your group. This intervention could even be transferred to use with scarves or even other instruments during an instrument play. We hope you and little ones enjoy this fun activity! Let us know if you have other ideas for any movements that could be added!

Alannah Forstner, Toneworks Music Therapy Intern