Molly O’Malley

Inspired by a conference presentation, I found this Folkmanis puppet on Ebay. She has individual digits on her hands, making her great for fingerplays, and a tongue in her mouth that wiggles. Children love Molly O’Malley, and she is especially great for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who may interact with her more easily than a live person.

Dana Bolton, MEd, MMT, MT-BC

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Rubber Ball

My favorite props to use are medium to small sized rubber balls. They can be used in passing games for social interaction and taking turns. Also, helpful for eye contact and hand-eye coordination.

Carrie Friddell, MT-BC

Nashville, Tennessee

Paradise Part Wheels

I like to use pinwheels with songs like Blow the Man Down to work on oral motor skills and breath control.

Allison Kerr, MT-BC Nashville, Tennessee

Scarves

Scarves are my favorite prop in early childhood. I use them for peek-a-boo games to encourage social interaction, and we blow on them to work on breath support.

Alana Seaton, MMT, MT-BC

Knoxville, Tennessee

Parachute

I love to use colorful parachates. I have three sizes depending on the size of the group. The one that I use most is for 6-8 children from Lakeshore Learning Center. Parachutes are great for gross motor play, group cooperation, following directions, teaching up/down/ and around, color recognition, and good plain fun.

Lillieth Grand, MS, MT-BC Tualatin, Oregon

Monkey Mitt

My favorite prop is the Monkey Mitt. I use it with the song Five Little Monkeys. During the song each child gets to be the alligator. They come up with a castanet and grab one monkey off of the monkey mitt.

Kevin Bolton, MT-BC Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Finger Puppets

I like to use tiny finger puppets. I got a ton of them at IKEA several years ago for about .75 cents apiece. I like to do fingerplays and variations on Five Little Monkeys and Where is Thumbkin.

Jaley Montgomery, MT-BC

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Elastablast

I use the Elastablast with songs to promote social interaction among children with ASD and other disabilities. We can work on passing to a neighbor, color identification, body part identification, and position words.

Wendy Zieve, MA, MT-BC Seattle, Washington

Octaband

I think the Octoband is a wonderful prop for early childhood music therapy groups. It is brightly colored, stretchy, and easily cleaned. I use it with parent-child groups and pre-school aged children (3-5 yrs) with their teachers and aides. There are several components of the Octoband that make it a great tool to use clinically. If awareness of personal space is a goal for the group, then use the direction “Keep the pink circle up!” This helps everyone to be aware of the tension in their “arm” and their distance from one another. If grasping is a concern, take a look at the end of each arm—there is a loop for each child to hold on to.

Carol Ann Blank, LCAT, LPC, MMT, MT-BC

Princeton, New Jersey