Happy New Year and welcome to 2023. I am so excited about the year in front of me. As you build new routines and establish new habits, here are a few ways that KidLinks can help at home.

1. Use a KidLinks video and sing along with your child. You never know what may happen when you build in 15 minutes of one-on-one time to sing with your child.
2. Learn to use dramatic pauses while singing. Row, row, row your (pause)___and the child fills in the word “boat.”
3. Use instruments and fingerplay to practice fine motor skills. Holding a mallet or shaker requires grasping and holding skills. “Where is Thumbkin” helps a child move fingers one at a time.
4. Use Recorders and/or Kazoos, slides, and whistles to build breath support.

Lastly, ask your music therapist to give you specific ideas of how you can work on skills at home. As music therapists, it is our job to write songs or give you ideas so that clients can continue building skills when we are not around.

Gina G. Glidewell, MT-BC